Can We Predict Task Difficulty in an Oral Proficiency Test? Exploring the Potential of an Information-Processing Approach to Task Design
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4501749 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Noriko Iwashita (0000-0002-1402-7365, The University of Melbourne), Tim Mcnamara (0000-0001-7044-799X, The University of Melbourne), Catherine Elder (0000-0002-3808-2895, University of Auckland) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 401-436 |
| Publication date | 2001-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language Learning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0023-8333 • E-ISSN: 1467-9922 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/0023-8333.00160 |
| OpenAlex | W2036213814 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 44 |
| References cited | 16 |
This study addresses the following question: Are different task characteristics and performance conditions (involving assumed different levels of cognitive demand) associated with different levels of fluency, complexity, or accuracy in test candidate responses? The materials for the were a series of narrative tasks involving a picture stimulus; the participants were 193 pre-university students taking English courses. We varied the conditions for tasks in each dimension and measured the impact of these factors on task performance with both familiar detailed discourse measures and specially constructed rating scales, analyzed using Rasch methods. We found that task performance conditions in each dimension failed to influence task difficulty and task performance as expected. We discuss implications for the design of speaking assessments and broader research
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Dimension (graph theory) · Fluency · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Narrative · Rasch model · Task (project management) · Task Analysis · Test (biology) · Educational and Psychological Assessments · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Psychology · Second Language Acquisition and Learning
Prompt effects on assessment of interactional competence in a group oral test
Working memory capacity and L2 speech production in a picture description task with repetition
O papel desempenhado pelo tipo de tarefa e pela ortografia na produção de consoantes em final de palavra
Cognitive Complexity and Task Sequencing
Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficiency
Task-Based Language Teaching
Defining and operationalising L2 complexity
Measuring Implicit and Explicit Knowledge of a Second Language
Cognitive task complexity and written output in Italian and French as a foreign language
Task complexity and linguistic and discourse features of narrative writing performance
Modelling Learning Difficulty and Second Language Proficiency
Towards an Organic Approach to Investigating CAF in Instructed SLA
Question -Response in Online Synchronous Videoconferencing Class
English Language Anxiety and Language Achievement Among EFL Students in Saudi Arabia
The path to professionalism
Syntactic complexity at multiple proficiency levels of L2 German speech
The interplay of task complexity (± Here-and-Now) and proficiency in shaping written narratives in Spanish as a foreign language
The effects of task complexity on learner–learner interaction
Assessing L2 task performance
Interactional competence in paired speaking tests
Test-task Authenticity
Young learners’ response processes when taking computerized tasks for speaking assessment
Speaking proficiency of young language students
Estimating the difficulty of oral proficiency tasks
Removing bias towards World Englishes
Judgments of oral proficiency by non-native and native English speaking teacher raters
Effects of test-taker characteristics and the number of participants in group oral tests
Dimensionality of speech fluency
Do visual chunks and planning impact performance on the graph description task in the SPEAK exam
The effect of test-taker gender, audience and topic on task performance in tape-mediated assessment of speaking
Speaking task design and complexity and fluency features of adolescent English learners
A multifaceted approach to investigating pre-task planning effects on paired oral test performance
Is anybody listening? The nature of second language listening in integrated listening-to-summarize tasks
Aspects of performance on line graph description tasks
Task difficulty in speaking tests
Establishing test form and individual task comparability
The impact of pre-task planning on speaking test performance for English-medium university admission
Understanding test-takers’ perceptions of difficulty in EAP vocabulary tests
Effects of task repetition on L2 oral performance
Native Speakers and Task Performance
The Role of Task Complexity, Modality, and Aptitude in Narrative Task Performance
Task Design and Second Language Performance
Assessing Spoken EFL Without a Common Rating Scale
The Cognition Hypothesis
A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning (Oxford Applied Linguistics)
Task type and task processing conditions as influences on foreign language performance
The Effects of Different Lengths of Time for Planning on Second Language Performance
Planning and Interlanguage Variation
The Influence of Planning and Task Type on Second Language Performance
Planning and Focus on Form in L2 Oral Performance
Interlanguage Variability in Narrative Discourse
Measuring spoken language
A Framework for the Implementation of Task-based Instruction
Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production
An investigation of planning time and proficiency level on oral test discourse
The role of video media in listening assessment
Topic and Feedback in Native-Speaker/Nonnative-Speaker Conversation
Task Complexity and Second Language Narrative Discourse
The Influence of Task Structure and Processing Conditions on Narrative Retellings
Research on Negotiation
| Unique citing works | 44 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,83 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 40 |