language skills & assessment
TRANSCRIPT
Prepared by: Nasrin Eftekhari Instructor: Dr. Mahdavi
Language Skills & Assessment (Schmitt )
What is Listening ? It is important to note that listening is not merely an auditory
version of reading.
Among the unique features of listening are the following:
ephemeral, one-shot nature.
a rich prosody (stress, intonation, rhythm, loudness and more)
natural fast speech, such as assimilation, making it markedly different from written language, for example, /g∂mmt/ for government.
The frequent need to process and respond almost immediately.
what is speaking :
the notion of spoken language in use, drawing on insights from discourse analysis which make it clear that language is used to negotiate and achieve meaning in social contexts .
‘Speaking’ is so much part of daily life that we tend to take it for granted
We speak in order to carry out various social activities.
What is Reading? processing at the:
phonological,
morphological,
syntactic,
semantic
discourse levels
goal setting, text-summary building,
interpretive elaborating from knowledge resources
monitoring and assessment of goal achievement
adjusting processing to enhance comprehension
repairing comprehension processing as needed
intense processing-time constraints
What is Writing ? not just a representation of speech,
manifestations of language users’ knowledge, perspective and communicative competence
relationship among the elements of writing (relational aspect)
use of various strategies for developing and communicating ideas (strategic aspect)
use of available discursive repertoire (textual aspect)
What is Language assessment ?
Act of collecting information
Making judgments about a language learners knowledge of a language and ability to use it
Require for specific purpose
Educational assessment:
Providing diagnostic information and
Motivate learners
‘Assessment for communication’ (informing certification and selection)
‘Assessment for accountability’ (publicly demonstrating achievement of outcomes)
Issues in Listening :
Models of listening: Communication theory model
Information processing model
Social / contextual model
Situated action model
Types of listening :One-way listening
Two-way listening
Process of listening :Bottom up processing
Top-down processing Listening skills Listening strategies
Models of listening:
How people manage to make sense of what they hear.
Communication theory model:
Make telecommunications systems more efficient
‘transmission’, ‘signal’, ‘reception’ and ‘noise’
Information processing model:
are the concepts of input, processing and output, with the
human being seen as a limited processor, so that when doing
complex tasks, we have to devote more attention to one
aspect of the task and less to another.
Social / contextual model:
In the social/contextual model, in contrast to communications theory and information processing, we are seen as participants in and creators of meaning, and meanings are achieved in the interactional space between us and not just inside our individual heads.
Situated action model :
Evolutionary psychologists argue that humans spend much
of their time trying to understand in order to do things
(‘situated action’), rather than to archive information in
memory, as information processing approaches assume.
Types of listening :
One-way listening:
transactional function of language
has strongly influenced the teaching of listening to L2
E.g.watching a film or television or listening to the radio
Two-way listening:
‘listening-and-speaking
involves dialogue or discussion
Process of listening:
‘bottom-up’
‘top-down’ processing
Bottom up processing:
Bottom-up processing involves piecing together
the parts of what is being heard in a linear
fashion, one by one, in sequence. This used to
be seen as a complete and accurate description
of successful listening.
Top-down processing:
is holistic, going from whole to part, and
focused on interpretation of meaning rather
than recognition of sounds, words, and
sentences.
Listening skills
ENABLING SKILLS Perception1. Recognizing prominence within utterances,
including: Discriminating sounds in words, especially
phonemic contrastsDiscriminating strong and weak forms, phonetic
change at word boundariesIdentifying use of stress and pitch (information
units, emphasis, etc.)
Interpretation2. Formulating content sense of an utterance,
including:Deducing the meaning of unfamiliar wordsInferring implicit informationInferring links between propositionsENACTING SKILLS
3. Formulating a conceptual framework linking utterances, including:
Recognizing discourse markers (clarifying, contrasting)
Constructing a theme over a stretch of discourse Predicting contentIdentifying elements that help you to form an
overall schema Maintaining and updating the context
4. Interpreting (possible) speaker intentions, including:
Identifying an ‘interpersonal frame’ speaker-to-hearer
Monitoring changes in prosody and establishing
(in)consistencies
Noting contradictions, inadequate information,
ambiguities
Differentiating between fact and opinion
ENACTING SKILLS
Making an appropriate response (based on 1–4 above),
including:
Selecting key points for the current task
Transcoding information into written form (for example,
notes)
Identifying which points need clarification
Integrating information with that from other sources
Providing appropriate feedback to the speaker
Listening strategies :
Refer to the table on page 187
Issues in Speaking :
Genres of speaking Generic structure Exchange Turn taking & turn types Topic management
Issues in Reading :Automaticity & word recognition L2 word recognition differences
across L1sVocabulary How much L2 lexis is needed? The role of context in guessing of
word meaning in L2 reading Dictionary use & L2 reading
Reading rate
Language threshold
The role of background knowledge in reading
Knowledge of text structure & discourse cues
Metacognitive & reading strategies
Extensive reading / impact of exposure to print
Issues in Writing :
There are aspects of writing: Relational aspects of writing Strategic aspects of writing Textual aspects of writing
Issues in Language assessment Construct definition
Ability / performance constructs
Specific / general purpose constructs
Construct perspective & specificity
Test methods
Validation
Test analysis
Item difficulty
Correlation
Issues in language assessment & language teaching:
Washback
Alternative assessment
Observation
Portfolios
Self-assessment
Outcomes-based assessment
Implication for pedagogy; Listening
Difficulty factors in listening Authenticity of text & task Strategy instruction Skills training
Implication for pedagogy; Speaking
Should speaking activities focus on text or sentences?
How can a discourse-based approach be applied in classroom practice?
Should we use only authentic text? What procedures are there specifically
for pronunciation teaching?
Elicited mechanical production
Ear training for second language
Sound for meaning contrasts
Cognitive analysis
Whole brain activities, communication activities
and games
Learning strategies
Implication for pedagogy; Reading
The need to develop reading fluency and word
recognition automaticity.
The need to develop a large recognition vocabulary.
The importance of discourse structure and the
instructional benefits of using graphic representations.
The need for language awareness and attention to
language (structure) and genre form (meta-linguistic
knowledge).
The importance of meta-cognitive
awareness and strategic reading.
The importance of specific reading
strategies to support word learning and
reading to learn goals.
The need for extensive reading.
The importance of motivation.
The benefits of integrated skills instruction
and content-based instruction.
The need for a supportive (classroom and
institutional) environment for reading.
Implication for pedagogy; Writing
Controlled composition
The paragraph pattern
The process approach
Genre-based approach
Issues that transcend traditions