Revisiting the Assessment of Second Language Abilities: From Theory to Practice

493 Pages·2018·6.93 MB·English

by  Sahbi Hidri (eds.)

Second Language Learning and Teaching
Sahbi Hidri Editor
Revisiting the
Assessment of
Second Language
Abilities: From
Theory to Practice
Second Language Learning and Teaching
Serieseditor
MirosławPawlak,Kalisz,Poland
AbouttheSeries
The series brings together volumes dealing with different aspects of learning and
teaching second and foreign languages. The titles included are both monographs
and edited collections focusing on a variety of topics ranging from the processes
underlying second language acquisition, through various aspects of language
learningininstructedandnon-instructedsettings,todifferentfacetsoftheteaching
process, including syllabus choice, materials design, classroom practices and
evaluation. The publications reflect state-of-the-art developments in those areas,
they adopt a wide range of theoretical perspectives and follow diverse research
paradigms. The intended audience are all those who are interested in naturalistic
andclassroomsecondlanguageacquisition,includingresearchers,methodologists,
curriculum and materials designers, teachers and undergraduate and graduate
students undertaking empirical investigations of how second languages are learnt
andtaught.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/10129
Sahbi Hidri
Editor
Revisiting the Assessment
of Second Language
Abilities: From Theory
to Practice
Editor
SahbiHidri
DepartmentofEnglish
FacultyofHumanandSocialSciencesofTunis
Tunis,Tunisia
ISSN2193-7648 ISSN2193-7656 (electronic)
SecondLanguageLearningandTeaching
ISBN978-3-319-62883-7 ISBN978-3-319-62884-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62884-4
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Words of Thanks
This project was supported by so many people who never gave up on pushing
furthertogetthisinterestingworkpublished.Iamthankfultoallthecontributorsof
thiseditedbookwho keptworkinghard toreleasetheir work.Theircommitment,
involvement and patience were very decisive in shaping the final version of this
book. I am also grateful to Springer people, Agata Weissmann, Hemalatha
Gunasekaran and Uma Periasamy, who were very helpful in releasing this publi-
cation on time. I am immensely indebted to my family, friends, colleagues and
studentsfortheirsupportandencouragement.
FacultyofHumanandSocialSciences SahbiHidri
ofTunis,Tunis,Tunisia
June2017
v
Contents
Introduction:StateoftheArtofAssessingSecondLanguage
Abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SahbiHidri
PartI AssessingSpeaking
AssessingSpokenLanguageAbility:AMany-FacetRaschAnalysis. . . 23
SahbiHidri
InvestigatingtheUseofanEmpiricallyDerived,Binary-Choice
andBoundary-Definition(EBB)ScalefortheAssessmentofEnglish
LanguageSpokenProficiency. .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 49
StefanO’Grady
TheMeasurementofLanguageAbilityandImpairment
inArabic-SpeakingChildren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
AreejBalilahandLisaArchibald
DevelopingaFormativeAssessmentInstrumentforanIn-service
SpeakingCourse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
RezvanRashidiPourfard
PartII AssessingWriting
DoestheFeedbackFeedForward?StudentResponsetoandViews
ofTeacherFeedbackinanEFLAcademicWritingClass. . . . . . . . . . . 109
EddyWhite
DesigningandRatingAcademicWritingTests:ImplicationsforTest
Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
AmaniMejri
vii
viii Contents
PartIII AssessingEnglishforSpecificPurposes
AcademicWritingNeedsAssessment:ACaseStudyofMPHStudents,
UniversityofKhartoum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
AbuelgasimSabahElsaidMohammed
Teachers’ConceptionsofAssessmentinanESPContext. . . . . . . . . . . . 175
YosraNaimi
PartIV AssessingTranslationandLiterature
AssessingTextualCompetenceinTranslationintoaSecond
Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
TamaraKavytskaandOlgaKvasova
AssessingLiteraturefortheClassroomAmongFemaleLearners
ofEnglishinanEFLContextinSaudiArabia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
ManalQutub
PartV AssessingReading,VocabularyandGrammar
AssessingTwoStrategiesforLearningVocabulary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
ManalSabbah
TestingUsefulnessofReadingComprehensionExamsAmongFirst
YearStudentsofEnglishattheTertiaryLevelinTunisia. . . . . . . . . . . 265
YassmineMattoussi
TechniquesinTeachingandTestingVocabularyforLearners
ofEnglishinanEFLContext. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
ImenRiahi
TestingGrammarinanEFLContext. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
YasmineChniti
PartVI AssessmentLiteracyandTestFairness
ContinuousCumulativeAssessmentinHigherEducation:Coming
toGripswithTestEnhancedLearning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
EkaterinaPopkova
DevelopingStudentTeachers’ClassroomAssessmentLiteracy:
TheUkrainianContext. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. 351
OlgaUkrayinska
ValidfortheElites?TheTrade-OffBetweenTestFairnessandTest
Validity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
KioumarsRazavipour
Contents ix
Student-RelatedChallengesofPerformingAlternativeAssessments
fromthePerspectiveofKurdishTertiaryTESOLTeachers. . . . . . . . . 393
DlerAbdullahIsmael
PartVII StandardExamsandTest-TakingStrategies
ExtendingtheScopeoftheEnglishExitExam:AStudy
fromaUkrainianClassicalUniversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
OlesiaLiubashenkoandOlgaYashenkova
WashbackonLanguageSkills:AStudyofEFLMulti-Exam
PreparationClasses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Irini-RenikaPapakammenou
PartVIII AlternativeFormsofAssessment
Performance-BasedAssessment:AShiftTowardsanAssessment
forLearningCulture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
ZinebDjoub
UtilizingDynamicAssessmenttoActivateEFLInertGrammar. . . . . . 471
MahmoudIbrahim
AnalyzingtheImpactofFormalAssessmentsonEFLLearner’sUse
ofLanguageLearningStrategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
MisbahRosheenKhanandMisbahAfsheenKhan
Introduction: State of the Art of Assessing
Second Language Abilities
SahbiHidri
Abstract Assessingthelanguageabilitieshasbeengivenitsmomentuminsecond
languageassessmentandevaluation.Assessingsuchconstructshasalsoundergone
differentchangesthatemanatedfromonetestingparadigmtoanother,startingwith
discrete, integrative and then communicative testing. Testing trends also shifted
from norm-referenced to criterion-referenced testing, thus stressing the idea of
assessing the language ability against a well-defined criterion. In this regard,
high-stakes international tests, such as the IELTS, TOEFL, etc., have been inves-
tigatingthedifferentfacetsofthisconstructthatkeepsevolvingtoformacompre-
hensiveviewaboutincludingsomanyintertwinedvariablestodefinetheconstruct
of language ability. There is a necessity to measure the language ability in a very
objectivewaybyusingstatisticalteststopreservetestusefulnessandequity.This
hasbeenthemajorconcernofthedifferenttestingpsychometrictheories.
This book is about revisiting the assessment of second language abilities. Its
24chapters,selectedfromtensofchapters,arguefortheoreticalandpracticaltips
as well as state-of-the-art studies on assessing the target language abilities, as
undertakeninmanycontexts,suchasTunisia,Algeria,KSA,Iran,Russia,Greece,
Oman,Ukraine,Egypt,Japan,Kurdistan,Turkey,etc.Inthesecontexts,ithasbeen
stressed that there should be a necessary principle of revisiting the different
constructs to be assessed with a clear focus on students’ learning objectives and
language ability. The chapters emphasize controversial issues of assessing these
abilities. Along with the six parts of this book on revisiting the assessment of the
language abilities, such as the language skills, translation and literature, there are
twootherpartsonalternativeformsofassessment,assessmentliteracyandfairness.
Ibelievethesetwoconstructs,assessmentliteracyandfairness,aredirectlyshaped
bythegroundingviewsoflanguageandlanguagelearningthatassessmentpracti-
tionersbringtotheclassroom(Hidri,2015)andtheycan,toagreaterextent,endow
testdesignersandteacherswiththepossibilityofgrowingprofessionallyinthefield
ofeducationalassessmentandmeasurement.Perhapsthesoleandintricatequestion
S.Hidri(*)
FacultyofHumanandSocialSciencesofTunis,Tunis,Tunisia
e-mail:[email protected]
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2018 1
S.Hidri(ed.),RevisitingtheAssessmentofSecondLanguageAbilities:From
TheorytoPractice,SecondLanguageLearningandTeaching,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62884-4_1