New Technologies in Second Language Spoken Assessment

2021 ◽  
pp. 403-416
Author(s):  
Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Volker Hegelheimer
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Technological Advances

In second language (L2) spoken assessment, one challenge has been to mimic real-life situations. New technologies may help improve test authenticity by placing language learners into authentic settings. This chapter provides an overview of the use and usefulness of new technologies in L2 spoken assessment and outlines inherent opportunities and challenges presented by these technologies. Specifically, it discusses commonly used technologies for test design, delivery, and scoring of examinees’ responses. It concludes with a visitation of Douglas’s warning that “language testing … driven by technology, rather than technology being employed in the services of language testing, is likely to lead us down a road best not traveled” in light of recent technological advances.

Augmented Reality

2018 ◽  
pp. 54-71
Author(s):  
Erkan Özdemir ◽  
Serkan Kılıç
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Real World ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Application Fields

Technological advances have had an impact on many industries as well as the tourism industry. Augmented reality applications, one of the emerging new technologies in recent years, have also started to be used in our daily lives. Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that allows its users to see the real world together with an additional virtual world that is added in real time to the same field of view. The augmented reality applications contribute to the enrichment of tourists' tourism experiences, especially during their visit and result in augmented satisfaction levels. Furthermore, it is one of the effective tools that can be used against the wear and tear of cultural heritage sites caused by overcrowding. In this chapter, the application fields of the augmented reality in the field of tourism have been discussed under the subtitles. As a result of our study, recommendations for the development of AR applications both for the literature and real-life application have been presented.

TRENDS IN COMPUTER-BASED SECOND LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 228-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Jamieson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Adaptive Tests ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Computer Adaptive Tests

In the last 20 years, several authors have described the possible changes that computers may effect in language testing. Since ARAL's last review of general language testing trends (Clapham, 2000), authors in the Cambridge Language Assessment Series have offered various visions of how computer technology could alter the testing of second language skills. This chapter reflects these perspectives as it charts the paths recently taken in the field. Initial steps were made in the conversion of existing item types and constructs already known from paper-and- pencil testing into formats suitable for computer delivery. This conversion was closely followed by the introduction of computer-adaptive tests, which aim to make more, and perhaps, better, use of computer capabilities to tailor tests more closely to individual abilities and interests. Movement toward greater use of computers in assessment has been coupled with an assumption that computer-based tests should be better than their traditional predecessors, and some related steps have been taken. Corpus linguistics has provided tools to create more authentic assessments; the quest for authenticity has also motivated inclusion of more complex tasks and constructs. Both these innovations have begun to be incorporated into computer-based language tests. Natural language processing has also provided some tools for computerized scoring of essays, particularly relevant in large-scale language testing programs. Although computer use has not revolutionized all aspects of language testing, recent efforts have produced some of the research, technological advances, and improved pedagogical understanding needed to support progress.

scholarly journals Second half part of the apple

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-301
Author(s):  
Katrin Ahlgren ◽  
Ulrika Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Transnational Relations ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Initial Assumption ◽  
And Function ◽  
Discursive Constructions

Abstract This article investigates the use of friendship metaphors in texts by adult second language writers, in relation to the occurrence and function of metaphor and the writers’ discursive constructions of identity. The texts come from the final assessment in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), a language program in basic Swedish. The analysis confirmed the initial assumption that the emotional and existentially loaded theme of friendship allows for the use of metaphor. The results also showed that the experience of writers as newcomers in Sweden played out in the metaphors that were used and their contexts. In order to categorize the found metaphors, a model was developed to show how systematic metaphors reflect functions and values related to three thematic categories: guidance and help, belonging and inclusion, and sharing and solidarity. For several metaphors, the metaphoricity was created through novel and unidiomatic wording, i.e. a kind of neologism that can be considered a communication strategy. The importance of using universal and abstract themes in language testing is emphasized, to enable second language writers to express different facets of experience and knowledge through existential thoughts and attitudes – not only as language learners and newcomers, but also as social agents who create and keep transnational relations through friends.

scholarly journals Using drama activities to teach beginner’s French to Chinese students at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong: An exploratory case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-736
Author(s):  
Zarina Marie Krystle M. Abenoja ◽  
Matthew DeCoursey
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Tertiary Institution ◽  
Positive Effects

The exam-oriented education system in Hong Kong has created a language learning environment that is largely confined to traditional classroom settings, which may not take best advantage of students’ abilities to relate what they have learnt in class to real-life scenarios. Such learning environments may have implications for the way second language learners learn a new language. Numerous studies suggest that drama activities used in language classrooms can enhance second language learning. These studies put forward tasks that generate pleasant and rewarding experiences, enhance confidence and subsequently increase motivation to learn a language. By focusing on students studying in a beginning French course at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong, this article reports on how drama activities make a target language more enjoyable and easier to recall. Classroom observations and interviews with students (N = 30) revealed that learning French via drama had a number of positive effects on second language learners especially in terms of their confidence. The learning of French through drama may provide a language learning environment that enables students to apply their French language skills more effectively in real-life situations.

scholarly journals تحليل الحاجات الاتَّصالية في المواقف الحياتيَّة لمتعلمي اللغة العربيَّة بوصفها ثانية وطرق تنميتها في تحقيق الكفاية الاتِّصاليَّة / Analysis of communication needs in real-life situations for Arabic as second language learners and its means of development

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-79
Author(s):  
Reem Adil Al Turk ◽  
Azrul Muhammad Azlan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Learning Language

ملخص البحث:  تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تحديد الحاجات الاتِّصاليَّة في المواقف الحياتية اليومية، وإلى تحديد طرق تحقيق الكفاية الاتِّصالية لمتعلمي العربيَّة للنَّاطقين بغيرها. اعتمدت هذه الدِّراسة على المنهج الاستقرائي الوصفي في الكشف عن الحاجات الاتِّصالية لمتعلمي العربيَّة من غير النَّاطقين بها، وتحديد المواقف الحياتية، وكذلك تحديد طرق تنمية الكفاية الاتِّصاليَّة، وكشفت الدِّراسة أنَّ تعلم اللُّغة اتِّصاليّاً ينصبّ في الاتِّصال والتَّواصل في المواقف الحياتيَّة في سياق اجتماعيّ محدد، وتوظيف اللُّغة، واستخدامها؛ يتوقَّف على الصَّواب اللُّغويّ، والصَّواب الاجتماعيّ؛ لتحقيق الكفاية الاتِّصاليَّة الَّتي تهدف إلى تمكين المتعلِّمين من الاتِّصال مع المتحدِّثين الأصليّين للغة المتعلَّمة. الكلمات المفتاحية: المدخل الاتِّصاليّ- الكفاية الاتِّصاليَّة - تحليل الحاجات- المواقف الحياتية - استخدام اللُّغة   Abstract This study aims to determine the communication needs in daily real-life situations and to identify the means to achieve communication competence for learners of Arabic as a second language. The study uses deductive descriptive methods to uncover the communication needs of learners of Arabic as a second language and to determine the real-life situations and the means to develop the communicative competence. The study reveals that learning language for communicative purpose depends on real communication in real-life situations in a certain social context with the use of language. This would depend on the use of correct language and social context to achieve the communicative competence that aims at enabling learners in communicating with native speakers of the second language. Keywords: Communicative approach, communicative competence, needs analysis, real-life situations, language use   Abstrak Kajian ini bermatlamatkan untuk menentukan keperluan komunikasi dalam situasi harian dan untuk mengenalpasti cara-cara untuk mencapai kemampuan berkomunikasi untuk pelajar-pelajar bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa kedua. Kajian ini menggunakan cara deduktif dan deskriptif untuk menyingkap keperluan komunikasi pelajar-pelajar bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa kedua dan juga untuk menentukan situasi-situasi dan cara untuk membangunkan kemampuan komunikasi mereka. Kajian ini mendapati yang mempelajari bahasi bagi tujuan komunikasi bergantung kepada situasi harian sebenar dalam konteks sosial tertentu dengan menggunakan bahasa. Ini juga bergantung kepada penggunaan bahasa yang betul dan kontek sosial untuk mencapai kemampuan komunikasi yang bertujuan membolehkan pelajar berkomunikasi dengan penutur asli bahasa kedua yang mereka pelajari. Kata kunci: Pendekatan komunikasi, kemampuan komunikatif, Analisa keperluan, situasi harian sebenar, penggunaan bahasa

Setting/interlocutor-related variation in oral performance of adult ESL learners

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-146
Author(s):  
Zofia Cholewka
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Adult Esl

Abstract The performance of six adult intermediate second-language learners on an oral task was examined. The subjects, sharing a number of characteristics, e.g. the source language (Polish), performed the same task twice, with two different interlocutors, in two different settings (familiar vs. ‘real-life’). The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of the familiarity of the setting/ interlocutor factors on the subjects’ performance. To analyse the surface structure errors obtained from the two interviews, Selinker’s (1972) error taxonomy was employed, thus yielding five error categories: language transfer, overgeneralization, simplification, communication based and teaching induced errors. The findings revealed that the unfamiliar, ‘real-life’ setting elicited significantly higher proportion of language transfer errors than the same task performed in the familiar environment. It is argued that adult, intermediate second-language learners, in a new, ‘real-life’ social setting, when confronted with an unfamiliar native speaker of the target language, revert to their native language, fall back on their prior knowledge to facilitate the task demands.

Online Communities of Practice and Second Language Phonological Acquisition

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Lord ◽  
Stasie Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

Second language (L2) researchers have long recognized the potential benefits of incorporating pronunciation instruction in language curricula (e.g., Arteaga, 2000; Castino, 1996; Elliott, 1995, 1997; González-Bueno, 1997; Lord, 2005; Major, 1998; Moyer, 1999; Terrell, 1989; among others), and have investigated a variety of training types both in and out of the classroom, meeting with mixed successes. Likewise, technological advances provide educators with new tools that foster collaboration among learners and encourage the crucial processes of input, interaction and output (Long, 1996; Pica, 1994; Swain, 1985) beyond the walls of the classroom. The present study examines the potential of one such tool – podcasting – to create a community of practice for language learners to improve their second language phonological production (following Lord, 2008; see also Ducate & Lomicka, 2009). Although the results offer inconsistent evidence in favor of specific acoustic and articulatory improvements, the benefits of podcasting for such purposes are discussed.

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