Oral Language Assessment from an Ecolinguistic Perspective. An Empirical Investigation of Symbolic Competence

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-43
Author(s):  
Evangelia (Evelyn) Vovou
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
The Common

Abstract Although today's educational environments are to a great extend multilingual, large-scale foreign language examinations test heterogeneous groups with homogeneous examination practices, without taking all ecolinguistic parameters into consideration. Trying to minimize this limitation by calibrating examinations to the sociolinguistic and intercultural competence definitions of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), secures to an extend construct validity. However, the question still arises, if “one test fits all”. This paper focuses on oral foreign language assessment discourses, where discursive coconstruction and social nature of performance prevail. Adopting the ecolinguistic approach (Fill, 1996) the paper investigates the notion of symbolic competence (Kramsch & Whiteside, 2008) in the context of oral language examinations. By analyzing oral data the paper seeks to address, how ecolinguistic parameters concur in examination discourses and to what extend this effects the validity of measurement.

Continuity in foreign language education in Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-310
Author(s):  
Marinella Caruso ◽  
Josh Brown
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Study ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Incentive Plan ◽  
Using Data

Abstract This article discusses the validity of the bonus for languages other than English (known as the Language Bonus) established in Australia to boost participation in language education. In subjecting this incentive plan to empirical investigation, we not only address a gap in the literature, but also continue the discussion on how to ensure that the efforts made by governments, schools, education agencies and teachers to support language study in schooling can have long-term success. Using data from a large-scale investigation, we consider the significance of the Language Bonus in influencing students’ decisions to study a language at school and at university. While this paper has a local focus – an English-speaking country in which language study is not compulsory – it engages with questions from the broader agenda of providing incentives for learning languages. It will be relevant especially for language policy in English speaking countries.

scholarly journals On The Convenience of Teaching Languages Based on the Foreign Language Assessment System and the CEFR System

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 839-844
Author(s):  
Yormatova Gulnoz Qayumovna
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
World Today ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

Abstract: Through this article, we have discussed how and when and where the CEFR system, the most convenient and knowledge-based language learning system in the world today, was created and improved. Keywords: The Common European Framework, comprehensive way, knowledge and skills, professionals working, taxonomic nature.

scholarly journals Test usefulness of IELTS writing test tasks

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Neng Priyanti
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Time Allotment ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
Small Parts

This analysis was conducted to find out the extent to which IELTS writing test tasks are useful for its intended purpose. The indicators of test usefulness used in this study are those of Bachman and Palmer (1996): construct validity, reliability, authenticity, interactiveness, impact and practicality. This framework is taken as a viewpoint as it offers a comprehensive framework of test usefulness that is specific to that of language assessment. The result of the analysis shows that the IELTS writing test tasks place more concern on reliability and practicality. While not necessarily neglecting the other indicators, the nature of the test as a large-scale test reduces its overall usefulness. The predictive value remains unclear as its construct validity is still under-represented. The authenticity is problematic as the tasks correspond to only small parts of real tasks in universities in terms of their length, types of tasks, time allotment, and range of topics offered.

Can-Do descriptors – Realigning English Language Curriculum at Higher Education Institution to CEFR

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.

Student Perceptions of Community: A Different Perspective

NASPA Journal ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Clark ◽  
Joan Hirt
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Research University ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Public Research University ◽  
The Common ◽  
Using Data

The creation of small communities has been proposed as a way of enhancing the educational experience of students at large institutions. Using data from a survey of students living in large and small residences at a public research university, this study does not support the common assumption that small-scale social environments are more conducive to positive community life than large-scale social environments.

scholarly journals Enabling Reuse in Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes for White Goods: Legal and Organisational Conditions for Connecting Resource Flows and Actors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Dalhammar ◽  
Emelie Wihlborg ◽  
Leonidas Milios ◽  
Jessika Luth Richter ◽  
Sahra Svensson-Höglund ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Extended Producer Responsibility ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Pilot Projects ◽  
Waste Hierarchy ◽  
Producer Responsibility ◽  
White Goods

AbstractExtended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes have proliferated across Europe and other parts of the world in recent years and have contributed to increasing material and energy recovery from waste streams. Currently, EPR schemes do not provide sufficient incentives for moving towards the higher levels of the waste hierarchy, e.g. by reducing the amounts of waste through incentivising the design of products with longer lifespans and by enhancing reuse activities through easier collection and repair of end-of-life products. Nevertheless, several municipalities and regional actors around Europe are increasingly promoting reuse activities through a variety of initiatives. Furthermore, even in the absence of legal drivers, many producer responsibility organisations (PROs), who execute their members’ responsibilities in EPR schemes, are considering promoting reuse and have initiated a number of pilot projects. A product group that has been identified as having high commercial potential for reuse is white goods, but the development of large-scale reuse of white goods seems unlikely unless a series of legal and organisational barriers are effectively addressed. Through an empirical investigation with relevant stakeholders, based on interviews, and the analysis of two case studies of PROs that developed criteria for allowing reusers to access their end-of-life white goods, this contribution presents insights on drivers and barriers for the repair and reuse of white goods in EPR schemes and discusses potential interventions that could facilitate the upscale of reuse activities. Concluding, although the reuse potential for white goods is high, the analysis highlights the currently insufficient policy landscape for incentivising reuse and the need for additional interventions to make reuse feasible as a mainstream enterprise.

scholarly journals Examination of Construct Validity and Criterion-Related Validity of the German Motor Test in Egyptian Schoolchildren

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8341
Author(s):  
Osama Abdelkarim ◽  
Julian Fritsch ◽  
Darko Jekauc ◽  
Klaus Bös
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Body Height ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Latent Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
First Order ◽  
Motor Test ◽  
Health Related

Physical fitness is an indicator for children’s public health status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the German motor test (GMT) in Egyptian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 931 children aged 6 to 11 years (age: 9.1 ± 1.7 years) with 484 (52%) males and 447 (48%) females in grades one to five in Assiut city. The children’s physical fitness data were collected using GMT. GMT is designed to measure five health-related physical fitness components including speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility of children aged 6 to 18 years. The anthropometric data were collected based on three indicators: body height, body weight, and BMI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 using full-information maximum likelihood. The results indicated an adequate fit (χ2 = 112.3, df = 20; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.07). The χ2-statistic showed significant results, and the values for CFI and RMSEA showed a good fit. All loadings of the manifest variables on the first-order latent factors as well as loadings of the first-order latent factors on the second-order superordinate factor were significant. The results also showed strong construct validity in the components of conditioning abilities and moderate construct validity in the components of coordinative abilities. GMT proved to be a valid method and could be widely used on large-scale studies for health-related fitness monitoring in the Egyptian population.

Teachers’ perceptions of effective strategies for developing intercultural competence

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-358
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Gao
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract How to effectively integrate culture into second language teaching has long been of concern in foreign language education. Despite advances in theory and practice for intercultural language teaching, there has been little research to investigate factors influencing teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and perceptions. This study addresses this gap by examining teachers’ perceptions of effective strategies that foster students’ intercultural competence in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language and factors influencing their beliefs. Twenty-nine school and university teachers in Australia completed a survey and a focus group interview. Quantitative analyses revealed that teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the strategies varied despite an overall positive attitude towards the teaching of culture. Their beliefs were significantly influenced by their years of teaching experience, educational setting, and native language, but not by gender, age group and educational backgrounds. Qualitative analyses attribute the inconsistency in teacher perceptions to teachers’ disparate conceptualisations of culture, teaching experiences, and educational contexts associated with different curricular and pedagogical requirements and learner characteristics. The findings reinforce the necessity for providing teachers with professional training, along with pedagogical guidance and resources in order to facilitate their intercultural language teaching practices.

scholarly journals A High-Content Screening Assay for Small Molecules That Stabilize Mutant Triose Phosphate Isomerase (TPI) as Treatments for TPI Deficiency

2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110181
Author(s):  
Andreas Vogt ◽  
Samantha L. Eicher ◽  
Tracey D. Myers ◽  
Stacy L. Hrizo ◽  
Laura L. Vollmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Protein Quality ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Triose Phosphate Isomerase ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Screening Assay ◽  
Triose Phosphate ◽  
The Common ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Triose phosphate isomerase deficiency (TPI Df) is an untreatable, childhood-onset glycolytic enzymopathy. Patients typically present with frequent infections, anemia, and muscle weakness that quickly progresses with severe neuromusclar dysfunction requiring aided mobility and often respiratory support. Life expectancy after diagnosis is typically ~5 years. There are several described pathogenic mutations that encode functional proteins; however, these proteins, which include the protein resulting from the “common” TPIE105D mutation, are unstable due to active degradation by protein quality control (PQC) pathways. Previous work has shown that elevating mutant TPI levels by genetic or pharmacological intervention can ameliorate symptoms of TPI Df in fruit flies. To identify compounds that increase levels of mutant TPI, we have developed a human embryonic kidney (HEK) stable knock-in model expressing the common TPI Df protein fused with green fluorescent protein (HEK TPIE105D-GFP). To directly address the need for lead TPI Df therapeutics, these cells were developed into an optical drug discovery platform that was implemented for high-throughput screening (HTS) and validated in 3-day variability tests, meeting HTS standards. We initially used this assay to screen the 446-member National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Collection and validated two of the hits in dose–response, by limited structure–activity relationship studies with a small number of analogs, and in an orthogonal, non-optical assay in patient fibroblasts. The data form the basis for a large-scale phenotypic screening effort to discover compounds that stabilize TPI as treatments for this devastating childhood disease.

The Application of CMIC in Cultivating Learners’ Cross-Cultural Communication Competence

2014 ◽  
Vol 610 ◽  
pp. 667-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Min Li ◽  
Yuan Ge Wang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Fast Development

With the fast development of computer and internet technology, how to apply computer and internet technology into intercultural teaching to improve learners' intercultural competence aroused great interest in foreign language researchers and teachers. This essay tries to analyze the effects of CMIC on the intercultural competence of learners through the CMIC teaching practice between two universities from China and US. Based on the analysis of the questionnaire, students' reflective logs, and interviews, this essay concludes that the application of CMIC in intercultural teaching has positive effects on the improvement of learners' intercultural competence and that CMIC should be more widely applied into intercultural teaching.

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