School of Languages and Linguistics - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 6 of 6
-
ItemApplying the context-adaptive model: evaluating a DEET funded English Language Program( 1995)Financially able governments around the world are embarking on major projects to retrain the growing numbers of unemployed. Education systems now dominated by 'market economy' -thinking government bodies holding the reigns on policy making and funding. It would appear from the writing of Bell and Goldstein (1995:21) that the situation in Australia is parallel to that of Canada. It is summarised in the words: "Many workers who have permanently lost their jobs in t:llls current economic recession have been advised to upgrade their educational credentials and obtain new work skills. In these changing economic times, upgrading, training and 'lifelong learning' are seen by many to be the key to finding and keeping a good job." This statement could easily be made about Australia, where the Federal Government is funding many types of training programs for the unemployed. The one being evaluated here is an English as Second Language (ESL) program funded by the Department of Employment Education and Training (DEET) for retrenched workers from the Textile Clothing and Footwear (TCF) industry. The program to be discussed is located at Victoria College, a registered private provider of education and training in Melbourne. Initially, the college offered English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) accredited by an industry body, the National ELICOS Accreditation Scheme (NEAS). It has now broadened its scope to offer business and DEET funded courses. The evaluator has been closely connected to the program in the capacity of teacher, coordinator and (DEET) liaison officer. The first chapter presents the historical background of language program evaluations. Reports on outcomes from closely related areas, are presented next, as relevant background literature. The model chosen for the framework of this evaluation is the Context-Adaptive Model (CAM) (Lynch 1990). The second chapter leads to an evaluation design by adapting steps of the model to the evaluation context. It takes into consideration "such issues as the social and political basis and motivation for the language learning and teaching" (Lynch In press 94 13) which are important background to the evaluation. The data collection design is presented in the third chapter with the thematic framework for the evaluation. The design has quantitative and qualitative data collected for separate audience goals. The fourth chapter shows how qualitative and quantitative data is collected from various sources. The qualitative data consists of post-course questionnaires; case studies and interviews. Quantitative data consists of Australian Second Language Proficiency Rating (ASLPR) results in the form of precourse and post-course proficiency ratings for all the students and as well as a two-year charting of the four macro-skills for the case studies. In the fifth chapter, the results are discussed and arguments for the validation of the data and methods are put forward in the sixth chapter. The evaluation conclusions can then be drawn from the different perspectives presented in the last chapter.
-
ItemThe process of the assessment of writing performance: the rater's perspective( 2000)The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which raters of texts written by ESL learners make their scoring decisions. The context is the Special Test of English Proficiency (step), used by the Australian government to assist in immigration decisions. Four trained, experienced and reliable step raters took part in the study, providing scores for two sets of 24 texts. The first set was scored as in an operational rating session. Raters then provided think-aloud protocols describing the rating process as they rated the second set. Scores were compared under the two conditions and comparisons made with the raters' operational rating behaviour. Both similarities and differences were observed. A coding scheme developed to describe the think-aloud data allowed analysis of the sequence of rating, the interpretations the raters made of the scoring categories in the analytic rating scale, and the difficulties raters faced in rating. Findings demonstrate that raters follow a fundamentally similar rating process, in three stages. With some exceptions, they appear to hold similar interpretations of the scale categories and descriptors, but the relationship between scale contents and text quality remains obscure. A model is presented describing the rating process. This shows that rating is at one level a rule-bound, socially governed procedure that relies upon a rating scale and the rater training which supports it, but it retains an indeterminate component as a result of the complexity of raters' reactions to individual texts. The task raters face is to reconcile their impression of the text, the specific features of the text, and the wordings of the rating scale, thereby producing a set of scores. The rules and the scale do not cover all eventualities, forcing the raters to develop various strategies to help them cope with problematic aspects of the rating process. In doing this they try to remain close to the scale, but are also heavily influenced by the complex intuitive impression of the text obtained when they first read it. This sets up a tension between the rules and the intuitive impression, which raters resolve by what is ultimately a somewhat indeterminate process. In spite of this tension and indeterminacy, rating can succeed in yielding consistent scores provided raters are supported by adequate training, with additional guidelines to assist them in dealing with problems. Rating requires such constraining procedures to produce reliable measurement.
-
ItemAn investigation of the relationship between L2 learners' goals and their attitudes towards their learning( 2006)This thesis investigates the students' reactions to a specific pedagogical approach to second language (L2) writing, termed the Enhanced Genre Approach (EGA), looking at not just gain scores and students' evaluative comments, but at how individual students differ in their classroom behaviour. The approach entails the teaching of one specific genre, the argumentative essay, through the use of model texts organised according to the elements of Toulmin' s (1958; see also Toulmin' s et aI., 1984) framework of argumentation. It emphasises the communicative purpose of writing and the importance of having an audience in mind during the writing process. Other features of the approach include handouts and exercises derived from the model texts and Toulmin's argumentative framework, written feedback provided by the teacher with focus on Toulmin's elements of claim, grounds, and warrants, the opportunity to re-write essays, and pair-work activities. This study presents my perspective as the teacher and designer of the EGA and investigates the students' reactions to, and engagement with, this approach in the classroom. The investigation of the students' perspectives is framed within the socio-cultural theoretical framework. The investigation of the student's reaction to the EGA includes their likes and dislikes about the specific features of the approach, as well as their improvement over the length of the course. The investigation also explores similarities and differences observed across the students in terms of outcome and behaviour. Through the framework of activity theory, this thesis also examines how the students' goals may help explain their individual actions in the classroom, i.e., their attitudes and behaviours towards class activities, such as lectures, teaching methodology, course materials, tasks, teacher's feedback, and collaborative work. Further, the investigation explores the robustness of activity theory in explaining the students' performance and outcome. The investigation took place in an eight-week elective composition course (Composition 1) at an English language institute in the USA. The participants were nine adult intermediate second language learners from various backgrounds: Togo, South America, Central America, and Sweden. The Composition 1 course was specifically structured for the teaching of argumentative essay writing using the enhanced genre approach, that is, all tasks pertaining to Composition 1 formed part of the approach to second language writing instruction devised for this study. These included individual and pair-work tasks extracted from three "default" model texts organised according to the elements of Toulmin's model of argumentation, and the writing of short argumentative essays.
-
ItemThe importance and effectiveness of moderation training on the reliability of teacher assessments of ESL writing samples( 1993)This thesis reports the findings of a study of the inter-rater reliability of assessment of ESL Writing by teachers in the Australian Adult Migrant Education Program, using the ASLPR, a language proficiency scale used throughout the program. The study investigates the individual ratings assigned to 15 writing samples by 83 teachers, both before and after training aimed at moderation of raters' perceptions of descriptors in the scale by reference to features of other 'anchor' writing samples. The thesis argues the necessity for on-going training of assessors of ESL writing, at a time of change in the program, from assessment of language proficiency to that of language competencies, since both forms of assessments are increasingly having consequences which affect the lives of the candidates. The importance and necessity for moderation training is established by reference to the problems of validity in the scale itself and in its use in the program, and by reference to the literature of assessor-training and features of writing which influence rater-judgements. The findings indicate that training is effective in substantially increasing inter-rater reliability of the subjects, by reducing the range of levels assigned to the samples and increasing the percentages of ratings at the mode (most accurate) level and at the Mode +/- 1 level (an allowance for 'error' due to the subjective nature of the assessment), after training. The paper concludes that on-going training is effective in achieving greater consensus i.e. inter-rater reliability amongst the assessors, but suggests that variability needs to be further reduced and offers suggestions for further research aimed at other assessors and variables.
-
ItemAn investigation into the validity of two EFL (English as a Foreign Language) listening tests: IELTS and TOEFL iBT( 2008)This study is an investigation of the construct validity of two EFL listening tests: IELTS and TOEFL iBT. It aimed to answer the question: "How do IELTS and TOEFL iBT listening tests compare in terms of test construct?" (For complete abstract open document.)
-
ItemAssessing the second language proficiency of health professionals( 1990)This thesis reports on the development of an Australian Government English as a Second Language test for health professionals, the Occupational English Test (OET) , and its validation using Rasch Item Response Theory models. The test contains sub-tests of the four macroskills, each based on workplace communication tasks. The thesis reports on the creation of test specifications, the trial ling of test materials and the analysis of data from full test sessions. The main research issues dealt with are as follows: 1. The nature of the constructs involved in communicative language testing. The term proficiency is analysed, and its relationship to a number of models of communicative competence examined. The difficulty of incorporating into these models factors underlying test performance is identified. 2. The nature of performance tests. A distinction is introduced between strong and weak senses of the term performance test, and related to the discussion in 1 above. 3. The content validity of the OET. This is established on the basis of a questionnaire survey, interviews, examination of relevant literature, workplace observation and test data. 4. The role of classical and Rasch IRT analysis in establishing the qualities of the test. Classical and Rasch IRT analyses are used to establish the basic reliability of the OET sub-tests. The Writing sub-test is shown to be somewhat problematic for raters because of the nature of the writing task involved. Analysis of data from the Reading subtest demonstrates the superiority of the Rasch analysis in the creation of short tests with a specific screening function. 5. The role of Rasch IRT analysis in investigating the construct and content validity of the test and hence of communicatively-oriented tests in general. Rasch analysis reveals that the sub-tests are satisfactory operationalizations of the constructs 'ESL listening/ speaking/ reading/ writing ability in health professional contexts. For the Speaking and Writing sub-tests, the analysis reveals that responses of raters in categories associated with perceptions of grammatical accuracy have a more important role in the determination of the candidate's total score than was anticipated in the design of the test. This finding has implications for the validity of communicatively oriented tests in general, and illustrates the potential of IRT analysis for the investigation of the construct validity of tests. 6. The appropriateness of the use of Rasch IRT in the analysis of language tests. The nature of the debate about 'unidimensionality' in Rasch analysis is reviewed. It is argued that the issue has been substantialy misunderstood. Data from the two parts of the Listening sub-test are analysed, and statistical tests are used to confirm the unidimensionality of the data set. It is concluded that Rasch analysis is appropriate for a language test of this type. 7. The behaviour of raters in the rating of oral and written production in a second language. The findings reported in 5 above suggest that the behaviour of raters is crucial to understanding what is being measured in a communicative test of the productive language skills. The research demonstrates the value of Rasch IRT analysis in the empirical validation of communicatively oriented language tests, and the potential of large-scale test development projects for theoretical work on language testing.