This service will alert you to new articles being published in the Language Testing Journals, and those applied linguistics and educational research journals that are included in the Article Aggregation Service. However, this page inlcludes only those journals that assign electronic date-stamps to articles.

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• Individual learner profiles from word association tests: The effect of word f...
  24 Jul 2010 at 3:00pm
  
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: System, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 23 July 2010
  George, Higginbotham
  Following over 30 years of conflicting research into how second language learners r... (show all)
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: System, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 23 July 2010
  George, Higginbotham
  Following over 30 years of conflicting research into how second language learners respond to word association tests this paper examines an alternative approach to analyse the data, individual profiling. In contrast to previous studies this paper argues that word association studies should be focusing on individuals, as opposed to attempting to create group norms. This paper demonstrates how such profiles can be created using data collected from a study of 50 low level Japanese college students. To exemplify this approach five profiles are compared. The results of this study suggest that learners should not be analysed as homogenous groups. The...
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• Guiding principles for language assessment reform: A model for collaboration
  24 Jul 2010 at 2:45pm
  
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: Journal of English for Academic Purposes, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 24 July 2010
  Brent A., Green , Maureen Snow, Andrade
  Traditionally, practitioners ... (show all)
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: Journal of English for Academic Purposes, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 24 July 2010
  Brent A., Green , Maureen Snow, Andrade
  Traditionally, practitioners interested in language test reform have focused on the qualities within an examination which result in either positive or negative impacts on participants, institutions, and society. Recent views suggest a multifaceted interaction among factors affecting language test reform. We introduce a model for test reform that guides practitioners to examine the relationships and interactions among contexts, test development processes, stakeholder agency and the desire for change, and the agents promoting the reform. The model encourages stakeholders to examine their current assessment practices and implement needed change through collaborative processes. Using case study methodology, we focus on the implementation...
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• Listening to students? voices: A curriculum renewal project for an EFL gradua...
  23 Jul 2010 at 2:59pm
  
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: System, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 22 July 2010
  Iris, Elisha-Primo , Simone, Sandler , Keren, Goldfrad , Orna, Ferenz , Hadara, Perpignan
  This paper... (show all)
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: System, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 22 July 2010
  Iris, Elisha-Primo , Simone, Sandler , Keren, Goldfrad , Orna, Ferenz , Hadara, Perpignan
  This paper presents the results of the first phase of a needs analysis aiming at re-evaluating a graduate level EFL academic curriculum. Based on a self-reporting questionnaire, the responses of a graduate student population (n=469) were analyzed. The questionnaire addressed three issues: attitude toward English language and EFL studies, self-assessment of success in performing academic tasks in English, and ranking the importance of knowledge of English language areas. These issues were examined across the sample?s background variables (gender, academic department, thesis/non-thesis track, native language) and student proficiency level. The results showed that students? attitude toward English and studying English was...
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• Factor Structure of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Clinical Form in ...
  16 Jul 2010 at 6:14am
  by Oades-Sese, G. V., Kaliski, P. K., Weiss, K.
  

  The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Clinical Form (DECA-C) is the first instrument to measure the social-emotional resilience of young children from ages 2 to 5 years. This study is an importan...

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  The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Clinical Form (DECA-C) is the first instrument to measure the social-emotional resilience of young children from ages 2 to 5 years. This study is an important step toward gathering validity evidence for the teacher-rated DECA-C. This is the first study to investigate the DECA-C factor structure and the first to examine its use with low-income Hispanic American bilingual preschoolers. The one-factor, three-factor, and higher-order three-factor models were tested for the Total Protective Factors domain and the one-, four-, and higher-order four-factor models for the Total Behavioral Concerns domain. Participants comprised 471 low-income bilingual children of Hispanic backgrounds in an urban public school district in the Northeast. Findings from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that all models tested had poor model fit with this sample; however, future research replicating these findings would be necessary for implementation of modifications. In the meantime, the DECA-C shows promise for use in practice with this particular population. Implications for further research are discussed.

  
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• Differential Relationships Between WISC-IV and WIAT-II Scales: An Evaluation ...
  15 Jul 2010 at 2:12pm
  by Konold, T. R., Canivez, G. L.
  

  Considerable debate exists regarding the accuracy of intelligence tests with members of different groups. This study investigated differential predictive validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale...

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  Considerable debate exists regarding the accuracy of intelligence tests with members of different groups. This study investigated differential predictive validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edition. Participants from the WISC-IV—WIAT-II standardization linking sample (N = 550) ranged in age from 6 through 16 years (M = 11.6, SD = 3.2) and varied by the demographic variables of gender, race/ethnicity (Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic), and parent education level (8-11, 12, 13-15, and 16 years). Full Scale IQ and General Ability Index scores from the WISC-IV were used to predict scores on Mathematics, Oral Language, Reading, Written Language, and the total composite on the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test—Second Edition. Differences in prediction were evaluated between demographic subgroups via Potthoff’s technique. Of the 30 simultaneous tests, 25 revealed no statistically significant between group differences. The remaining statistically significant differences were found to have little practical or clinical influence when effect size estimates were considered. Results are discussed in the context of other ability measures that were previously investigated for differential validity as well as educational implications for clinicians.

  
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• Shipibo-Spanish: Differences in residual transfer at the syntax-morphology an...
  9 Jul 2010 at 11:36am
  by Sanchez, L., Camacho, J., Ulloa, J. E.
  

  In this article, we present a study that tests the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace and Filiaci, 2006) at the syntax—pragmatics interface and its possible extension to the syntax—morphology interface i...

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  In this article, we present a study that tests the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace and Filiaci, 2006) at the syntax—pragmatics interface and its possible extension to the syntax—morphology interface in two groups of first language (L1) speakers of Shipibo with different levels of formal instruction in Spanish as a second language (L2). Shipibo is a mixed null subject language that only allows third person null subjects and has no person morphology on the verb. Spanish is a null subject language with rich person morphology on the verb. Evidence of acquisition of a core syntactic property (the extension of null subject licensing from third to first person subjects) was found in the speech of both groups of Shipibo speakers. No significant evidence of residual non-native patterns at the syntax—morphology interface was found (subject—verb mismatches in person) in the group with higher levels of formal instruction. At the syntax—pragmatics interface, we found non-native distribution of first person null subjects in both groups of Shipibo speakers that indicates residual transfer of discourse organization properties concerning topics from Shipibo into Spanish.

  
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• Towards a computer-delivered test of productive grammatical ability
  8 Jul 2010 at 3:58am
  by Chapelle, C. A., Chung, Y.-R., Hegelheimer, V., Pendar, N., Xu, J.
  

  This study piloted test items that will be used in a computer-delivered and scored test of productive grammatical ability in English as a second language (ESL). Findings from research on learners’ ...

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  This study piloted test items that will be used in a computer-delivered and scored test of productive grammatical ability in English as a second language (ESL). Findings from research on learners’ development of morphosyntactic, syntactic, and functional knowledge were synthesized to create a framework of grammatical features. We outline the interpretive argument and present results from four pilot test administrations in terms of (a) reliability, (b) relationships between item difficulties and developmental stages, (c) correlations with other English tests, and (d) predictability of test scores in relation to proficiency levels. The results support the potential of assessing productive ESL grammatical ability by targeting areas identified in SLA research, and the plausibility of moving forward with computer delivery and scoring.

  
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• Use of tree-based regression in the analyses of L2 reading test items
  8 Jul 2010 at 3:58am
  by Gao, L., Rogers, W. T.
  

  The purpose of this study was to explore whether the results of Tree Based Regression (TBR) analyses, informed by a validated cognitive model, would enhance the interpretation of item difficulties ...

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  The purpose of this study was to explore whether the results of Tree Based Regression (TBR) analyses, informed by a validated cognitive model, would enhance the interpretation of item difficulties in terms of the cognitive processes involved in answering the reading items included in two forms of the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB). A cognitive model was first generated to explain the performance of the MELAB reading items, and then validated by expert judgment and student verbal protocols. Next, the validated model was used in the TBR analyses to obtain the final trees for each form. Finally, the cognitive processes (i.e., reading processes and testing strategies) measured by each item were traced back for each item in the terminal nodes of each tree. The results revealed that TBR, informed by a supportable cognitive theory, appears to be a promising addition to statistical item analysis that can be effectively used to enhance the interpretation of item analyses results.

  
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• Language needs analysis from a perspective of international professional mobi...
  6 Jul 2010 at 2:49pm
  
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: English for Specific Purposes, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 5 July 2010
  Séverine, Wozniak
  This paper gives a detailed account of an analysis carried out a... (show all)
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: English for Specific Purposes, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 5 July 2010
  Séverine, Wozniak
  This paper gives a detailed account of an analysis carried out at the French National Skiing and Mountaineering School from August 2008 to June 2009 to assess the language needs of French mountain guides. A targeted literature review highlighted two main points to be taken into account in the design of this language needs analysis: target situations and insiders? expert knowledge. Then, one hypothesis and two research questions were identified. Data gathering methods ? including unstructured interviews, non-participant observation of the foreign language certification process and a questionnaire ? allowed testing of the questions via triangulation (by sources and methods)...
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• Playing with the stakes: A consideration of an aspect of the social context o...
  3 Jul 2010 at 3:48pm
  
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: Assessing Writing, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 2 July 2010
  Beverly A., Baker
  In high-stakes writing assessments, rater training in the use of a rating sc... (show all)
  Publication year: 2010
  Source: Assessing Writing, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 2 July 2010
  Beverly A., Baker
  In high-stakes writing assessments, rater training in the use of a rating scale does not eliminate variability in grade attribution. This realisation has been accompanied by research that explores possible sources of rater variability, such as rater background or rating scale type. However, there has been little consideration thus far of variability in rater behaviour that may be brought about by the socio-political context of the testing situation. In addition, studies of rater behaviour are undertaken in either research conditions or authentic high-stakes testing conditions, but never both. This report is a ?stakes study? in the context of a writing...
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• The utility of article and preposition error correction systems for English l...
  2 Jul 2010 at 6:23am
  by Chodorow, M., Gamon, M., Tetreault, J.
  

  In this paper, we describe and evaluate two state-of-the-art systems for identifying and correcting writing errors involving English articles and prepositions. CriterionSM, developed by Educational...

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  In this paper, we describe and evaluate two state-of-the-art systems for identifying and correcting writing errors involving English articles and prepositions. CriterionSM, developed by Educational Testing Service, and ESL Assistant, developed by Microsoft Research, both use machine learning techniques to build models of article and preposition usage which enable them to identify errors and suggest corrections to the writer. We evaluated the effects of these systems on users in two studies. In one, Criterion provided feedback about article errors to native and non-native speakers who were writing an essay for a college-level psychology course. The results showed a significant reduction in the number of article errors in the final essays of the non-native speakers. In the second study, ESL Assistant was used by non-native speakers who were composing email messages. The results indicated that users were selective in their choices among the system’s suggested corrections and that, as a result, they were able to increase the proportion of valid corrections by making effective use of feedback.

  
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• The promise of NLP and speech processing technologies in language assessment
  2 Jul 2010 at 6:23am
  by Chapelle, C. A., Chung, Y.-R.
  

  Advances in natural language processing (NLP) and automatic speech recognition and processing technologies offer new opportunities for language testing. Despite their potential uses on a range of l...

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  Advances in natural language processing (NLP) and automatic speech recognition and processing technologies offer new opportunities for language testing. Despite their potential uses on a range of language test item types, relatively little work has been done in this area, and it is therefore not well understood by test developers, researchers or users in language assessment. This paper introduces NLP for language assessment as an area of inquiry and practice by describing the historical roots coming from computational linguistics, statistical NLP, speech recognition and processing technologies, language assessment, and computer-assisted language learning. It outlines uses of NLP and speech recognition and processing technologies in language assessment through illustrations of current testing projects, and identifies areas in need of further development.

  
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• Validation of automated scores of TOEFL iBT tasks against non-test indicators...
  2 Jul 2010 at 6:23am
  by Weigle, S. C.
  

  Automated scoring has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with the assessment of complex skills such as writing, but its use must be validated against a variety of cr...

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  Automated scoring has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with the assessment of complex skills such as writing, but its use must be validated against a variety of criteria for it to be accepted by test users and stakeholders. This study approaches validity by comparing human and automated scores on responses to TOEFL® iBT Independent writing tasks with several non-test indicators of writing ability: student self-assessment, instructor assessment, and independent ratings of non-test writing samples. Automated scores were produced using e-rater®, developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS). Correlations between both human and e-rater scores and non-test indicators were moderate but consistent, providing criterion-related validity evidence for the use of e-rater along with human scores. The implications of the findings for the validity of automated scores are discussed.

  
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• Interaction in group oral assessment: A case study of higher- and lower-scori...
  2 Jul 2010 at 6:23am
  by Gan, Z.
  

  This article examines the interactional work in which two groups of secondary ESL students engaged to achieve and sustain participation in group oral assessment, which is designed to assess a stude...

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  This article examines the interactional work in which two groups of secondary ESL students engaged to achieve and sustain participation in group oral assessment, which is designed to assess a student’s interactive communication skills in a school-based assessment context. The in-depth observation of the ways in which participants co-constructed talk-in-interaction led to the discovery of the particular pattern of speech exchange within each group. Within the higher-scoring group, the students engaged constructively and contingently with one another’s ideas, demonstrating a range of speech functions such as suggestions, agreement or disagreement, explanations, and challenges, which resulted in opportunities for substantive conversation and genuine communication to be engineered. Within the lower-scoring group, the resulting interactions appeared more structured, apparently as a result of the pre-set prompts that were originally set for the purpose of facilitating within-group discussion. However, a picture emerges of lower-scoring group members naturally engaging in negotiation of meaning over linguistic impasses, which turned out to serve as the stimulus to collaborative dialogue. There is also evidence of lower-scoring group members assisting each other through co-construction both to find the right linguistic forms and to express meaning. The nature of these interactions suggests that the group oral assessment format, as operationalized in this context, can authentically reflect students’ interactional skills and their moment-by-moment construction of social and linguistic identity. However, the lack of contingent development of topical talk within the lower-scoring group implies that the assessor’s good intentions in providing pre-set prompts may end up restricting students’ performance. The risk of such task/topic-related effects on the quality of student discourse and interaction warrants further research.

  
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• Validating automated speaking tests
  2 Jul 2010 at 6:23am
  by Bernstein, J., Van Moere, A., Cheng, J.
  

  This paper presents evidence that supports the valid use of scores from fully automatic tests of spoken language ability to indicate a person’s effectiveness in spoken communication. The paper revi...

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  This paper presents evidence that supports the valid use of scores from fully automatic tests of spoken language ability to indicate a person’s effectiveness in spoken communication. The paper reviews the constructs, scoring, and the concurrent validity evidence of ‘facility-in-L2’ tests, a family of automated spoken language tests in Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, and English. The facility-in-L2 tests are designed to measure receptive and productive language ability as test-takers engage in a succession of tasks with meaningful language. Concurrent validity studies indicate that scores from the automated tests are strongly correlated with the scores from oral proficiency interviews. In separate studies with learners from each of the four languages the automated tests predict scores from the live interview tests as well as those tests predict themselves in a test-retest protocol (r = 0.77 to 0.92). Although it might be assumed that the interactive nature of the oral interview elicits performances that manifest a distinct construct, the closeness of the results suggests that the constructs underlying the two approaches to oral assessment have a stable relationship across languages.

  
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• An Investigation of the Relationship Between Retention in First Grade and Per...
  30 Jun 2010 at 1:35pm
  by Hughes, J. N., Chen, Q., Thoemmes, F., Kwok, O.-m.
  

  The association between grade retention in first grade and passing the third grade state accountability tests, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading and math, was investigated...

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  The association between grade retention in first grade and passing the third grade state accountability tests, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading and math, was investigated in a sample of 769 students who were recruited into the study when they were in first grade. Of these 769 students, 165 were retained in first grade and 604 were promoted. Using propensity matching, we created five imputed datasets (average N = 321) in which promoted and retained students were matched on 67 comprehensive covariates. Using GEE models, we obtained the association between retention and passing the third grade TAKS reading and math tests. The positive association between retention and math scores was significant, whereas the association was marginally significant for reading scores.

  
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• Cheating in the first, second, and third degree: Educators' responses to high...
  29 Jun 2010 at 11:16am
  by Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, David C. Berliner, Sharon Rideau
  

  Educators are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their students perform well on tests.  Unfortunately, this pressure has caused some educators to cheat.  The purpose of this study was to inve...

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  Educators are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their students perform well on tests.  Unfortunately, this pressure has caused some educators to cheat.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of, and degrees to which, a sample of teachers in Arizona were aware of, or had themselves engaged in test-related cheating practices as a function of the high-stakes testing policies of No Child Left Behind. A near census sample of teachers was surveyed, with valid responses obtained from about 5 percent, totaling just over 3,000 teachers. In addition, one small convenience sample of teachers was interviewed, and another participated in a focus group. Data revealed that cheating occurs and that educators can be quite clever when doing so. But how one defines cheating makes it difficult to quantify the frequency with which educators engage in such practices. Our analysis thus required us to think about a taxonomy of cheating based on the definitions of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree offenses in the field of law. These categories were analyzed to help educators better define, and be more aware of others' and their own cheating practices, in an attempt to inform local testing policies and procedures.

  
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• A Comparison of Approaches for Improving the Reliability of Objective Level S...
  25 Jun 2010 at 4:55pm
  by Skorupski, W. P., Carvajal, J.
  

  This study is an evaluation of the psychometric issues associated with estimating objective level scores, often referred to as ‘‘subscores.’’ The article begins by introducing the concepts of relia...

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  This study is an evaluation of the psychometric issues associated with estimating objective level scores, often referred to as ‘‘subscores.’’ The article begins by introducing the concepts of reliability and validity for subscores from statewide achievement tests. These issues are discussed with reference to popular scaling techniques, classical test theory, and item response theory. Methods for increasing the reliability of subscore estimates that have been suggested in literature are then reviewed. Based on this review, an empirical study comparing some of the more promising procedures was conducted. Test score data from a large statewide testing program were analyzed in this study. The comparison of subscore augmentation approaches found that generally all methods were very successful in dramatically increasing the reliability of subscore estimates. However, this increase was accompanied by near-perfect correlations among the subscore estimates. This finding called into question the validity of the resultant subscores, and therefore the usefulness of the subscore augmentation process. Implications for practice are discussed.

  
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• Pre-service teacher beliefs about language learning: The second language acqu...
  25 Jun 2010 at 8:23am
  by Busch, D.
  

  This large mixed methods study investigated the effects of the introductory second language acquisition (SLA) course on the beliefs of pre-service teachers (n = 381) enrolled over a three-year peri...

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  This large mixed methods study investigated the effects of the introductory second language acquisition (SLA) course on the beliefs of pre-service teachers (n = 381) enrolled over a three-year period at a state university in California. Pre- to post-course paired sample t-tests that were run on 23 beliefs statements from a widely used survey revealed significant changes in beliefs in several areas including the length of time for acquisition, difficulty of language acquisition, the role of culture, the role of error correction, the importance of grammar, and the efficacy of audiolingual learning strategies. In extensive written post-course explanations, the pre-service teachers attributed their pre-course beliefs to language learning experience in high school and post-course changes in their beliefs to the SLA course content and experiential activities, most notably tutoring an ESL student (the first contact for some teachers). Depth of knowledge was revealed in the teacher comments; this included information that could not have been gleaned from the beliefs surveys alone. The findings, which demonstrated how pre-service teacher beliefs evolve within the context of a professional education course, have practical implications for course design and evaluation in teacher education programs.

  
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• Dissent From Within: How Educational Insiders Use Protest to Create Policy Ch...
  21 Jun 2010 at 6:40am
  by Grossman, F. D.
  

  This article utilizes social movement theory to analyze policy change created by site-based educators. The author uses a qualitative case study to examine how an organization comprised of teachers ...

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  This article utilizes social movement theory to analyze policy change created by site-based educators. The author uses a qualitative case study to examine how an organization comprised of teachers and administrators in New York State used protest to protect a waiver, which exempted students in their schools from having to pass statewide graduation exams. The author finds that the educators’ ability to mobilize resources and to strategically frame their struggle in a manner that resonated with policymakers allowed the educator activists to capitalize on emerging controversies surrounding the state’s assessment system and create policy change. This article provides a framework to understand how marginalized actors within systems of schooling organize to create change. Such a framework is becoming increasingly relevant as educators attempt to create space for local practice in the current top-down policy environment.

  
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• Reviewing Policy: Challenging One's Own Orthodoxy: Diane Ravitch and the Fate...
  21 Jun 2010 at 6:40am
  by Apple, M. W.
  
  
• Mathematics Reform and Teacher Quality in Elementary Grades: Assessments, Tea...
  20 Jun 2010 at 5:19pm
  by Annie Georges, Kathryn M. Borman, Reginald S. Lee
  
  We analyzed the gap in mathematics standards, assessments and accountability, and teacher licensure and certification requirements in mathematics for elementary grades. We found states delineated m... (show all)
  We analyzed the gap in mathematics standards, assessments and accountability, and teacher licensure and certification requirements in mathematics for elementary grades. We found states delineated mathematics academic standards in specific content areas. Licensure and certification requirements were weak indicators since they lacked the specificity of conceptual and procedural knowledge that could strengthen mathematics content knowledge and inform instructional practices. The most recent changes in licensure and certification requirements intended to affect teacher quality are not reaching a large proportion of elementary teachers; thus, their overall impact on teacher quality is likely to be limited. We discuss policy strategies for licensure and certification requirements likely to have a broader reach in addressing teacher quality at the elementary grades.
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• Recent Research on Human Learning Challenges Conventional Instructional Strat...
  17 Jun 2010 at 5:00pm
  by Rohrer, D., Pashler, H.
  

  There has been a recent upsurge of interest in exploring how choices of methods and timing of instruction affect the rate and persistence of learning. The authors review three lines of experimentat...

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  There has been a recent upsurge of interest in exploring how choices of methods and timing of instruction affect the rate and persistence of learning. The authors review three lines of experimentation—all conducted using educationally relevant materials and time intervals—that call into question important aspects of common instructional practices. First, research reveals that testing, although typically used merely as an assessment device, directly potentiates learning and does so more effectively than other modes of study. Second, recent analysis of the temporal dynamics of learning show that learning is most durable when study time is distributed over much greater periods of time than is customary in educational settings. Third, the interleaving of different types of practice problems (which is quite rare in math and science texts) markedly improves learning. The authors conclude by discussing the frequently observed dissociation between people’s perceptions of which learning procedures are most effective and which procedures actually promote durable learning.

  
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• A Review of the "Digital Turn" in the New Literacy Studies
  17 Jun 2010 at 3:51pm
  by Mills, K. A.
  

  Digital communication has transformed literacy practices and assumed great importance in the functioning of workplace, recreational, and community contexts. This article reviews a decade of empiric...

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  Digital communication has transformed literacy practices and assumed great importance in the functioning of workplace, recreational, and community contexts. This article reviews a decade of empirical work of the New Literacy Studies, identifying the shift toward research of digital literacy applications. The article engages with the central theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic challenges in the tradition of New Literacy Studies, while highlighting the distinctive trends in the digital strand. It identifies common patterns across new literacy practices through cross-comparisons of ethnographic research in digital media environments. It examines ways in which this research is taking into account power and pedagogy in normative contexts of literacy learning using the new media. Recommendations are given to strengthen the links between New Literacy Studies research and literacy curriculum, assessment, and accountability in the 21st century.

  
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• Class Attendance in College: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Relationship of Cl...
  17 Jun 2010 at 3:51pm
  by Crede, M., Roch, S. G., Kieszczynka, U. M.
  

  A meta-analysis of the relationship between class attendance in college and college grades reveals that attendance has strong relationships with both class grades (k = 69, N = 21,195, = .44) and G...

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  A meta-analysis of the relationship between class attendance in college and college grades reveals that attendance has strong relationships with both class grades (k = 69, N = 21,195, = .44) and GPA (k = 33, N = 9,243, = .41). These relationships make class attendance a better predictor of college grades than any other known predictor of academic performance, including scores on standardized admissions tests such as the SAT, high school GPA, study habits, and study skills. Results also show that class attendance explains large amounts of unique variance in college grades because of its relative independence from SAT scores and high school GPA and weak relationship with student characteristics such as conscientiousness and motivation. Mandatory attendance policies appear to have a small positive impact on average grades (k = 3, N = 1,421, d = .21). Implications for theoretical frameworks of student academic performance and educational policy are discussed.

  
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• International English language testing: a critical response
  16 Jun 2010 at 9:25am
  by Hall, G.
  

  Uysal's article provides a research agenda for IELTS and lists numerous issues concerning the test's reliability and validity. She asks useful questions, but her analysis ignores the uncertainties ...

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  Uysal's article provides a research agenda for IELTS and lists numerous issues concerning the test's reliability and validity. She asks useful questions, but her analysis ignores the uncertainties inherent in all language test development and the wider social and political context of international high-stakes language testing. In this response, I suggest there is ample evidence that, in the normal course of its test development and review processes, IELTS is aware of and addressing problematic issues in its testing as they arise. However, I also argue that to address some of the issues arising from Uysal's discussion, we need to take a broader perspective and examine the social, economic, and political dimensions of international high-stakes English language testing.

  
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• Direct teaching of vocabulary after reading: is it worth the effort?
  16 Jun 2010 at 9:25am
  by Sonbul, S., Schmitt, N.
  

  This experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of direct teaching of new vocabulary items in reading passages. The study compared vocabulary learning under a reading only condition (incidental...

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  This experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of direct teaching of new vocabulary items in reading passages. The study compared vocabulary learning under a reading only condition (incidental learning) to learning that is aided by direct communication of word meanings (explicit learning). Three levels of vocabulary knowledge (form recall, meaning recall, and meaning recognition) were assessed using three tests (completion, L1 translation, and multiple choice, respectively). Incidental learning plus explicit instruction was found to be more effective than incidental learning alone for all three levels. The results also showed that direct instruction is especially effective in facilitating the deepest level of knowledge, i.e. form recall. These findings demonstrate the value of the time and effort spent on direct teaching of lexical items in EFL reading classes.

  
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• A critical review of the IELTS writing test
  16 Jun 2010 at 9:25am
  by Uysal, H. H.
  

  Administered at local centres in 120 countries throughout the world, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is one of the most widely used large-scale ESL tests that also offers a di...

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  Administered at local centres in 120 countries throughout the world, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is one of the most widely used large-scale ESL tests that also offers a direct writing test component. Because of its popularity and its use for making critical decisions about test takers, it is crucial to draw attention to some issues regarding the assessment procedures of IELTS. Therefore, the present paper aims to provide a descriptive and critical review of the IELTS writing test by focusing particularly on various reliability issues such as single marking of papers, readability of prompts, comparability of writing topics, and validity issues such as the definition of the ‘international writing construct’, without considering variations among rhetorical conventions and genres around the world. Consequential validity-impact issues will also be discussed and suggestions will be given for the use of IELTS around the world and for future research to improve the test.

  
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• Complementing human judgment of essays written by English language learners w...
  15 Jun 2010 at 5:41am
  by Enright, M. K., Quinlan, T.
  

  E-rater® is an automated essay scoring system that uses natural language processing techniques to extract features from essays and to model statistically human holistic ratings. Educational Testing...

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  E-rater® is an automated essay scoring system that uses natural language processing techniques to extract features from essays and to model statistically human holistic ratings. Educational Testing Service has investigated the use of e-rater, in conjunction with human ratings, to score one of the two writing tasks on the TOEFL-iBT® writing section. In this article we describe the TOEFL iBT writing section and an e-rater model proposed to provide one of two ratings for the Independent writing task. We discuss how the evidence for a process that uses both human and e-rater scoring is relevant to four components in a validity argument: (a) Evaluation – observations of performance on the writing task are scored to provide evidence of targeted writing skills; (b) Generalization – scores on the writing task provide estimates of expected scores over relevant parallel versions of the task and across raters; (c) Extrapolation – expected scores on the writing task are consistent with other measures of writing ability; and (d) Utilization – scores on the writing task are useful in educational contexts. Finally, we propose directions for future research that will strengthen the case for using complementary methods of scoring to improve the assessment of EFL writing.

  
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• Conceptual and empirical relationships between temporal measures of fluency a...
  15 Jun 2010 at 5:41am
  by Ginther, A., Dimova, S., Yang, R.
  

  Information provided by examination of the skills that underlie holistic scores can be used not only as supporting evidence for the validity of inferences associated with performance tests but also...

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  Information provided by examination of the skills that underlie holistic scores can be used not only as supporting evidence for the validity of inferences associated with performance tests but also as a way to improve the scoring rubrics, descriptors, and benchmarks associated with scoring scales. As fluency is considered a critical, perhaps foundational, component of speaking proficiency, temporal measures of fluency are expected to be strongly related to holistic ratings of speech quality. This study examines the relationships among selected temporal measures of fluency and holistic scores on a semi-direct measure of oral English proficiency. The spoken responses of 150 respondents to one item on the Oral English Proficiency Test (OEPT) were analyzed for selected temporal measures of fluency. The examinees represented three first language backgrounds (Chinese, Hindi, and English) and the range of scores on the OEPT scale. While strong and moderate correlations between OEPT scores and speech rate, speech time ratio, mean length of run, and the number and length of silent pauses were found, fluency variables alone did not distinguish adjacent levels of the OEPT scale. Temporal measures of fluency may reasonably be selected for the development of automated scoring systems for speech; however, identification of an examinee’s level remains dependent on aspects of performance only partially represented by fluency measures.

  
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