Assessing English as an International Language for Government Officials

<p>The function of English as an international language (hereafter called EIL) is firmly entrenched in many aspects of modern life, such as academia, aviation, business, education, international relations, science, and tourism. This trend has led high-stakes English language proficiency tests to serve increasingly critical gate-keeping roles for people seeking admission to tertiary institutions, employment overseas, and career advancement. However, while language tests focus on language proficiency, they do not measure the ability over and above core linguistic competence that enables and enhances successful international communication. As more and more English communication occurs between people from different language and cultural backgrounds, research and testing of these skills is warranted. This thesis identifies receptive intelligibility (listening skills), productive intelligibility (speaking skills), intercultural competence, and strategic competence in negotiating meaning as key abilities that enhance the use of EIL. An investigation of these four abilities sets the groundwork for their conceptualization and operationalization into a test battery aimed at government officials from developing Asian and African countries who have gone through English-language training at Victoria University of Wellington. Results from classroom observations and a survey of the participant’s target language use tasks serve to highlight the contexts and purposes for which they use English, as well as providing the contexts for developing test tasks and items and conceptualizing skills used to improve international communication. The four abilities identified above were then operationalized into testable items for an online test battery consisting of four constructs and a total of 76 items. The purpose of this test battery is to serve as a low-stakes assessment tool for making decisions regarding the international communicative competence of government employees who use English for international communication. The validation of the test battery uses the Bachman and Palmer (1996) approach for determining test usefulness, which is shaped by six test qualities. These qualities form a validation argument supported by evidence for construct validity, reliability, authenticity, interactiveness, practicality, and impact. Results from the validation of the test battery show that the correlation between the four constructs (receptive intelligibility, productive intelligibility, intercultural competence, and strategic competence) is positive, however each of the theoretical constructs was found to be much deeper and broader than the test battery is able to measure. Intercultural competence was found to be the least related to intelligibility and strategic competence, suggesting that intercultural problems are less immediate barriers to successful international communication. The discussion focuses on the major issues with the test battery, such as construct under-representation, internal consistency problems and the logistical challenges of online testing. This thesis concludes with the methodological limitations of the test battery and suggestions for broadening and deepening test items to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of these four constructs. While the test needs further development, it is a first step into assessing the dynamic and fluid nature of English as an international language.</p>

Assessing English as an International Language for Government Officials

<p>The function of English as an international language (hereafter called EIL) is firmly entrenched in many aspects of modern life, such as academia, aviation, business, education, international relations, science, and tourism. This trend has led high-stakes English language proficiency tests to serve increasingly critical gate-keeping roles for people seeking admission to tertiary institutions, employment overseas, and career advancement. However, while language tests focus on language proficiency, they do not measure the ability over and above core linguistic competence that enables and enhances successful international communication. As more and more English communication occurs between people from different language and cultural backgrounds, research and testing of these skills is warranted. This thesis identifies receptive intelligibility (listening skills), productive intelligibility (speaking skills), intercultural competence, and strategic competence in negotiating meaning as key abilities that enhance the use of EIL. An investigation of these four abilities sets the groundwork for their conceptualization and operationalization into a test battery aimed at government officials from developing Asian and African countries who have gone through English-language training at Victoria University of Wellington. Results from classroom observations and a survey of the participant’s target language use tasks serve to highlight the contexts and purposes for which they use English, as well as providing the contexts for developing test tasks and items and conceptualizing skills used to improve international communication. The four abilities identified above were then operationalized into testable items for an online test battery consisting of four constructs and a total of 76 items. The purpose of this test battery is to serve as a low-stakes assessment tool for making decisions regarding the international communicative competence of government employees who use English for international communication. The validation of the test battery uses the Bachman and Palmer (1996) approach for determining test usefulness, which is shaped by six test qualities. These qualities form a validation argument supported by evidence for construct validity, reliability, authenticity, interactiveness, practicality, and impact. Results from the validation of the test battery show that the correlation between the four constructs (receptive intelligibility, productive intelligibility, intercultural competence, and strategic competence) is positive, however each of the theoretical constructs was found to be much deeper and broader than the test battery is able to measure. Intercultural competence was found to be the least related to intelligibility and strategic competence, suggesting that intercultural problems are less immediate barriers to successful international communication. The discussion focuses on the major issues with the test battery, such as construct under-representation, internal consistency problems and the logistical challenges of online testing. This thesis concludes with the methodological limitations of the test battery and suggestions for broadening and deepening test items to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of these four constructs. While the test needs further development, it is a first step into assessing the dynamic and fluid nature of English as an international language.</p>

Kemampuan Strategic Competence Siswa SMP dalam Menyelesaikan Tipe Soal Matematika Higher Order Thinking Skills

Strategic competence merupakan kemampuan merumuskan, menyajikan, dan menyelesaikan masalah matematika dengan menggunakan solusi atau stretegi yang benar. Mengetahui lebih dalam kemampuan strategic competence siswa SMP merupakan tujuan dari penelitian ini. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif deskriptif dengan bentuk tes tertulis untuk mencapai tujuan. Subjek penelitian diambil sebanyak 3 dari 12 siswa kelas VIII SMP Negeri 3 Salatiga. Subjek penelitian sudah mempelajari dan mengetahui cara penyelesaian soal sistem persamaan linear dua variabel. Pengambilan subjek dilihat dari hasil pengerjaan soal diambil siswa dengan kemampuan tinggi, sedang, dan rendah. Tes strategic competence dan wawancara pada materi sistem persamaan linear dua variabel merupakan alat untuk mengumpulkan data. Hasil tes tersebut dan wawancara dianalisis berdasarkan tiga indikator yaitu kemampuan merumuskan masalah, menyajikan masalah dan menyelesaikan masalah matematika. Hasil penelitian membuktikan bahwa kemampuan strategic competence pada siswa dengan kemampuan tinggi sudah mampu memenuhi semua indikator, untuk siswa dengan kemampuan sedang hanya memenuhi dua indikator saja, sedangkan untuk siswa dengan kemampuan berpikir rendah belum bisa memenuhi indikator yang ada.

AN ANALYSIS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCY OF TENTH GRADE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATION IN BALOCHISTAN

It is a natural phenomenon that a language comprises of primarily four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. These basic four skills of a language make for effective communication. The English language has a great importance in the Pakistani context because all the competitive examinations are given in English language. In Pakistan, as in many other parts of the world, the English language represents the door of opportunities. However, it has been observed that the teaching of the English language and its assessment at secondary schools in Pakistan has been limited to two skills i.e. reading and writing, whereas, other skills of English language Listening and Speaking which includes linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence, are ignored categorically. This study is based on an analysis of Oral Communication Competency through Annual Examination Papers of 2014 to 2019 for Grade Ten in English Language Examination conducted by Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Quetta in the Province of Balochistan. The study aims to investigate whether activities for learning Oral Communication in the English Text book for grade ten developed by

ANALISIS KEMAMPUAN KOMPETENSI STRATEGIS MATEMATIS SISWA PADA MATERI PERSAMAAN DAN PERTIDAKSAMAAN LINEAR SATU VARIABEL

The object of this research is to understand the strategic competence of the students in the parallel materials and linear equations of one variable in the SMPN 3 Karawang Barat in solving the story quiz. The eighth-graders of SMPN 3 Karawang Barat are the subject of this report. It is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach. A method for data collection is the strategic competence test. The student's assessments are scored and the problem analysis is carried out to understand the markers of a strategic mathematical skill that requires the ability to understand the situation and conditions of a problem, to choose an acceptable presentation to help solve the problem. Research indicates that the student category already able to fill all of the indicators of mathematical strategic competence is 18.9%, the student who has been able to fill some indicators is 67.6% and the student who has not yet been able to fill all indicators is 13.5%. Therefore, the strategic competence of mathematically of class VIII H of SMPN 3 Karawang Barat is still in the moderate category

Supporting Learner Success: Revisiting Strategic Competence Through Developing an Inventory for Computer-Assisted Speaking Assessment

This study investigated English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners' strategic competence in the computer-assisted integrated speaking tests (CAIST) through the development and validation of the Strategic Competence Inventory for Computer-assisted Speaking Assessment (SCICASA). Based on our review of the literature on the CAIST, strategic competence, and available instruments for measuring the construct, we defined EFL learners' strategic competence in the CAIST as learners' use of four metacognitive strategies: Planning, problem-solving, monitoring, and evaluating, with each of them consisting of various components. These metacognitive strategies formulated the four factors and scale items of the SCICASA under validation. An exploratory factor analysis of responses from 254 EFL students and the subsequent confirmatory factor analysis of data collected on another sample of 242 students generated 23 items under the four factors. The high validity and reliability of the SCICASA reveal that EFL learners' strategic competence operates in the forms of the four metacognitive strategies in the CAIST. This will lend some new supporting evidence for Bachman and Palmer's (2010) strategic competence model while providing implications for metacognitive instructions and test development. Concomitantly, the findings show the inventory as a valid instrument for measuring strategic competence in computer-assisted foreign/second language (L2) speaking assessment and relevant research arenas and beyond.

Implementation of Transdisciplinary Approach in the Process of Formation of Future Primary School Teachers’ Communicative-Strategic Competence

The urgency of the problem of formation of communicative-strategic competence of future primary school teachers is substantiated in the article. The importance of implementing a communicative approach in the professional training of students in terms of reforming the education system in accordance with the Concept of the New Ukrainian School is emphasized. The authors of the article emphasized the specifics of pedagogical discourse as strategically planned and aimed at achieving a certain communicative goal. The results of the survey of graduate students majoring in “Primary Education” are revealed, which proved the necessity of developing a special methodology for the formation of future teachers’ communicative-strategic competence. The essence of the transdisciplinary approach as the basis of the specified technique is revealed. The characteristics, basics and the overarching purpose of the method are given. It is substantiated that in the conditions of the organization of pedagogical discourse the purpose becomes a process of educational work, ways and methods of knowledge acquiring and mastering of skills in the specific intersubjective communicative-dialogic space created by the teacher which students join as equal participants of communication among other participants with common considering of social situation, specifics of the future profession, professional language. The communicative concepts of navigation character are defined and conceptual fields of interconnected communicative concepts for providing transdisciplinary connections are characterized. The principles of realization of the offered technique are revealed: conformity of the modeled educational process to the final purpose of future teachers’ training for work in the conditions of the communicative environment of modern primary school; taking into account specifics of future professional activity; considering psychological features of future teachers' acquisition of communicative knowledge and skills; optimal combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills; selection of the most effective forms, methods, technologies of formation of communicative-strategic competence.

Strategic competence for multistep fraction word problems: an overlooked aspect of mathematical knowledge for teaching

Prior work on teachers’ mathematical knowledge has contributed to our understanding of the important role of teachers’ knowledge in teaching and learning. However, one aspect of teachers’ mathematical knowledge has received little attention: strategic competence for word problems. Adapting from one of the most comprehensive characterizations of mathematics learning (NRC, 2001), we argue that teachers’ mathematical knowledge also includes strategic competence, which consists of devising a valid solution strategy, mathematizing the problem (i.e., choosing particular strategies and presentations to translate the word problem into mathematical expressions), and arriving at a correct answer (executing a solution) for a word problem. By examining the responses of 350 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in the USA to four multistep fraction word problems, we were able to explore manifestations of teachers’ strategic competence for word problems. Findings indicate that teachers’ strategic competence was closely related to whether they devised a valid strategy. Further, how teachers dealt with known and unknown quantities in their mathematization of word problems was an important indicator of their strategic competence. Teachers with strong strategic competence used algebraic notations or pictorial representations and dealt with unknown quantities more frequently in their solution methods than did teachers with weak strategic competence. The results of this study provide evidence for the critical nature of strategic competence as another dimension needed to understand and describe teachers’ mathematical knowledge.

Metaphorical and Strategic Competence in the Spanish Language Teaching Classroom as a Foreign Language through Task-Based Learning Methodology

This article focuses on highlighting the application of discourse analysis in the Spanish Language Teaching as a Foreign Language. Especially, it does emphasize the importance of the conceptual fluency acquisition, as a strategic competence in particular, and as a communicative competence in general for non-native speakers of other languages enrolled in Spanish courses as a foreign language. That is, it does draw attention to Metaphorical Competence (MC), which can be defined as the ability to acquire, create, and interpret metaphors in the target language. For this purpose, we have chosen a Golden Age poet, Gongora, considered by most literary critics as the most influential and important poet in Spanish-language poetry, whose works represent the most admirable literary masterpieces in the western classical literature and Baroque poetry. In the same way, we would like to bring to light his literary value, excellent, and didactic potential for teaching poetry in the second language classroom, underpinned by a Task-based Learning methodology.