The Validity of General L2 Proficiency Tests as Oral Proficiency Measures: A Japanese Learner Corpus Based Study.
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| Title: | The Validity of General L2 Proficiency Tests as Oral Proficiency Measures: A Japanese Learner Corpus Based Study. |
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| Authors: | Hirotani, Maki, Matsumoto, Kazumi, Fukada, Atsushi |
| Source: | Japanese Language & Literature. Oct2017, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p243-270. 28p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Storytelling, *Foreign language education |
| Abstract: | At institutions with an oral proficiency based curriculum, the use of L2 Japanese proficiency tests, such as J-CAT and SPOT, as placement instruments seems problematic on the surface since these tests crucially lack a speaking section. The validity of this common practice should be examined. The present study investigates the relationship between L2 proficiency test scores and oral proficiency measures, using oral samples from 15 intermediate-level English-speaking learners of Japanese available in the IJAS learner corpus. We set out to examine (1) correlations between the objective oral proficiency measures and L2 proficiency test scores, (2) task differences (discussion vs. storytelling) in the correlations, and (3) how the objective oral proficiency measures perform as measures of L2 proficiency. We found mostly strong correlations between L2 learners' proficiency test scores and the oral proficiency measures, partially validating the common practice. As for task differences, at the total score level, no major differences were observed. Concerning fluency as an objective measure of L2 proficiency, we found encouraging results for SPEECH RATE and MEAN LENGTH OF RUN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Japanese Language & Literature is the property of American Association of Teachers of Japanese and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 125979751 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: The Validity of General L2 Proficiency Tests as Oral Proficiency Measures: A Japanese Learner Corpus Based Study. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hirotani%2C+Maki%22">Hirotani, Maki</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Matsumoto%2C+Kazumi%22">Matsumoto, Kazumi</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fukada%2C+Atsushi%22">Fukada, Atsushi</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Japanese+Language+%26+Literature%22">Japanese Language & Literature</searchLink>. Oct2017, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p243-270. 28p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Storytelling%22">Storytelling</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+language+education%22">Foreign language education</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: At institutions with an oral proficiency based curriculum, the use of L2 Japanese proficiency tests, such as J-CAT and SPOT, as placement instruments seems problematic on the surface since these tests crucially lack a speaking section. The validity of this common practice should be examined. The present study investigates the relationship between L2 proficiency test scores and oral proficiency measures, using oral samples from 15 intermediate-level English-speaking learners of Japanese available in the IJAS learner corpus. We set out to examine (1) correlations between the objective oral proficiency measures and L2 proficiency test scores, (2) task differences (discussion vs. storytelling) in the correlations, and (3) how the objective oral proficiency measures perform as measures of L2 proficiency. We found mostly strong correlations between L2 learners' proficiency test scores and the oral proficiency measures, partially validating the common practice. As for task differences, at the total score level, no major differences were observed. Concerning fluency as an objective measure of L2 proficiency, we found encouraging results for SPEECH RATE and MEAN LENGTH OF RUN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Japanese Language & Literature is the property of American Association of Teachers of Japanese and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 28 StartPage: 243 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Storytelling Type: general – SubjectFull: Foreign language education Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The Validity of General L2 Proficiency Tests as Oral Proficiency Measures: A Japanese Learner Corpus Based Study. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hirotani, Maki – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Matsumoto, Kazumi – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fukada, Atsushi IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 10 Text: Oct2017 Type: published Y: 2017 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 15367827 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 51 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Japanese Language & Literature Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
