Assessing Short-term Change in Advanced Oral Proficiency

Problems of Reliability & Validity in Four Case Studies

Bibliographic Data

ID22299525
AuthorsPaul Lennon (0000-0002-7025-9961, Gesamthochschule Universität Kassel, corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume109-110
Pages75-109
Publication date1995-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0019-0829 • E-ISSN: 1783-1490
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/itl.109-110.04len
OpenAlexW2295030985
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

This paper presents four case studies to demonstrate developments in oral proficiency made by advanced learners of English during two months in England. The data base consists of picture story oral narratives. Performance shortly after arrival in Britain is compared with that at the end of the two months. Assessment was by: subjective reactions of a panel of experienced native-speaker EFL teachers quantitative analysis of transcriptions of recordings. An attempt is made to apply VORSTER’s (1980) components of proficiency developed for use with children mother tongue speakers. The main findings were as follows: There was considerable dissension among teachers, so that the reliability of subjective teacher assessment in such cases must be seriously questioned. Results on the objective quantitative measures were very chequered, suggesting that the variables chosen did not, in many cases, function well to identify developments over so short a period. Nevertheless, there were clear trends towards improvements in productivity and modality (co-verbs). There were signs of individual differences among subjects in route of development

First language · Linguistics · Modality (human–computer interaction) · Narrative · Productivity · Reliability (semiconductor) · Term (time) · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Acquisition and Learning

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