Language Proficiency Interviews

He, Agnes Weiyun; Young, Richard Fox

doi:10.1075/sibil.14.02he

Cited by 97 publications

(108 citation statements)

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“…It reports on a study we carried out as part of an action-research project whose starting point was a problem identified in the field: the interactional competence -which we see as the "fifth element", following Kramsch (1986) and He and Young (1998)-in English of a group of French Master's degree students specialising in biology was considered to be underdeveloped compared to the other four skills (written and oral comprehension, written and oral production). Consequently, the solution envisaged was to set up an online English for specific purposes course following the action-oriented approach encouraged by the Common European Framework (CEF) for languages and thus promoting interactions (more appropriately termed "co-actions" in Puren, 2002) between learners.…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second Language Teaching and Learning with Technology: Views of Emergent Researchers

Thouësny¹,

Bradley²

2011

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• Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the publisher.• Noncommercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes.• No Derivative Works: You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.Research-publishing.net has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Moreover, research-publishing.net does not take any responsibility for the content of the pages written by the authors of this book. The authors have recognised that the work described was not published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis), or that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate on the date of its going to press, neither the authors, the editors, nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.The print on demand version is an exact printed copy of the original eBook project which can be found at http://www.research-publishing.net.Typeset by research-publishing.net Cover design by Raphaël Savina (raphael@savina.net)• Fonts used are licensed under a SIL Open Font License.• Cantarell, designer Dave Crossland; Old Standard TT, designer Alexey Kryukov.ISBN13: 978-1-908416-00-1 (eBook) ISBN13: 978-1-908416-01-8 (print on demand) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A cataloguing record for this book is available from the British Library.iii Notes on Contributors EditorsSylvie Thouësny is a Ph.D. student at Dublin City University, Ireland. Her current research focuses on language learner variability and language learner modeling to assist second language teachers in the provision of strategic and effective feedback adapted to each individual. This field of research mainly draws on disciplines such as applied linguistics, human computer interaction, natural language processing, intelligent computer-assisted language learning, and dynamic assessment.Linda Bradley is a Ph.D. student and lecturer at the Centre for Language and Communication, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Her research interest is language learning and technology, investigating students' interaction, communication and linguistic production in online environments within higher education. Her publications focus on student collaboration and intercultural learning on web based tools such as wikis and blogs. In addition, she has a general interest in self-directed learning on emergent mobile devices. Reading CommitteeFrançoise Blin has been working in CALL since the late eightie...

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Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second Language Teaching and Learning with Technology: Views of Emergent Researchers

Thouësny¹,

Bradley²

2011

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“…The strongest interactionalist claim is made by He and Young (1998), who view the interaction between the context and ability as the construct; a moderate claim is presented by Chalhoub-Deville (2003), who argues that the ability and context are distinct, with the ability changing as a result of the interaction; the minimalist interactionalist claim is articulated by Chapelle (1998), who sees the ability as distinct from but interacting with the context to produce performance. In Europe, Weir (2005) advocates a socio-cognitive approach to the design and development of language assessments, which views contextual elements as an important determinant factor in establishing "context validity", that is, "the extent to which the choice of tasks in a test is representative of the larger universe of tasks of which the test is assumed to be a sample" (p. 19).…”

Section: Context and Construct In Language Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construct and content in context: implications for language learning, teaching and assessment in China

Jin

2017

Lang Test Asia

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Context is vitally important in conceptualizing the construct and specifying the content of language learning, teaching, and assessment. In a rapidly changing globalized world, it is difficult but very important to identify and capture the unique features of local contexts. In this article, the experience of China will be used to discuss the impact of contextual features on policies and practices of English language education. The features of interest to the article are China's fast-growing economy in a globalized world and its recent dramatic progress in information and communications technology. To illustrate the importance of contextualized construct definition and content specification, I will use two cases to examine the alignment of contextual features with the aims and practices of English language education. In the first case, the development of the China's Standards of English shows that stakeholders' conceptualization of the construct of English language proficiency interacts with the macro-level features of the context in which activities of English language learning, teaching, and assessment are taking place. In the second case, the application of modern information and communications technology to the College English Test demonstrates the need for broadening the construct of language proficiency by adopting an interactionalist approach to construct definition, and the challenges of such an innovative approach presents for language assessment practices. The article makes the case that contextual features play a mediational function in conceptualizing and operationalizing the construct of English language proficiency and influence the policies and practices of teaching, learning, and assessment. The recognition of the role of contextual mediation in language education has important implications for language policy design and implementation in a rapidly changing world.

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“…They also discuss the implications for test use: "a new approach to test uses means going beyond tests designs to measure learners' knowledge of relatively decontextualized word lists and considering what other vocabulary assessment needs have to be met" (p. 22; italics in original). He and Young (1998) and Young (2000) adopt Kramsch's (1986) term, interactional competence, and extend or refine it in terms of its components and how it operates in interactive speaking. He and Young (1998) begin with a discussion of assessing "how well someone speaks a second language" (p. 1), reaching the rather unsurprising conclusion that "defining the construct of speaking ability in a second language is in fact a theoretically challenging undertaking" (p. 2).…”

Section: Interactional Approach To Language Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He and Young (1998) and Young (2000) adopt Kramsch's (1986) term, interactional competence, and extend or refine it in terms of its components and how it operates in interactive speaking. He and Young (1998) begin with a discussion of assessing "how well someone speaks a second language" (p. 1), reaching the rather unsurprising conclusion that "defining the construct of speaking ability in a second language is in fact a theoretically challenging undertaking" (p. 2). Under the heading "Interactional Competence," they begin by describing speaking ability as "a subset of the learner's overall abilityor proficiency -in the language" (p. 3).…”

Section: Interactional Approach To Language Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%