A multifaceted approach to investigating pre-task planning effects on paired oral test performance

This study investigated the impact of different lengths of pre-task planning time on performance in a test of second language speaking ability for university admission. In the study, 47 Turkish-speaking learners of English took a test of English language speaking ability. The participants were divided into two groups according to their language proficiency, which was estimated through a paper-based English placement test. They each completed four monologue tasks: two picture-based narrative tasks and two description tasks. In a balanced design, each test taker was allowed a different length of planning time before responding to each of the four tasks. The four planning conditions were 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. Trained raters awarded scores to the test takers using an analytic rating scale and a context-specific, binary-choice rating scale, designed specifically for the study. The results of the rater scores were analysed by using a multifaceted Rasch measurement. The impact of pre-task planning on test scores was found to be influenced by four variables: the rating scale; the task type that test takers completed; the length of planning time provided; and the test takers’ levels of proficiency in the second language. Increases in scores were larger on the picture-based narrative tasks than on the two description tasks. The results also revealed a relationship between proficiency and pre-task planning, whereby statistical significance was only reached for the increases in the scores of the lowest-level test takers. Regarding the amount of planning time, the 5-minute planning condition led to the largest overall increases in scores. The research findings offer contributions to the study of pre-task planning and will be of particular interest to institutions seeking to assess the speaking ability of prospective students in English-medium educational environments.

Download Full-text

Effects of Strategic Planning Time on L2 Paired Oral Test Performance

Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1515/cjal-2015-0017 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Haizhen Wang ◽

Fangqi Song

Keyword(s):

Strategic Planning ◽

Test Performance ◽

Test Scores ◽

Syntactic Complexity ◽

Task Condition ◽

L2 Proficiency ◽

Planning Time ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Oral Test ◽

Verb Forms

AbstractPlanning, as a task condition, is hypothesized to influence L2 test performance and thus test scores (Skehan, 1998). This study investigates the effects of lengths of strategic planning time on L2 paired oral test performance, moderated by L2 proficiency. It aims to determine whether differences in performance result from 0, 1, 2 or 3 minutes of planning time, and whether planning time and proficiency interactively affect performance. The participants were 72 Chinese EFL learners, divided into four groups, each performing the same dialogic task with 1 or 2 or 3 minute planning time or none. All speech recordings were rated by two trained raters, and the transcripts of the speech samples subjected to a discourse analysis, measuring fluency features of Rate A and Rate B, complexity features of syntactic complexity, syntactic variety and lexical variety, and accuracy features of error-free clauses and correct verb forms. Findings show a stable accuracy, higher fluency in the planned condition, and greater syntactic complexity when learners are given 3 minutes’ planning time. No interaction is found between planning time and proficiency.

Download Full-text

Individual and shared Assessment of EsL students’ paired Oral Test performance: Examining Rater Judgments and Lexico-grammatical features

10.1515/9781501511370-005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 69-90

Author(s):

Kim McDonough ◽

Pakize Uludag

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Esl Students ◽

Oral Test ◽

Performance Examining

Download Full-text

The Effects of Language Anxiety on Students' Oral Test Performance and Attitudes

Modern Language Journal ◽

10.1111/j.1540-4781.1992.tb02573.x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 76 (1) ◽

pp. 14-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 155

Author(s):

ELAINE M. PHILLIPS

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Language Anxiety ◽

Oral Test

Download Full-text

Relating Oral Test Performance Errors to Cue Features

Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes ◽

10.3138/cmlr.35.1.55 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 55-65

Author(s):

W. Terrence Gordon

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Oral Test ◽

Performance Errors

Download Full-text

The Effects of Different Lengths of Pretask Planning Time on L2 Learners' Oral Test Performance

TESOL Quarterly ◽

10.1002/tesq.159 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 38-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Lanlan Li ◽

Jiliang Chen ◽

Lan Sun

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Planning Time ◽

Oral Test ◽

L2 Learners

Download Full-text

Biracial Testing: The Question of Clinicians' Influence on Children’s Test Performance

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.0801.05 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David L. Ratusnik ◽

Roy A. Koenigsknecht

Keyword(s):

Clinical Setting ◽

Test Performance ◽

Test Scores ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Speech And Language ◽

Black And White ◽

Drawing Test ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Preschool Age Children

Six speech and language clinicians, three black and three white, administered the Goodenough Drawing Test (1926) to 144 preschoolers. The four groups, lower socioeconomic black and white and middle socioeconomic black and white, were divided equally by sex. The biracial clinical setting was shown to influence test scores in black preschool-age children.

Download Full-text

A Comparison of Four Adolescent Language Tests

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1803.250 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 250-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

R. Jane Lieberman ◽

Ann Marie C. Heffron ◽

Stephanie J. West ◽

Edward C. Hutchinson ◽

Thomas W. Swem

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Sixth Grade ◽

Significant Discrepancy ◽

Language Impaired ◽

Language Functions ◽

Language Tests ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Sixth Grade Students ◽

Overall Performance ◽

Selection Of

Four recently developed adolescent language tests, the Fullerton Test for Adolescents (FLTA), the Test of Adolescent Language (TOAL), the Clinical Evaluation of Language Functions (CELF), and the Screening Test of Adolescent Language (STAL), were compared to determine: (a) whether they measured the same language skills (content) in the same way (procedures); and (b) whether students performed similarly on each of the tests. First, respective manuals were reviewed to compare selection of subtest content areas and subtest procedures. Then, each of the tests was administered according to standardized procedures to 30 unselected sixth-grade students. Despite apparent differences in test content and procedures, there was no significant difference in students' performance on three of the four tests, and correlations among test performance were moderate to high. A comparison of the pass/fail rates for overall performance on the tests, however, revealed a significant discrepancy between the proportions of students identified in need of further evaluation on the STAL (20%) and the proportion diagnosed as language impaired on the three diagnostic tests (60-73%). Clinical implications are discussed.

Download Full-text