Prepping for proficiency: The scope of test preparation for language learning

The advances in computer technology have brought the rise of computer-based instructional materials in many different fields including language learning. With regard to listening skill development, one obvious strength of the computer-based instructional materials is its capability of presenting audio component in various ways to improve students’ listening skill. For students who are preparing themselves to take a standardized test like Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the materials can even be designed to provide a high degree of customization that can be geared specifically to meet students’ pace of learning. However, it can be a big challenge to design a computer-based listening material capable of ensuring that learning indeed takes place while the students are using and exploring its contents. This paper aims to propose the application of Gagne's nine events of instruction in a computer-based test preparation listening material design. More specifically, this paper tries to provide guidance in the process of developing the user interface and the content presentation within the material as to match each part of the nine events. It is expected that this strategy will successfully activate the required cognitive process of the students and help them achieve established learning objectives.

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Washback of TOEFL Preparation Courses on Students’ Attitudes and Score Improvement

International Journal of Linguistics ◽

10.5296/ijl.v12i3.16940 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 84

Author(s):

Yangting Wang ◽

Becky H Huang

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Test Preparation ◽

Repeated Measure ◽

Intensive English Program ◽

Teacher Interviews ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Score Improvement ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

The Impact

Despite the prevalence of the TOEFL test preparation courses, research on the impact of TOEFL test preparation courses on language learning and teaching is quite limited (Green, 2013; Huang, 2018). The current study investigated the washback effects of TOEFL preparation courses on students’ attitudes and TOEFL scores improvement. The study implemented a partially mixed equal status design (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2017). Forty-one students and four teachers in a tertiary-level Intensive English Program (IEP) participated in the study. Quantitative data consisted of students’ responses to Likert-scale items and students' TOEFL scores. They were analyzed by independent sample t-tests, one-way repeated measure ANOVA, and post hoc tests. Qualitative data, which included open-ended survey items, student interviews, and teacher interviews, were analyzed using the inductive approach (Miles & Huberman, 1994) and Saldaña’s (2015) coding techniques. Survey results demonstrated that students had generally positive attitudes toward the class. Additionally, a statistically significant score improvement was found for some students. However, student and teacher interviews also revealed several issues that prevented student learning. For example, students studied TOEFL only to improve test scores; teachers rushed to cover all textbook materials and gave little homework; and there were limited classroom speaking activities. Implications regarding the teaching and administering of TOEFL classes at IEP were discussed.

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Language testing

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444807244283 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 162-163

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Test Anxiety ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Test Performance ◽

Test Preparation ◽

Language Testing ◽

Language Learning Strategies ◽

Listening Test ◽

Oxford University ◽

And Training

07–282In'nami, Yo (U Tsukuba, Japan; [email protected]), The effects of test anxiety on listening test performance. System (Elsevier) 34.3 (2006), 317–340.07–283McCoy, Damien (Australian Centre for Education and Training, Vietnam), Utilizing students' preferred language learning strategies for IELTS test preparation. EA Journal (English Australia) 23.1 (2006), 3–13.07–284McGinley K. (Dublin Language Institute; [email protected]), The ‘Test of Interactive English’: From conception to implementation. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.4 (2006), 374–381.

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Systematic Modification of Parental Input to Train Language Symbols

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1201.04 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 4-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Barbara Culatta ◽

Donna Horn

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Meaningful Use ◽

Hearing Impaired ◽

Specific Language ◽

Parental Input ◽

Language Exposure ◽

Therapy Sessions ◽

Impaired Children ◽

Hearing Impaired Children ◽

At Home

This study attempted to maximize environmental language learning for four hearing-impaired children. The children's mothers were systematically trained to present specific language symbols to their children at home. An increase in meaningful use of these words was observed during therapy sessions. In addition, as the mothers began to generalize the language exposure strategies, an increase was observed in the children's use of words not specifically identified by the clinician as targets.

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Analyzing the Potential Benefit of Microcomputer Use for Teaching Figurative Language

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/1058-0360.0102.36 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 36-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marilyn A. Nippold ◽

Ilsa E. Schwarz ◽

Molly Lewis

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Standardized Tests ◽

Figurative Language ◽

Language Intervention ◽

School Age Children ◽

Educational Materials ◽

Language Learning Disabilities ◽

Promising Application ◽

Experience Difficulty

Microcomputers offer the potential for increasing the effectiveness of language intervention for school-age children and adolescents who have language-learning disabilities. One promising application is in the treatment of students who experience difficulty comprehending figurative expressions, an aspect of language that occurs frequently in both spoken and written contexts. Although software is available to teach figurative language to children and adolescents, it is our feeling that improvements are needed in the existing programs. Software should be reviewed carefully before it is used with students, just as standardized tests and other clinical and educational materials are routinely scrutinized before use. In this article, four microcomputer programs are described and evaluated. Suggestions are then offered for the development of new types of software to teach figurative language.

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Vocal Communications of a Developmentally Delayed Child

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1802.112 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 112-130

Author(s):

Mary Ann Romski ◽

Sharon Ellis Joyner ◽

Rose A. Sevcik

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Developmental Delays ◽

Developmentally Delayed ◽

Language Impaired ◽

Diary Data ◽

Word Acquisition ◽

Diary Studies ◽

Usage Patterns ◽

Vocal Communications ◽

Impaired Children

Studies of first-word acquisition in typical language-learning children frequently take the form of diary studies. Comparable diary data from language-impaired children with developmental delays, however, are not currently available. This report describes the spontaneous vocalizations of a child with a developmental delay for 14 months, from the time he was age 6:5 to age 7:7. From a corpus of 285 utterances, 47 phonetic forms were identified and categorized. Analysis focused on semantic, communicative, and phonological usage patterns.

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Comparative Effects of High-Tech Visual Scene Displays and Low-Tech Isolated Picture Symbols on Engagement From Students With Multiple Disabilities

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-19-0007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 693-702 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christine Holyfield ◽

Sydney Brooks ◽

Allison Schluterman

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽

Visual Analysis ◽

Multiple Disabilities ◽

Visual Scene ◽

Future Research ◽

High Tech ◽

Single Subject ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Difference

Purpose Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an intervention approach that can promote communication and language in children with multiple disabilities who are beginning communicators. While a wide range of AAC technologies are available, little is known about the comparative effects of specific technology options. Given that engagement can be low for beginning communicators with multiple disabilities, the current study provides initial information about the comparative effects of 2 AAC technology options—high-tech visual scene displays (VSDs) and low-tech isolated picture symbols—on engagement. Method Three elementary-age beginning communicators with multiple disabilities participated. The study used a single-subject, alternating treatment design with each technology serving as a condition. Participants interacted with their school speech-language pathologists using each of the 2 technologies across 5 sessions in a block randomized order. Results According to visual analysis and nonoverlap of all pairs calculations, all 3 participants demonstrated more engagement with the high-tech VSDs than the low-tech isolated picture symbols as measured by their seconds of gaze toward each technology option. Despite the difference in engagement observed, there was no clear difference across the 2 conditions in engagement toward the communication partner or use of the AAC. Conclusions Clinicians can consider measuring engagement when evaluating AAC technology options for children with multiple disabilities and should consider evaluating high-tech VSDs as 1 technology option for them. Future research must explore the extent to which differences in engagement to particular AAC technologies result in differences in communication and language learning over time as might be expected.

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Deficits in Explicit Language Problem Solving Rather Than in Implicit Learning in Specific Language Impairment: Evidence From Learning an Artificial Morphological Rule

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2019_jslhr-l-17-0140 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (10) ◽

pp. 3790-3807 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sara Ferman ◽

Liat Kishon-Rabin ◽

Hila Ganot-Budaga ◽

Avi Karni

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Explicit Knowledge ◽

Procedural Memory ◽

Procedural Learning ◽

Specific Language ◽

Language Problems ◽

Morphological Rule ◽

Semantic Distinction

Purpose The purpose of this study was to delineate differences between children with specific language impairment (SLI), typical age–matched (TAM) children, and typical younger (TY) children in learning and mastering an undisclosed artificial morphological rule (AMR) through exposure and usage. Method Twenty-six participants (eight 10-year-old children with SLI, 8 TAM children, and ten 8-year-old TY children) were trained to master an AMR across multiple training sessions. The AMR required a phonological transformation of verbs depending on a semantic distinction: whether the preceding noun was animate or inanimate. All participants practiced the application of the AMR to repeated and new (generalization) items, via judgment and production tasks. Results The children with SLI derived significantly less benefit from practice than their peers in learning most aspects of the AMR, even exhibiting smaller gains compared to the TY group in some aspects. Children with SLI benefited less than TAM and even TY children from training to judge and produce repeated items of the AMR. Nevertheless, despite a significant disadvantage in baseline performance, the rate at which they mastered the task-specific phonological regularities was as robust as that of their peers. On the other hand, like 8-year-olds, only half of the SLI group succeeded in uncovering the nature of the AMR and, consequently, in generalizing it to new items. Conclusions Children with SLI were able to learn language aspects that rely on implicit, procedural learning, but experienced difficulties in learning aspects that relied on the explicit uncovering of the semantic principle of the AMR. The results suggest that some of the difficulties experienced by children with SLI when learning a complex language regularity cannot be accounted for by a broad, language-related, procedural memory disability. Rather, a deficit—perhaps a developmental delay in the ability to recruit and solve language problems and establish explicit knowledge regarding a language task—can better explain their difficulties in language learning.

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