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Robert DeKeyser
University of Maryland |
James Purpura
Teachers College, Columbia University |
AAAL-ILTA Joint Session: Towards theoretically meaningful L2 assessments for SLA research
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This colloquium brings together specialists in SLA research and in language testing research to discuss how assessments can be better informed by language acquisition theory, and how theoretical progress requires better assessment. Half of the presentations will approach the questions from the SLA angle, and half from the assessment angle.
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Papers
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| Core issues in second language acquisition
research awaiting better testing tools |
| Robert DeKeyser, University of Maryland |
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In this introduction I will review some of the most enduring topics in second language acquisition research, and describe what kinds of tests have been used as evidence in these areas. I will then suggest a number of improvements and speculate on how such changes in testing might advance theory-building. |
Issues and challenges in measuring SLA |
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James E. Purpura, Teachers College, Columbia University
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Measuring instruments used to make claims about SLA have been criticized for paying too little attention to the technical qualities of these measures, while those used to make claims about L2 proficiency have been criticized for ignoring issues of development. I will discuss these issues and address the challenges of creating learning-based assessments. |
Investigating
Learning Difficulty as Implicit and Explicit Knowledge |
| Rod Ellis, University of Auckland |
SLA researchers have identified universal developmental routes for the acquisition of some grammatical features, implying that some structures are easier to learn than others. However, learning difficulty can only be understood and investigated with reference to a clearly-defined and measurable distinction between implicit and explicit L2 knowledge. This paper examines the assessment of implicit and explicit L2 knowledge in relation to learning difficulty. |
Age of learning and nativelike L2 attainment--a challenge for second language testing |
| Niclas Abrahamsson, Stockholm University |
In this talk I will illustrate how different tests seem to reflect different aspects of learning as revealed by the differential impact of age of acquisition on performance on these tests and how research on age effects could be improved by paying more attention to (testing) method effects. |
Relationships between cognitive demand and test item type |
| Thom Hudson, University of Hawai'i
at Manoa |
The paper reports how multiple-choice (MC) and constructed response (CR) items yield distinct or convergent information in web-based testing of Korean. Multi-trait/multi-method and correlated trait-correlated CFA indicate that MC and CR may sample different cognitive abilities, with CR items being more suitable than MC for more cognitively demanding language skills. |
Expectations of teacher assessment: is it a tug of war? |
| Pauline Rea-Dickins, University of Bristol |
Classroom-based formative assessment provides one of the interfaces between SLA and language assessment research. Tensions arise, however, when curriculum policy exhorts teachers both to measure their learners' language levels and to provide them with formative assessment (i.e. language learning) opportunities. This paper focuses on the nature of teacher expertise required to fulfil both these functions and the extent to which they are aware of and value both perspectives. |
Discussants |
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Diane Larsen-Freeman, English Language Institute, University of Michigan
John M. Norris, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Lourdes Ortega, University of Hawai'i at Manoa |
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