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.

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.

Assessing Personality With Multi-Descriptor Items

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Johannes Schult ◽  
Rebecca Schneider ◽  
Jörn R. Sparfeldt
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Personality Inventory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Big Five Inventory ◽  
Personality Inventories

Abstract. The need for efficient personality inventories has led to the wide use of short instruments. The corresponding items often contain multiple, potentially conflicting descriptors within one item. In Study 1 ( N = 198 university students), the reliability and validity of the TIPI (Ten-Item Personality Inventory) was compared with the reliability and validity of a modified TIPI based on items that rephrased each two-descriptor item into two single-descriptor items. In Study 2 ( N = 268 university students), we administered the BFI-10 (Big Five Inventory short version) and a similarly modified version of the BFI-10 without two-descriptor items. In both studies, reliability and construct validity values occasionally improved for separated multi-descriptor items. The inventories with multi-descriptor items showed shortcomings in some factors of the TIPI and the BFI-10. However, the other scales worked comparably well in the original and modified inventories. The limitations of short personality inventories with multi-descriptor items are discussed.

Birlikte Yaşama Kültürü Çerçevesinde Avrupa Birliği ve Türkiye Politikaları: Suriyelilere Yönelik Tutumun Sultanbeyli Örneği Üzerinden Değerlendirilmesi

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-61
Author(s):  
Pelin Sönmez ◽  
Abulfaz Süleymanov
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Turkish People

Türkiye, Cumhuriyet tarihinin en yoğun zorunlu göç dalgasını 2011 yılından bu yana süren Suriye Savaşı ile yaşamaktadır. Suriye vatandaşlarının geçici koruma statüsü altında Türkiye toplumuna her açıdan entegrasyonları günümüzün ve geleceğin politika öncelikleri arasında düşünülmelidir. Öte yandan ülkeye kabul edilen sığınmacıların kendi kültürel kimliğini kaybetmeden içinde yaşadığı ev sahibi topluma uyumu, ortak yaşam kültürünün gelişmesi açısından önem arz etmektedir. Bu makalede, "misafir" olarak kabul edilen Suriyeli vatandaşların Türk toplumunca kabul edilmeleri ve dışlanma risklerinin azaltılmasına yönelik devlet politikaları ortaya konularak, üye ve aday ülkelere göçmenlerin dışlanmasını önlemek için Avrupa Birliği (AB) tarafından sunulan hukuki yapı ve kamu hizmeti inisiyatifleri incelenmekte, birlikte yaşam kültürü çerçevesinde Suriyeli vatandaşlara yönelik  toplumsal kabul düzeyleri ele alınmaktadır. Çalışma iki ana bölümden oluşmaktadır: göçmen ve sığınmacılara karşı toplumsal dışlanmayı engellemek için benimsenen yasa ve uygulamaların etkisi ve İstanbul-Sultanbeyli bölgesinde Suriyeli sığınmacılarla ilgili toplumsal algı çalışmasının sonuçları. Bölgede ikamet eden Suriyelilere yönelik toplumsal kabul düzeyinin yüksek olduğu görülürken, halkın Suriyelileri kendilerine  kültürel ve dini olarak yakın hissetmesi toplumsal kabul düzeyini olumlu etkilemektedir. ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHAn evaluation of the European Union and Turkish policies regarding the culture of living togetherThis article aims to determine the level of social acceptance towards Syrians within the context of cohabitation culture by evaluating EU’s legal structure and public service initiatives in order to prevent Syrian refugees from being excluded in member and candidate countries and by revealing government policies on acceptance of Syrians as “guest” by Turkish society and minimizing the exclusion risks of them. This article consists of two main parts, one of which is based on the effects of law and practices preventing refugees and asylum seekers from social exclusion, and the other is on the results of social perception on Syrians in Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul. At the end of 5-years taking in Syrian War, it is obvious that most of more than 3 million Syrian with unregistered ones in Turkey are “here to stay”. From this point of view, the primary scope of policies should be specified in order to remove side effects of refugee phenomenon seen as weighty matter by bottoming out the exclusion towards those people. To avoid possible large-scale conflicts or civil wars in the future, the struggle with exclusion phenomenon plays a crucial role regarding Turkey’s sociological situation and developing policies. In the meaning of forming a model for Turkey, a subtitle in this article is about public services for European-wide legal acquis and practices carried out since 1970s in order to prevent any exclusion from the society. On the other hand, other subtitles are about legal infrastructure and practices like Common European Asylum and Immigration Policies presented in 2005, and Law on Foreigners and International Protection introduced in 2013. In the last part of the article, the results of a field survey carried out in a district of Istanbul were used to analyze the exclusion towards refugees in Turkey. A face-to-face survey was randomly conducted with 200 settled refugees in Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, and their perceptions towards Syrian people under temporary protection were evaluated. According to the results, the level of acceptance for Syrians living in this district seems relatively high. The fact that Turkish people living in the same district feel close to Syrian refugees culturally and religiously affect their perception in a positive way: however, it is strikingly seen and understood that local residents cop an attitude on the refugees’ becoming Turkish citizens.

HOME VISITS DURING THE FIRST MONTH OF DELIVERY FOR RECENTLY DELIVERED WOMEN IN UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1183-1189
Author(s):  
Dr. Tridibesh Tripathy ◽  
Dr. Umakant Prusty ◽  
Dr. Chintamani Nayak ◽  
Dr. Rakesh Dwivedi ◽  
Dr. Mohini Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
National Level ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
The Other ◽  
Registration System ◽  
Action Group ◽  
Current Article ◽  
The Impact

The current article of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is about the ASHAs who are the daughters-in-law of a family that resides in the same community that they serve as the grassroots health worker since 2005 when the NRHM was introduced in the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states. UP is one such Empowered Action Group (EAG) state. The current study explores the actual responses of Recently Delivered Women (RDW) on their visits during the first month of their recent delivery. From the catchment area of each of the 250 ASHAs, two RDWs were selected who had a child in the age group of 3 to 6 months during the survey. The response profiles of the RDWs on the post- delivery first month visits are dwelled upon to evolve a picture representing the entire state of UP. The relevance of the study assumes significance as detailed data on the modalities of postnatal visits are available but not exclusively for the first month period of their recent delivery. The details of the post-delivery first month period related visits are not available even in large scale surveys like National Family Health Survey 4 done in 2015-16. The current study gives an insight in to these visits with a five-point approach i.e. type of personnel doing the visit, frequency of the visits, visits done in a particular week from among those four weeks separately for the three visits separately. The current study is basically regarding the summary of this Penta approach for the post- delivery one-month period.     The first month period after each delivery deals with 70% of the time of the postnatal period & the entire neonatal period. Therefore, it does impact the Maternal Mortality Rate & Ratio (MMR) & the Neonatal Mortality Rates (NMR) in India and especially in UP through the unsafe Maternal & Neonatal practices in the first month period after delivery. The current MM Rate of UP is 20.1 & MM Ratio is 216 whereas the MM ratio is 122 in India (SRS, 2019). The Sample Registration System (SRS) report also mentions that the Life Time Risk (LTR) of a woman in pregnancy is 0.7% which is the highest in the nation (SRS, 2019). This means it is very risky to give birth in UP in comparison to other regions in the country (SRS, 2019). This risk is at the peak in the first month period after each delivery. Similarly, the current NMR in India is 23 per 1000 livebirths (UNIGME,2018). As NMR data is not available separately for states, the national level data also hold good for the states and that’s how for the state of UP as well. These mortalities are the impact indicators and such indicators can be reduced through long drawn processes that includes effective and timely visits to RDWs especially in the first month period after delivery. This would help in making their post-natal & neonatal stage safe. This is the area of post-delivery first month visit profile detailing that the current article helps in popping out in relation to the recent delivery of the respondents.   A total of four districts of Uttar Pradesh were selected purposively for the study and the data collection was conducted in the villages of the respective districts with the help of a pre-tested structured interview schedule with both close-ended and open-ended questions.  The current article deals with five close ended questions with options, two for the type of personnel & frequency while the other three are for each of the three visits in the first month after the recent delivery of respondents. In addition, in-depth interviews were also conducted amongst the RDWs and a total 500 respondents had participated in the study.   Among the districts related to this article, the results showed that ASHA was the type of personnel who did the majority of visits in all the four districts. On the other hand, 25-40% of RDWs in all the 4 districts replied that they did not receive any visit within the first month of their recent delivery. Regarding frequency, most of the RDWs in all the 4 districts received 1-2 times visits by ASHAs.   Regarding the first visit, it was found that the ASHAs of Barabanki and Gonda visited less percentage of RDWs in the first week after delivery. Similarly, the second visit revealed that about 1.2% RDWs in Banda district could not recall about the visit. Further on the second visit, the RDWs responded that most of them in 3 districts except Gonda district did receive the second postnatal visit in 7-15 days after their recent delivery. Less than half of RDWs in Barabanki district & just more than half of RDWs in Gonda district received the third visit in 15-21 days period after delivery. For the same period, the majority of RDWs in the rest two districts responded that they had been entertained through a home visit.

Age Advantages of Emotional Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic are Robust, but Diminished Compared to Pre-pandemic Conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Prolonged Stress

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).

Should all Hypertensive Patients be Screened for Primary Aldosteronism?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-56
Author(s):  
Stelina Alkagiet ◽  
Konstantinos Tziomalos
Keyword(s):  
Resistant Hypertension ◽  
Primary Aldosteronism ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
The Other ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Hypertensive Patients ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is not only a leading cause of secondary and resistant hypertension, but is also quite frequent in unselected hypertensive patients. Moreover, PA is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, which is disproportionate to BP levels. In addition, timely diagnosis of PA and prompt initiation of treatment attenuate this increased risk. On the other hand, there are limited data regarding the usefulness of screening for PA in all asymptomatic or normokalemic hypertensive patients. More importantly, until now, no well-organized, large-scale, prospective, randomized controlled trial has proved the effectiveness of screening for PA for improving clinical outcome. Accordingly, until more relevant data are available, screening for PA should be considered in hypertensive patients with spontaneous or diuretic-induced hypokalemia as well as in those with resistant hypertension. However, screening for PA in all hypertensive patients cannot be currently recommended.

Politeness Strategy Used in 10th Grade Students’ Anecdote Text

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Novita Mulyana ◽  
Made Budiarsa ◽  
Made Sri Satyawati
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Ethnography Of Communication ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
10Th Grade

This research was aimed to find out the types of politeness strategy that is used by 10th grade students to express criticism towards public issues through an anecdote text as well as the implication on the teaching and learning process of anecdote text in SMK TI Bali Global Jimbaran. There were fifteen anecdote texts analyzed in this research and they were collected through a writing test conducted in a 10th grade class in SMK TI Bali Global Jimbaran. The data were classified and analyzed based on the politeness strategy theory proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987) and ethnography of communication theory proposed by Hymes (1973). The result of the analysis shows that from the fifteen anecdote texts collected, there were only two types of politeness strategy found to be used in expressing criticism, they are bald on record strategy and off record strategy. There are ten anecdote texts composed by the students found using bald on record strategy, while the other five anecdotes using off record strategy in expressing criticism towards public issues. In other words, more students still used the more risky way of expressing criticisms, therefore it is important for the teacher to choose or design a better model of learning which can improve the students’ pragmatic competence.

Talking about MOTION in Middle English

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Analysis Of Motion

Chapter 6 begins with an overview of the language contact situation with (Anglo-) French and Latin, resulting in large-scale borrowing in the Middle English period. The analysis of 465 Middle English verbs used to express intransitive motion shows that there are far more French/Latin loans in the path verbs than in the other motion verbs. The range of (new) manner of motion verbs testifies to the manner salience of Middle English: caused motion verbs are also found in intransitive motion meanings, as are French loans which do not have motion uses in continental French. Their motion uses in Anglo-Norman are discussed in terms of contact influence of Middle English. The analysis of motion expression in different texts yields a picture similar to the situation in Old English, with path typically expressed in satellites, and neutral as well as manner of motion verbs being most frequent, depending on text type.

scholarly journals Massive and Microscopic Sensemaking During COVID-19 Times

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780042096247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette N. Markham ◽  
Anne Harris ◽  
Mary Elizabeth Luka
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Feminist Perspective ◽  
The Other ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Ongoing Experiment

How does this pandemic moment help us to think about the relationships between self and other, or between humans and the planet? How are people making sense of COVID-19 in their everyday lives, both as a local and intimate occurrence with microscopic properties, and a planetary-scale event with potentially massive outcomes? In this paper we describe our approach to a large-scale, still-ongoing experiment involving more than 150 people from 26 countries. Grounded in autoethnography practice and critical pedagogy, we offered 21 days of self guided prompts to for us and the other participants to explore their own lived experience. Our project illustrates the power of applying a feminist perspective and an ethic of care to engage in open ended collaboration during times of globally-felt trauma.

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