How do age, language, narrative task, language proficiency and exposure affect narrative macrostructure in German-Swedish children aged 4 to 6?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefin Lindgren ◽  
Ute Bohnacker
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Story Structure ◽  
Task Effects ◽  
Language Exposure

Abstract Previous studies show mixed findings concerning whether higher-order story structure (macrostructure) is similar across bilinguals’ two languages. It is not known how macrostructure is influenced by general language proficiency and amount of exposure. The present study investigates these issues in 46 German-Swedish bilingual 4- to 6-year-olds. Narratives were elicited in both languages with two picture-based tasks from the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) in the telling mode. We investigate to what extent the language of elicitation (Swedish vs German) influences bilingual children’s macrostructure (story structure, episodic complexity) and explore effects of narrative task, age, narrative length, expressive vocabulary and estimated language exposure, both separately and combined, on macrostructure in the respective language. Results show that macrostructural skills developed measurably with age from 4 to 6 years in both languages, with no task effects. Story structure scores were higher in the majority language Swedish than in German and developed differently with age. The effect of narrative length on story structure was similar in the two languages. Language exposure did not have any significant effect. Macrostructure scores were significantly affected by expressive vocabulary in German only. Generally, the results may be linked to slightly higher language proficiency in Swedish.

Storytelling in bilingual Turkish-Swedish children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Bohnacker ◽  
Josefin Lindgren ◽  
Buket Öztekin
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Oral Narratives ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Story Structure ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Carry Over

Abstract The empirical evidence for whether narrative macrostructure skills are shared between a bilingual child’s two languages is inconclusive, and it is not known how macrostructure (overall story structure) is influenced by general language proficiency and amount of exposure. The present study investigates these issues in 100 Turkish-Swedish bilingual 4-to-7-year-old children growing up in Sweden. Oral narratives were elicited in both Turkish and Swedish with two picture-based tasks from the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) in the telling mode. We investigated to what extent the language of elicitation influences bilingual children’s macrostructure (story structure, episodic complexity), and explored effects of age, narrative task, narrative length, expressive vocabulary and language exposure, both separately and combined, on macrostructure in the respective language. Story structure and episodic complexity were found to increase similarly with age in both Turkish and Swedish from 4 to 7 years. Scores did not differ between the two MAIN storytelling tasks. Expressive vocabulary and narrative length influenced story structure scores positively and similarly in both languages. Daily language exposure and length of exposure to Swedish did not show any significant effect. The results can be interpreted in support of a carry-over of narrative macrostructural skills between the two languages.

Macrostructure in the narratives of Indonesian-Dutch bilinguals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Tribushinina ◽  
Mila Irmawati ◽  
Pim Mak
Keyword(s):  
Internal State ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Input Current ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Story Structure ◽  
Narrative Skills ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Cross Lingual ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract There is no agreement regarding the relationship between narrative abilities in the two languages of a bilingual child. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that such cross-language relationships depend on age and language exposure by studying the narrative skills of 32 Indonesian-Dutch bilinguals (mean age: 8;5, range: 5;0–11;9). The narratives were elicited by means of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) and analysed for story structure, episodic complexity and use of internal state terms (ISTs) in the home language (Indonesian) and majority language (Dutch). The results demonstrate that story structure scores in the home language (but not in the majority language) were positively related to age. Exposure measures (current Dutch/Indonesian input, current richness of Dutch/Indonesian input, and length of exposure to Dutch) did not predict the macrostructure scores. There was a significant positive cross-language relationship in story structure and episodic complexity, and this relationship became stronger as a function of length of exposure to Dutch. There was also a positive cross-lingual relation in IST use, but it became weaker with age. The results support the idea that narrative skills are transferable between languages and suggest that cross-language relationships may interact with age and exposure factors in differential ways.

scholarly journals Feasibility of Higher Order Thinking Skill-Based on Descriptive Text Assessment Instruments Developed on 7th Grade Students of Junior High School (SMP Methodist Wesley Medan)

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-202
Author(s):  
Lentare Pinta Sianturi ◽  
Biner Ambarita ◽  
Khairil Ansari
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Higher Order Thinking ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Teacher Assessments

The development of a descriptive text assessment instrument must be considered in the regularity of the questions in accordance with the question grid. Based on the results of observations at Junior High School (SMP) Methodist Charles Wesley Medan, the teacher gave a questionnaire only in the form of essay questions (explanations) even though, in tests or tests carried out it was actually not just essays, but multiple choices. Feasibility of Higher Order Thinking Skill-Based Descriptive Text Assessment Instruments which is Developed on 7th Grade Students of Junior High School (SMP) Methodist Charles Wesley Medan is eligible and suitable for use in learning. Based on material experts, evaluation experts, Indonesian language teacher assessments and student responses

Internal and external factors contributing to variability in consonant accuracy of Arabic–French simultaneous bilingual children

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Rabia Sabah MEZIANE ◽  
Andrea A.N. MACLEOD
Keyword(s):  
Naming Task ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Internal And External Factors

Abstract This study aims to describe the relationships between child-internal and child-external factors and the consonant accuracy of bilingual children. More specifically, the study looks at internal factors: expressive and receptive vocabulary, and external factors: language exposure and language status, of a group of 4-year-old bilingual Arabic–French children. We measured the consonant accuracy of the children by the percentage of correct consonants in a Picture-Naming Task and a Non-Word Repetition Task in each language. The results suggest a significant relationship between vocabulary and consonant accuracy. A cross-language correlation was observed between the expressive vocabulary level of the majority language (French) and the consonant accuracy of the minority language (Arabic). Also, a significant correlation was found between Arabic language exposure and Arabic consonant accuracy. Finally, consonant accuracy was significantly higher in French tasks than in Arabic, despite the individual differences of the children.

Identifying the challenging characteristics of systems thinking encountered by undergraduate students in chemistry problem-solving of gas laws

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 594-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Chun Chen ◽  
Kimberley Wilson ◽  
Huann-shyang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Complex Chemistry ◽  
Chemistry Education Research

Systems thinking has been an educational priority for more than a decade, yet its related assessment and teaching strategies have been understudied in the chemistry education research community. Through the lens of systems thinking, this study explores how undergraduate students connect and translate their conceptual representations when they are involved in contextualised problem-solving. The ‘Contextualised Problem Solving’ (CPS) assessment instrument contains four open-ended questions about gas law. Three different cohorts of students registered in a physical science course (2016 Fall, 2017 Spring, 2017 Fall semesters) participated in the problem-solving component of CPS. The results showed that only 8% of students were capable of higher order systems thinking ability when they engaged in problem solving. Over half of the students failed to retrieve essential concepts in problem situations. Most of the participants demonstrated difficulties in organising related systems’ components, understanding the cyclic nature of relationships among systems, and identifying limitations in a specific problem context. By identifying the difficulties and challenges of systems thinking experienced by undergraduate students in solving complex chemistry problems, these findings have the potential to provide fresh insights into effective teaching strategies to promote students’ higher order thinking skills.

Measuring English language proficiency across subgroups: Using score equity assessment to evaluate test fairness

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanwook Yoo ◽  
Venessa F. Manna ◽  
Lora F. Monfils ◽  
Hyeon-Joo Oh
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Background Characteristics ◽  
Test Fairness ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Language Exposure

This study illustrates the use of score equity assessment (SEA) for evaluating the fairness of reported test scores from assessments intended for test takers from diverse cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds, using a workplace English proficiency test. Subgroups were defined by test-taker background characteristics that research has shown to be associated with performance on language tests. The characteristics studied included gender, age, educational background, language exposure, and previous experience with the assessment. Overall, the empirical results indicated that the statistical and psychometric methods used in producing test scores were not strongly influenced by the subgroups of test takers from which the scores were derived. This result provides evidence in support of the comparability and meaning of test scores across the various test-taker groups studied. This example may encourage language testing programs to incorporate SEA analyses to provide evidence to inform the validity and fairness of reported scores for all groups of test takers.

scholarly journals Cognitive Mechanisms of Monolingual and Bilingual Children in Monoliterate Educational Settings: Evidence From Sentence Repetition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Andreou ◽  
Ianthi Maria Tsimpli ◽  
Elvira Masoura ◽  
Eleni Agathopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Sentence Repetition

Sentence repetition (SR) tasks have been extensively employed to assess bilingual children’s linguistic and cognitive resources. The present study examined whether monoliterate bilingual children differ from their monolingual (and monoliterate) peers in SR accuracy and cognitive tasks, and investigated links between vocabulary, updating, verbal and visuospatial working memory and SR performance in the same children. Participants were two groups of 35 children, 8–12 years of age: one group consisted of Albanian-Greek monoliterate bilingual children and the other of Greek monolingual children attending a monolingual-Greek educational setting. The findings demonstrate that the two groups performed similarly in the grammaticality scores of the SR. However, monolinguals outperformed the monoliterate bilinguals in SR accuracy, as well as in the visuospatial working memory and updating tasks. The findings did not indicate any bilingual advantage in cognitive performance. The results also demonstrate that updating and visuospatial working memory significantly predicted monolingual children’s SR accuracy scores, whereas Greek vocabulary predicted the performance of our monoliterate bilingual children in the same task. We attribute this outcome to the fact that monoliterate bilingual children do not rely on their fluid cognitive resources to perform the task, but instead rely on language proficiency (indicated by expressive vocabulary) while performing the SR.

scholarly journals Development of HOTS (High Order Thinking Skill) Based News Text Assessment Instrument for 8th Grade Students in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1123-1136
Author(s):  
Dzu Mirratin Firda Hidayat ◽  
Abdurahman Adisaputera ◽  
Isda Pramuniati
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Higher Order Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
High Order ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
High Order Thinking Skill ◽  
High Level ◽  
High Order Thinking

The purpose of this research is to analyze the development of HOTS (High Order Thinking Skill) based news text assessment instruments for for 7th Grade Students in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan. The study was conducted at SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan. This research was conducted in the even semester of the 2018/2019 school year. This type of research is research and development or Research and Development (R&D). This research is called R&D, by adopting eight steps of R&D research according to Sugiyono (2014: 137). The results of this study indicate that students' high-level thinking skills obtained an average score of 51.42. This value is in the medium category because the standard value is met 40 <x total score ≤ 60. The measurement results of the assessment instrument based on Higher Order Thinking Skill in the dimensions of students' persuasive text knowledge obtained superior conceptual ability results with a percentage of 76% in the sufficient category, followed by factual abilities with the percentage of 60% is in the sufficient category, students 'procedural knowledge is 58% with low category, and students' knowledge that is metacognitive there are 59% with enough category. Thus, it can be stated that the eighth grade students of SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan have advantages in the conceptual dimension of knowledge and the ability to think at a high level with a medium category, ie students must be accustomed to working on questions based on Higher Order Thinking Skills so that students' abilities increase.

The Development of Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment

1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonny N. Peirce ◽  
Gail Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Instructional Programs ◽  
Grassroots Initiatives ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
History Of ◽  
One Step ◽  
Lengthy Process

In this article the authors describe the development of a new language assessment instrument that will be used across Canada to place adult newcomers in instructional programs appropriate for their level of proficiency in English. The development of the instrument represents one step in a lengthy process of federal and grassroots initiatives to establish a common framework for the description and evaluation of the language proficiency of adult newcomers who speak English as a second language. The authors, who were the test developers on the project, provide an introduction to the development of the instrument, referred to as the Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment (CLBA). They describe the history of the project and challenges they faced in the test development process. In addition, they give an account of how the instruments were field tested, piloted, and scored. They conclude with a brief discussion of work in progress on the ongoing validation of the instrument.

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