Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“My Work Doesn’T Need To Be Perfect As Long As The Effort Is There”: A Case Study Of Multilingual Student Perceptions Of Labor-Based Grading Contracts In The First-Year Writing Classroom, Allison M. Hosman

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recent developments in the fields of both TESOL and Composition indicate a need for conceptualizing and developing assessment practices that support the needs of multilingual writers that are in line with the aims of justice-oriented pedagogies. One such specific pedagogical practice, assessment, has been proposed as an area of pedagogy in which to operationalize approaches that maintain and sustain justice in the multilingual composition classroom. Although contract grading, and more specifically labor-based grading contracts, have been at the center of such recent conversations, few investigations have centered multilingual students, asking how they perceive and understand such an assessment method in …

The Quality Of Rhyme And Rhythm In Song Lyric Translation, Aulia Fitri, Haru Deliana Dewi, Rahayu Surtiati Hidayat

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research is a development of Low’s theory (2008) on assessing the quality of song lyric translation based on its translation method. The objective of the study is to discover the quality of rhyme and rhythm of song lyrics in the album We Love Disney which have been translated from English to Indonesian. Therefore, this study focuses on the quality of rhyme and rhythm of the translation because these elements are significant parts of the songs. Low’s theory has been applied in the present study to measure the song lyric translation quality using three translation methods: communicative, free, and semantic …

Measuring Cross-Cultural Engagement Of Those Using The Growing Participator Approach, Cheryl Lea Cross

Theses and Dissertations

The Growing Participator Approach (GPA) is a language-learning approach used among global professionals living cross-culturally. Developer Greg Thomson claims that through the GPA, learners grow as active participants in their new culture by learning language primarily in relationship. Because cultural participation is central to GPA, measuring social engagement is the most appropriate form of evaluation. This research seeks to answer the questions: (1) Does focused language learning using the GPA correspond with a high degree of social integration in the host community? (2) Does the use of scales from other academic fields help evaluate social engagement for language learners?

For …

Developing Teachers’ Assessment Literacy By Improving Existing Tests: Analyses And Tools, Iroda Saydazimova

Philology Matters

The present research paper attempts to provide an exemplary step-by-step description of the improvement and tailoring process of an existing assessment to provide practical guidelines to English teachers. The theories, tools, and techniques mentioned in the study are expected to serve as guidelines for teachers in their assessment literacy improvement paths. To make the guidelines more practical and self-explicatory to teachers/readers, this investigation deals with the modification of an existing assessment (quiz test) used in one of the English for Specific Courses (ESP) – Business English module for future logisticians, which is provided in the context of higher education (HE) …

Module System And Tools For Developing Writing Skills Of Law Students, Zulfiya Pulatova

Philology Matters

A module system, one of the biggest institutional factors of the educational system, and under this system, the main objective is to investigate the factors of the development of students' writing skills, to give them a worthy assessment and to develop important conclusions within the framework of scientific research. This article provides information on the most used module system today and the factors behind the development of writing skills in it. Today, the introduction of a module system into the educational system, through which, using various advanced pedagogical technologies, along with the progress in the educational system, is able to …

University Students' Perceptions Of Writing Assessment, Hanan Alaa Hegazi

Theses and Dissertations

Instructors and students are the pillars of higher education. There is substantial interest in teachers’ beliefs, preferences, and perceptions in language assessment research, with an emphasis on writing assessment. Additionally, there is a growing body of research investigating students’ perceptions of assessment. However, research that examines how students perceive writing assessment is limited. Therefore, this study investigates two aspects: (a) students’ perceptions of their writing ability and (b) their perceptions of writing assessment in an English-medium private university in Cairo. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach for data collection, which involved distributing student questionnaires, conducting semi-structured interviews, and collecting writing …

Blended Learning Technologies: Course Design, Collaboration And Assessment In Improving Students’ Essay Writing Skills, Solijon Azizov

Philology Matters

As the current measures in higher education are being related straight to both online and offline platforms, blended learning can be a prototype model in increasing quality and content factors of this stage of education, thereby providing teachers and students with connected and continuous education in practice. In many studies related to the issues mentioned above, blended learning, its practical functions are central to the discussion. Besides that, doing scientific investigations on the correlation between competencies and technologies in TFL plays a constructive role in creating a competitive educational environment for everyone. The study aimed to test blended learning technologies …

The Necessity Of Foreign Language Curriculum Revision, Mukhamadavas Irisqulov Associate Professor

Philology Matters

The article deals with the effect of the curriculum objectives on the most important factors to meet the language learning goals. Implementing the goals of the curriculum, teachers will have opportunities to share successful classroom activities, guide the trainers, obtain good knowledge of the language theory and practice, maintain high expectation in the classrooms, encourage students, motivate them, foresee the ways to overcome setbacks. The overall aim of curriculum is - to improve the effective communicative competence in different life situations. The article presents a practical overview of the different activities for developing an effective national language program. Both teachers …

Expository Language Sample Assessment Of Spanish- English Bilingual Middle-School Children, Rachel Ann Eggert

Theses and Dissertations

Because of the possible bias and limitations in using standardized assessments, it is advantageous to assess school-age children who are bilingual using additional descriptive assessments, including language sampling. Choosing expository discourse language sampling to assess this population is beneficial because it is the standard form of discourse in a classroom setting and provides a more complex language sample. Using expository discourse language sampling, this study assesses the oral expository discourse language skills of Spanish- English bilingual middle school students who have learned English as a second language. The study found that expository discourse was a feasible way to assess the …

Alternative Assessment As Modern Requirement Of Teaching English, S. Q. Daniyarova, L. Y. Hakimova

Central Asian Problems of Modern Science and Education

This article highlights specific features of assessing students' knowledge, abilities and skills. Unlike traditional method of teaching, alternative assessment is of ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF CENTRAL ASIAN PROBLEMS OF MODERN SCENCE AND EDUCATION. MARCH, 2019-I ISSN 2181-9750 368 high importance among language teachers and students, who prefer the utilization of modern approach. Alternative assessment is characterized by aspects such as being process oriented and having authentic character. Being continuous assessment, alternative method of evaluating students has the crucial role in terms of improving students' weaknesses and monitoring their progress

Ita Language Proficiency Testing: Recommended Replacement For The Speak® Test, Anne Marie Stoughton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Oral language tests have been used since the 1950s to assess the proficiency of spoken language. In the 1980s and 1990s, the need for oral proficiency testing increased as states began to mandate that universities within their jurisdictions test the English proficiency of instructors due to growing concerns over international teaching assistants’ (ITAs) comprehensibility. Many universities turned to the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit® (SPEAK test), a language proficiency test created and distributed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), as means to test ITA proficiency in English. ETS’s discontinuance of the SPEAK test in 2010 has forced, and is forcing, …

Early Literacy Abilities In Spanish-English Emergent Bilingual Children From Varied Dialectal Backgrounds, Antonietta Mastrota

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Hispanic population within the United States has grown to a considerable amount. The state of Florida’s population is 25% Hispanic, with projected estimates of this population continuing to grow in the coming years (Ortman & Shin, 2011). Statistics show that 28.3% of the state’s population, over the age of five, speak a language other than English at home. With this considerable number of Spanish-speakers comes the responsibility to adjust certain educational practices to best meet their needs. Literacy is an essential part of learning, and therefore assessing early literacy is an essential part to any child’s academic development.

Phonological …

Performance Self-Appraisal Calibration Of Esl Students On A Proficiency Reading Test, Jodi Mikolajcik Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

Self-assessment as a placement measure or accurate assessment of skill has been scrutinized in previous research. Findings have shown a general human tendency towards overconfidence in performance (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). This study looks at performance self-appraisals in an ESL population, with participants from varying cultural backgrounds. Performance self-appraisal calibration is a measure of the relationship between an examinee's perceived skill (or confidence) and their actual skill (or ability) on a given exam item (Phakiti, 2016). Being well-calibrated is an indication that test takers know their strengths and weaknesses and thus the difference between confidence and ability is minimal, whereas …

Does The Test Work? Evaluating A Web-Based Language Placement Test, Avizia Long, Sun-Young Shin, Kimberly Geeslin, Erik Willis

Faculty Publications

In response to the need for examples of test validation from which everyday language programs can benefit, this paper reports on a study that used Bachman’s (2005) assessment use argument (AUA) framework to examine evidence to support claims made about the intended interpretations and uses of scores based on a new web-based Spanish language placement test. The test, which consisted of 100 items distributed across five item types (sound discrimination, grammar, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and vocabulary), was tested with 2,201 incoming first-year and transfer students at a large, Midwestern public university. Analyses of internal consistency and validity revealed the …

Evaluating A Translingual Administration Of The Early Grades Math Assessment (Egma) In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Fernanda Gandara

Doctoral Dissertations

Translanguaging is a view around languages that normalizes diglossia without separation: the linguistic resources of the bilinguals are considered one integrated system. Translanguaging is also a language practice of bilinguals, who select features from their entire linguistic repertoire to make sense of the world around them. Translanguaging is widely used by students and teachers in the bilingual classroom, as it allows students to build upon their entire set of resources, enhance learning outcomes, perform identities, and develop their languages even further. However, translanguaging is rarely used in assessments of bilinguals. Assessments of bilinguals, especially large-scale tests, are typically monolingual in …

The Feasibility Of Assessing Parent And Child Letter Knowledge In At-Rrisk Families Within A Museum Enrichment Setting, Jeny Sara Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE FEASIBILITY OF ASSESSING PARENT AND CHILD LETTER KNOWLEDGE IN AT-RISK FAMILIES WITHIN A MUSEUM ENRICHMENT SETTING

by

Jeny Sara Thomas

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017

Under the Supervision of Professor John Heilmann

Purpose. This study addressed alphabet knowledge with children/parents who may be at-risk using a museum environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the parent- and child-level assessments developed were appropriate to measure letter knowledge and children’s home literacy environment (HLE) from at-risk families and implement a museum enrichment program for the children/parents within a museum experience.

Methods. Fourteen parent-child dyads from the Family …

Attune With Baby: An Innovative Attunement Program For Parents And Families With Integrated Evaluation, Sara Beth Lohre

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Infants speak in their own language; sounds, screeches, cries, and howls that help them to communicate their caregiving needs. Unaware, parents may develop a checklist of caregiving approaches to the baby. The infant tells the adult directly what they need, and waits for the parent to respond. Infant talk may change from soft and quiet to loud and aggressive; coos and cries become crying and screams as the infant’s caregiver—communicating the intensity of emotion, urgency of their request, or their frustration with varied and sometimes inadequate, failed, or missing caregiving patterns the infant has no choice but to accept. When …

The Washback Of The Toefl Ibt In Vietnam, Melissa Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Washback, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning, has received considerable attention in language testing research over the past twenty years. It is widely argued that testing, particularly high-stakes testing, exerts a powerful influence, whether intended or unintended, positive or negative, on both teachers and learners. This article investigates the washback effects of a high-stakes English language proficiency test, the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT), in Vietnam. Vietnam, a developing country whose educational philosophies differ from those underpinning the TOEFL iBT, provided a unique context to explore the test's washback. In the …

Establishing The Viability Of The Multidimensional Quality Metrics Framework, Tyler A. Snow

Theses and Dissertations

The Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) framework is a new system for creating customized translation quality assessment and evaluation metrics designed to fit specific translation needs. In this study I test the viability of MQM to determine whether the framework in its current state is ready for implementation as a quality assessment framework in the translation industry. Other contributions from this study include: (1) online software for designing and using metrics based on the MQM framework; (2) a survey of the typical, real-world quality assessment and evaluation practices of language service providers in the translation industry; and (3) a measurement scale …

The Role Of Pronunciation In Speaking Test Ratings, Rui Ma

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the weight of pronunciation in a speaking proficiency test at an English as a Second Language (ESL) Intensive English Program (IEP) in America. As an integral part of speaking, beliefs, practices, and research of pronunciation teaching have experienced shifts over the decades (Morley, 1991). Most studies concerning speaking have focused on intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness of speaking, with attempting to address the role of pronunciation in oral communication. However, the degree to which pronunciation is weighed in determining speaking proficiency levels is unclear (Higgs & Clifford, 1982, Kang, 2013). In an effort to contribute to the understanding …

Foreign Language Assessments And Interpretive Communication: A Literacy-Based Perspective, Kate Paesani

Kate Paesani

This presentation proposes a reconceptualization of interpretive communication through the lens of foreign language (FL) literacy and the multiliteracies framework. The communicative modes and multiliteracies frameworks are similar because they suggest curricular goals for FL programs grounded in cultural content and adopt a broad understanding of communication in which language modalities are overlapping. They differ because the multiliteracies framework additionally outlines a pedagogical approach that puts into practice goals, content, and communication and foregrounds texts as the core content of FL courses. Indeed, the literacy-based learning processes of interpretation, collaboration, problem solving, and reflection expand our understanding of how learners …

Aligning Goals, Objectives, And Assessments: A Multiliteracies Perspective, Kate Paesani, Heather Willis Allen

Kate Paesani

In this session, we show how goals, objectives, and assessments in introductory foreign language (FL) programs can be articulated to reflect principles of the multiliteracies framework. Using the backward design model, we consider how to create instructional goals that reflect linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural dimensions of literacy and how to align objectives with principles of interpretation, collaboration, problem solving, and reflection. We further argue that to effectively measure objectives, assessments should view language and literacy broadly, be multidimensional, and link clearly to teaching and learning. This literacy-based approach thus represents a shift away from the emphasis on acquisition of language …

Ell Vocabulary Acquisition: How Improvement Measurements Are Affected By Text Type, English Reading Ability, And Assessment Methods, Joellen Magnus

Theses and Dissertations

Vocabulary acquisition is a crucial part of language learning. This study seeks to determine what textual and student factors affect vocabulary acquisition rates from reading English texts for high school students for whom English is a second language, as well as how assessment factors affect the measurement of vocabulary acquisition. In this study, vocabulary acquisition was measured by comparing the differences between pre-test and post-test scores from before and after reading different texts. Text type did not affect student outcomes, but the improvement rates were affected by students' pre-test scores, students' English reading ability, and the types of assessment questions. …

Assessment Practices In The Post-Communicative Era: A Multiliteracies Perspective, Heather W. Allen, Kate Paesani, Beatrice Dupuy

Heather Willis Allen

No abstract provided.

Assessment Practices In The Post-Communicative Era: A Multiliteracies Perspective, Heather Willis Allen, Beatrice Dupuy, Kate Paesani

Kate Paesani

Although numerous integrated approaches to foreign language teaching and learning have emerged during the “post-communicative era,” assessment practices have not kept pace with changes reflected within these approaches. Assessment practices often remain form-focused, oriented toward isolated language competencies, and devoid of focus on expression or interpretation of meaning. Yet, as Kern (2000) stated, “what is evaluated constitutes the de facto curriculum and how it is evaluated reflects the de facto philosophy of learning and teaching” (p. 267). In other words, when assessment practices focus on forms and isolated skills while lacking a focus on meaningful communication, instructors see mastery of …

Ruqual: A System For Assessing Post-Editing, Jason K. Housley

Theses and Dissertations

Post-editing machine translation has become more common in recent years due to the increase in materials requiring translation and the effectiveness of machine translation systems. This project presents a system for formalizing structured translation specifications that facilitates the assessment of the performance of a post-editor. This report provides details concerning two software applications: the Ruqual Specifications Writer, which aids in the authoring of post-editing project specifications, and the Ruqual Rubric Viewer which provides a graphical user interface for filling out a machine readable rubric file. The project as a whole relies on a definition of translation quality based on the …

Linguistic Discrimination In Writing Assessment: How Raters React To African American “Errors,” Esl Errors, And Standard English Errors On A State-Mandated Writing Exam, David M. Johnson, Lewis Vanbrackle

Faculty and Research Publications

Raters of Georgia''s (USA) state-mandated college-level writing exam, which is intended to ensure a minimal university-level writing competency, are trained to grade holistically when assessing these exams. A guiding principle in holistic grading is to not focus exclusively on any one aspect of writing but rather to give equal weight to style, vocabulary, mechanics, content, and development. This study details how raters react to “errors” typical of African American English writers, of ESL writers, and of standard American English writers. Using a log-linear model to generate odds ratios for comparison of essays with these error types, results indicate linguistic discrimination …

New Trends In Automatic Assessment: Ontology Matching, Maria Mitina, Patricia Magee, John Cardiff

Conference Papers

Instant individual feedback represents a result of assessment which allows for considerable improvements in both teaching and learning. In this paper we present the application of ontology matching techniques in automatic correction of students’ answers for SQL tests, which will provide teachers with instant feedback to facilitate manual correction and marking and which they can pass to the students. Students experience many problems learning SQL due to the necessity to memorise database schemas, unclear feedback from the database engine on the execution of the query, etc. The program environment utilising the described approach is designed to solve the abovementioned problems …

A Web-Based Tool For Oral Practice And Assessment Of Grammatical Structures, Heather Colleen Torrie

Theses and Dissertations

The grammar course objectives at Brigham Young University's English Language Center (ELC) are a list of grammar structures for each level that students are expected to be able to master. These objectives currently are only measured by pencil-paper grammar tests, providing information regarding receptive grammar ability only. Therefore, there is a need for an oral grammar assessment to measure productive grammar ability, providing diagnostic and achievement information about the specific grammar objectives. This project is a web-based oral grammar assessment tool that enables teachers to assess students' mastery of the structures covered in the ELC grammar classes. The core of …

What Is New In The New Toefl-Ibt 2006 Test Format?, Alla Zareva

English Faculty Publications

In recent years TOEFL has become one of the most popular high-stakes tests affecting not only what and how English language teachers teach but also what and how students learn (e.g. Johnson, Jordan, & Poehner, 2005; Alderson & Wall, 1993). The new 2006 TOEFL–iBT exam is on its way; yet, until now, information about the new test format and test preparation materials is scarce. Above and beyond interest in the test alone, the burning question is what demanded the revision of the current test, given that the latest computer-based TOEFL was introduced fairly recently worldwide. The paper elaborates on some …