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Full-Text Articles in Education
What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley
What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley
Dr Tom Lumley
A frequent objection to large-scale testing programs, both national and international, is that they are used as an instrument of control, rather than as a means of providing information to effect change. Moreover, concerns about large-scale testing often take the form of objection to the specific characteristics of the assessments as being prescriptive and proscriptive, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and the spectre of 'teaching to the test' to the exclusion of more important educational content. Taking PISA reading literacy as its focus, this paper proposes, on the contrary, that a coherent assessment system is valuable in so …
Torch Plus : Tests Of Reading Comprehension Plus, Tom Lumley, Andrew Stephanou
Torch Plus : Tests Of Reading Comprehension Plus, Tom Lumley, Andrew Stephanou
Dr Tom Lumley
A set of reading tests designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3 to Year 10 in their assessment of students' reading comprehension skills.
The Effect Of Test-Taker Gender, Audience And Topic On Task Performance In Tape-Mediated Assessment Of Speaking., Tom Lumley, Barry O'Sullivan
The Effect Of Test-Taker Gender, Audience And Topic On Task Performance In Tape-Mediated Assessment Of Speaking., Tom Lumley, Barry O'Sullivan
Dr Tom Lumley
Performance in tests of spoken language can be influenced by a wide range of features of both task and participants. This article hypothesises that there may be effects on performance attributable to an interaction of variables such as the task topic, the gender of the person presenting the topic and the gender of the candidate. In contrast to previous studies, which have examined speaking tests involving face-to-face interaction, this study considered the issue in a tape-mediated test delivered in a language laboratory, with no interlocutor present, but where stimulus material is presented by one or more speakers, one of whom …
The Effect Of Test-Taker Sex, Audience And Topic On Task Performance In Tape-Mediated Assessment Of Speaking, Tom Lumley, Barry O'Sullivan
The Effect Of Test-Taker Sex, Audience And Topic On Task Performance In Tape-Mediated Assessment Of Speaking, Tom Lumley, Barry O'Sullivan
Dr Tom Lumley
There is growing interest in the effect on candidate performance of characteristics of the interlocutor in tests of speaking. A range of variables associated with the interlocutor may cause systematic variation in linguistic performance, and consequently in scores awarded. This paper hypothesises that there may be effects on performance attributable to an interaction of these variables; in the present study, the task topic, the sex of the person presenting the topic and the sex of the candidate. This investigated in the context of a tape-mediated test of speaking, where no interlocutor is actually present; instead, stimulus material is presented by …
Conflicting Perspectives On The Role Of Test Preparation In Relation To Learning, Tom Lumley, Bernadette Stoneman
Conflicting Perspectives On The Role Of Test Preparation In Relation To Learning, Tom Lumley, Bernadette Stoneman
Dr Tom Lumley
Reports on the development of a learning package for a newly introduced test in Hong Kong, the Graduating Students' Language Proficiency Assessment (GSLPA)-English. Examines reactions of teachers and students to the learning package during piloting of the materials.
Linguistic And Cultural Norms In Language Testing : A Case Study, Annie Brown, Tom Lumley
Linguistic And Cultural Norms In Language Testing : A Case Study, Annie Brown, Tom Lumley
Dr Tom Lumley
Users of English in Asia may not have the same need to aspire to a ' standard' form of English. It may be more appropriate for them to develop a communicative competence employing the sociolinguistic and cultural norms of the region. Taking such an approach in the development of tests of English proficiency involves rethinking basic assumptions. This paper considers these issues in the context of a test of English proficiency developed for use with English teachers in Indonesia
Specific-Purpose Language Performance Tests : Task And Interaction, Tom Lumley, Annie Brown
Specific-Purpose Language Performance Tests : Task And Interaction, Tom Lumley, Annie Brown
Dr Tom Lumley
Oral performance tests designed to assess candidates' ability to function in a particular professional role typically involve role plays which simulate aspects of professional interaction between a candidate, in his/her professional role, and an interlocutor, in the role of client or consumer of the professional services. This paper reports on an investigation into the role which expert professional informants can play in providing post hoc content validation of tasks used in this kind of occupation-specific test, focusing on both the content of the tasks and the behaviour of the interlocutors. The study draws on data from the oral interaction component …
Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen
Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen
Dr Tom Lumley
The ongoing interest in investigating the use of Item Response Theory (IRT) methods, involving the Rasch model, in language testing research and the development of language tests has encouraged the authors to explore the nature of this approach and to introduce some research on its validation.