With growing evidence that learners of English as a second language (ESL) may face linguistic disadvantages when studying at English-medium universities, it is appropriate to identify the most effective ways to optimize their preparation. One area of interest is the relative importance university professors across disciplines place on language skills in their classrooms and how this might inform ESL teaching and learning. Thus, this study sought to identify perceptions of TESOL faculty and their ESL learners in terms of the relative importance of various English language skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and the extent to which they are aligned with the views of professors in the disciplines. Results suggest that although perceptions of TESOL faculty are well aligned with university content professors who have indicated that listening and reading are most important, students do not share this awareness and consider all language skills to be of equal value. This study also highlights the possible benefits of practitioners helping their students form appropriate and realistic expectations of pronunciation and the need for the field to better prepare practitioners to effectively teach the skill of listening.
The purpose of this study is to explore the reliability of a potentially more practical approach to direct writing assessment in the context of ESL writing. Traditional rubric rating (RR) is a common yet resource-intensive evaluation practice when performed reliably. This study compared the traditional rubric model of ESL writing assessment and many-facet Rasch modeling (MFRM) to comparative judgment (CJ), the new approach, which shows promising results in terms of reliability. We employed two groups of raters-novice and experienced-and used essays that had been previously double-rated, analyzed with MFRM, and selected with fit statistics. We compared the results of the novice and experienced groups against the initial ratings using raw scores, MFRM, and a modern form of CJ-randomly distributed comparative judgment (RDCJ). Results showed that the CJ approach, though not appropriate for all contexts, can be as reliable as RR while showing promise as a more practical approach. Additionally, CJ is easily transferable to novel assessment tasks while still providing context-specific scores. Results from this study will not only inform future studies but can help guide ESL programs in selecting a rating model best suited to their specific needs.
The possibility of bettering the present curriculum in English literature will depend in great measure upon the proportion of time allowed to it. So long as the classics and mathematics retain for themselves the lion's share of time and interest, the hopes of our professors of literature will never become unduly exalted. If I may express myself with thorough frankness, the customary quota of English literature, say less than two hours per week for less than two years, is so insufficient that I cannot look upon it as capable of improvement. The study will remain perforce hurried and superficial. Now the course that I have in mind is one of two full hours (better three) throughout three entire years. It is the course which has been required since 1880 for the B. L. degree in the University of Cincinnati, viz., three years, three hours a week. The classical students are now (beginning with 1884) compelled to take two of the three years, and the Scientifics one year. Perhaps this last requirement will be hereafter raised to two years.
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