Language testingWord文档下载推荐.docx

Language testingWord文档下载推荐.docx

《Language testingWord文档下载推荐.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Language testingWord文档下载推荐.docx（8页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

for

InterfacesbetweenSLAandLTResearch

StudentNumber:

08050211011

StudentName:

张录文

1.1anguagetesting---SLAinterfaces:

Anupdate

DifferentfociofSLAandLTresearch

AlthoughthemakingofbroadcontrastsbetweentraditionalSLAresearchandtraditionalLTresearchnecessitatessomeoversimplification,thefollowingareseveralofthemorenoticeabletendenciesthatwerementionedbyBachmanin1989,andthatwefeelarestillrelevanttoday.Thesecontrastsaresummarizedbelow:

Asforresearchperspective,SLAresearchhastendedtoconcernitselfwithlongitudinalviewofinterlanguagedevelopment.LTresearch,ontheotherhand,hasattemptedtoholdthe“sliceoflife”viewoflanguageabilityatagivenstageofdevelopment,withreferencetoagivennormorstandardoflanguageuse.SLAresearchfocusesonantecedentsofinterlanguageability:

factorsandprocessesthataffectorarepartoflanguageacquisition,e.g.,contextualfeatures,learnercharacteristics,process.LTresearchfocusesonresultsoflanguageacquisition:

componentsandstrategiesthatarepartoflanguageability,e.g.,grammaticalcompetence,pragmaticcompetence,strategiccompetence.

GoalsofSLAresearcharetodevelopandempiricallyvalidateatheoryofSLAthatwill

（1）describehowSLAtakesplaceand

（2）explainwhySLAtakesplace.GoalsofLTaretodevelopandempiricallyvalidateatheoryoflanguagetestperformancethatwilldescribeandexplainvariationsinlanguagetestperformance;

andtodemonstratethewaysinwhichlanguagetestperformancecorrespondstonontestlanguageuse.SLAresearchhasvarietyofapproaches:

discourseanalysis,casestudies,ethnography,experimental,quasi-experimental,expostfactocorrlational,whileLTresearchhasmoretypicallyemployedexpostfactocorrelationalmethods.

Interfaces:

Someareasofcommoninterestandcross-fertilization

Despitethedifferentinfoci,severalresearchershaverecognizedthatthereisconsiderablecommonalityofinterestsandpotentialforcross-fertilizationbetweenLTandSLAresearchers.Ellisconsidersallvariationsinlanguage-learnerlanguagetobepartofvariability,andclassifiestheseintotwomaincategories:

systematicvariability,whichincludesindividualvariabilityandcontextualvariability,andnonsystematicvariability,whichincludeswhathecallsfreevariabilityandperformancevariability（Elis1985:

75ff）.

Threesourcesofvariabilityarecentraltobothfields:

1.Individualdifferencesinthelanguageabilitiesthatareacquiredormeasured;

2.Individualdifferencesinthestrategiesandotherprocessesthatindividualsemployinlanguageuse,aswellasonlanguagetesttasksandSLAelicitationtasks;

3.Variationinthetasksandcontextandtheireffectsonlanguageuse,aswellasonperformanceonlanguagetesttasksandSLAelicitationtasks.

EventhoughLTandSLAresearchhadbecomequitediverseintermsofthetheoreticalframeworksthatgeneratedtheirresearchquestionsandguidedtheirinterpretations,thedataonlanguageabilitythatthetwosetsofresearcherscollectedwerestillverysimilar,focusinglargelyonlanguageskillsandlanguagecomponents.TheinterplayofSLAandLTresearchhashelpedtoenhanceourunderstandingofsomespecificcomponentsoraspectsoflanguageabilityanditsacquisitionandmeasurement.

Languageusestrategiesarementaloperationsorprocessesthatlearnersconsciouslyselectandapplywhenattemptingtoaccomplishlanguageusetasks.Thesestrategiesconstitutetest-takingstrategieswhentheyareappliedtolanguageassessmenttasks.Thenotionofstrategyimpliesanelementofselection.Otherwise,theprocesseswouldnotbeconsideredstrategies.Theabilityoflearnerstouselanguagestrategieswasreferredtoastheirstrategiccompetence---acomponentofcommunicativelanguageuse.

Testperformancevariesacrossdifferenttasks,buttheyalsoprovideevidencethatperformancevariesasafunctionofspecifictaskcharacteristicsthatmaybecommontoanumberofdifferenttasks.

2.ConstructdefinitionandvalidityinquiryinSLAresearch

Constructdefinition

Aconstructisameaningfulinterpretationofobservedbehavior.Thefundamentalrequirementforinterpretingobservedbehaviorasaconstructisthatthebehaviorreflectsperformanceconsistency.

Theorists’variousperspectivesofconstructdefinitioncanbeunderstoodbyidentifyinghowtheyexplainresponseconsistency.Traittheoristsattributeconsistenciestocharacteristicsoftesttakers,andthereforedefineconstructsItermsoftheknowledgeandfundamentalprocessesofthetesttaker.Behavioristsattributeconsistenciestocontextualfactors,andthereforedefineconstructswithreferencetotheenvironmentalconditionsunderwhichperformanceisobserved.Interactionalistsseeperformanceastheresultoftrai