Assessing young learners’ foreign language abilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Nikolov ◽  
Veronika Timpe-Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Programs ◽  
The Impact

AbstractGiven the exponential growth in the popularity of early foreign language programs, coupled with an emphasis of evidence-based instruction, assessing young learners’ (YLs) foreign language abilities has moved to center stage. This article canvasses how the field of assessing young learners of foreign languages has evolved over the past two decades. The review offers insights into how and why the field has developed, how constructs have been defined and operationalized, what language proficiency frameworks have been used, why children were assessed, what aspects of their foreign language proficiency have been assessed, who was involved in the assessment, and how the results have been used. By surveying trends in foreign language (FL) and content-based language learning programs involving children between the ages of 3 and 14, the article highlights research into assessment of and for learning, and critically discusses areas such as large-scale assessments and proficiency examinations, comparative and experimental studies, the impact of assessment, teachers’ beliefs and assessment practices, young learners’ test-taking strategies, age-appropriate tasks, alternative and technology-mediated assessment, as well as game-based assessments. The final section of the article highlights where more research is needed, thus outlining potential future directions for the field.

scholarly journals Year of Intensive Language Learning, A Special Program to Rocket Hungarian Students’ Foreign Language Proficiency: A Success Story?

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-174
Author(s):  
Enikő Öveges
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Secondary School Education ◽  
School Year ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Contact Hours

Summary Hungary has witnessed several major attempts to improve the foreign language proficiency of students in primary and secondary school education since the political changes of the 1990s, as both international and national surveys reflect a dramatically low ratio of Hungarian population that self-reports to communicate in any foreign language at any level. Among other initiatives, a major one to boost students’ foreign language competence has been the Year of Intensive Language Learning (YILL), introduced in 2004, which allows secondary schools to integrate an extra school year when the majority of the contact hours are devoted to foreign languages. The major objectives of YILL are as follows: 1) to offer a state-financed and school-based alternative to the widely spread profit-oriented private language tuition; thus 2) granting access to intensive language learning and 3) enhancing equal opportunities; and as a result of the supporting measures, 4) to improve school language education in general. YILL is exemplary in its being monitored from the launch of the first classes to the end of their five-year studies, involving three large-scale, mixed-method surveys and numerous smaller studies. Despite all the measures to assist the planning and the implementation, however, the program does not appear to be an obvious success. The paper introduces the background, reviews and synthesizes the related studies and surveys in order to evaluate the program, and argues that with more considerate planning, the YILL ‘hungaricum’ would yield significantly more benefits.

Language learning strategy use in context: the effects of self-efficacy and CLIL on language proficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-220
Author(s):  
Nils Jaekel
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact

AbstractLanguage learning strategies (LLS) are suggested to facilitate learning and support learner autonomy. The integration of content and language in foreign language education increases the cognitive work load. Furthermore, self-efficacy has been identified as a key predictor for strategy use and language achievement. The present study aimed to (1) investigate LLS use in content-based versus traditional foreign language environments and (2) assess the impact LLS use and self-efficacy have on language proficiency. Participants were Year 9 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and regular English as a foreign language (EFL) students (N=378) in Germany. Structural equation modelling, controlling for a range of confounding variables, showed that (1) there was no difference in LLS use between CLIL and EFL students. (2) LLS use had a negative impact while self-efficacy predicted higher language proficiency. These results suggest that students may best be supported by enhancing their self-efficacy while they should carefully choose their strategies.

The Applicability of Picturebooks to Teach English as a Foreign Language

2019 ◽  
pp. 93-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Fleta Guillén
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Mode Of Instruction ◽  
Picturebook Reading

Interactive shared picturebook reading with learners of different ages and levels has proven to be a prominent practice in all languages. The overall aim of the chapter is to explore the applicability of shared picturebook reading to teach English as a foreign language. Due to the affordances of the multimodality of picturebooks to develop language and content knowledge, this critical investigation seeks to integrate shared picturebook reading as a mode of instruction into the young learners' academic curriculum to promote oral language abilities and conceptual knowledge. In order to provide practical advice for educators of young learners, the chapter describes ways that picturebooks boost vocabulary, language learning, and conceptual knowledge in English L2. The chapter develops criteria to select picturebooks for subject-area instruction, paying attention to the picture-word dynamics.

The impact of introducing foreign language requirements on the Spanish higher education system: The case of Córdoba University

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio R. Raigón Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Foreign Language Requirement ◽  
Language Requirement ◽  
Spanish Higher Education ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe requirement that students achieve accredited foreign language proficiency at B1 level in order to graduate from university or enrol for some postgraduate courses has prompted changes in language teaching in higher education in Spain. Given the clearly ineffective tuition received at earlier stages of their education, Spanish university students are finding it difficult to meet this new requirement. Society does not see language learning as a priority, and the aforementioned lack of effective teaching places Spaniards in a weak position with regard to language learning. Motivated by the Bologna Process, which seeks to foster the acquisition of multiple skills by students, the B1 requirement comes at the end of students’ education, regardless of what they were actually taught at primary and secondary level. This article examines the perceptions of a group of students enrolled in the master’s degree in secondary teacher training and analyses data on accreditation in general in order to draw relevant conclusions. The article focuses particularly on the options chosen by students at the University of Córdoba in order to meet the new foreign language requirement, and more specifically on the role played by the university’s language centre. Data was collected through a survey based on a validated

scholarly journals UZBEKISTAN MOD FOREIGN LANGUAGE APTITUDE TEST: A CRITICAL EVALUATION

2019 ◽  
pp. 138-151
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Foreign Language Aptitude ◽  
Foreign Language Programs

Globalization has entailed a growth in importance of the second/foreign language teaching and learning all over the world with the number of both voluntary and involuntary language learners increasing on daily basis. There is, however,a widely attested discrepancy in actual results achieved by those engaged in second/foreign language learning usually explained by means of invocation of a specialized talent that certain individuals have, whilst others lack. Such a talent is thought to be measurable and the results obtained are regarded as valid predictors of success for intensive foreign language programs. The present article deals with critical appraisal of one of such instruments in terms of both its theoretical and practical validity. A number of points to be addressed for the purpose of the instrument improvement are demonstrated via referral to both basic statistic techniques and scientific consensus in the field of language learning aptitude research.

Effects of a Technology-Enriched, Task-Based Language Teaching Curriculum on Chinese Elementary Students’ Achievement in English as a Foreign Language

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guofang Li ◽  
Xiaopeng Ni
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Fourth Grade Students ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Teaching Curriculum ◽  
The Impact

Despite the great potential technologies bring to TBLT, few studies have examined the effects of technology-enhanced TBLT curriculum on students’ language development, especially among young learners. This paper addresses this need by reporting the impact of a technology-enhanced TBLT curriculum on Chinese elementary students’ English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning using a Non-equivalent Groups Design. A total of 471 fourth grade students from 4 low-SES schools outside Beijing participated in the study. Students’ growth in their English achievement was assessed using pre and post-tests before and after the intervention. A descriptive analysis was first conducted after completion of data collection, and then a t-test was conducted to determine the effect of the intervention. Results indicate that students who received the intervention progressed much more quickly in overall language proficiency than those who did not receive the treatment. The study points to the great potential of implementing comprehensive technology-enhanced TBLT at the curricular level.

The Language Flagship Proficiency Initiative

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 592-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Gass ◽  
Paula Winke ◽  
Koen Van Gorp
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
State University ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
University Of Utah ◽  
The Status ◽  
Foreign Language Programs ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

The Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) at Michigan State University (MSU) was awarded a U.S. federally funded two-year grant in 2014 to investigate the status of proficiency, and the promotion of proficiency, in foreign language programs. The grant was awarded to Paula Winke and Susan Gass, as principal investigators. The purpose of this initiative was to assess language proficiency development and to show the impact that introducing assessment practices into established language programs has on pedagogical practices and, ultimately, on proficiency outcomes. In total, three grants were awarded, one to MSU, one to the University of Utah, and one to the University of Minnesota. The overall goals were the same, although each institution approached the task in slightly different ways and with slightly different emphases.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document