Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Students’ Students’
mastery of overall (global)
specific language ability
objectives
Achievement Proficiency
Achievement Tests
Teacher-made Standardised
Achievement Tests
Teacher-made Standardised
Persuasive genre
Audience The writer’s capacity to orient,
engage and persuade the reader
Text structure The organisation of the structural
components of a persuasive text
(introduction, body and
conclusion) into an appropriate
and effective text structure
Ideas The selection, relevance and
elaboration of ideas for a
persuasive argument
Persuasive devices The use of a range of persuasive
devices to enhance the writer’s
position and persuade the reader
Vocabulary The range and precision of
contextually appropriate language
choices
Cohesion The control of multiple threads and
relationships across the text,
achieved through the use
of grammatical elements (referring
words, text connectives,
conjunctions) and lexical elements
(substitutions, repetitions, word
associations)
A2
A1 Basic user
Construct-driven approach
Construct
Definition
(modeling)
Operationalisation
(Test/assessment
)
Constructs or Traits
Wechsler Adult
Definition
Intelligence Intelligence
(Model)
Scale
Scores (Operational
Trait or construct definition of intelligence)
The construct and its
operationalisation
Scores (Operational
Trait or construct definition of proficiency)
The concept of construct
validity
Validity: a) to what extent a test
tests what it claims to test, b) to what
extent our interpretation of the test
score reflects the test’s content
Construct validity: to what extent
the test represents the underlying
construct
How is Proficiency
defined?
Different scholars and
test specialists have
defined “language
proficiency” differently
Alternative Terms
Proficiency
Competence
Communicative Competence
Knowledge of Language
Language Ability
Communicative Language Ability
(CLA)
Why do we need a
model?
Tests of proficiency need to
be based on a sound and
acceptable underlying model
or theory of language
proficiency. Otherwise,
“construct validity” of the test
would be under question.
Models of L2 Proficiency
1. Skills and components model (Lado,
1960; Carroll, 1968)
2. Unitary competence hypothesis (Oller,
1976)
3. BICS/CALP (Cummins, 1979; 1983)
4. Communicative competence (Canale and
Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983)
5. Communicative language ability
(Bachman, 1990; Bachman & Palmer, 1996)
Skills & Component
Model
Underlying theories:
1. Structural Linguistics
2. Behavioral Psychology
Lado (1961)
Proficiency
Skills Components
Listening Grammar
Speaking Vocabulary
Reading Phonology
Writing
Features of tests in
skills/component model
Discrete-point, Multiple-choice items
Different sections on different skills
and components, but mostly
Listening, Reading, Gr., & Voc.
Major emphasis on “linguistic
competence” (knowledge of lang)
Features of tests in
skills/component model
Recognition items & tests
Usage rather than use
Objective scoring
Definition First generation
Proficiency (Model) of TOEFL test
Skills/Comp
onents
Scores (Operational
Trait or construct definition of proficiency)
First generation of TOEFL
Skills
– Listening
– Reading
Components
– Phonology (segmental & suprasegmental)
– Grammar (rules of language)
– Vocabulary (knowledge of words)
Oller (1976)
Based on principal components
analysis of scores obtained from
numerous tests (vocabulary,
grammar, phonology, reading, etc.),
Oller (1976) defined proficiency in
terms of one general factor (g-
factor)
Unitary Comp. Hypothesis
Thisrepresentation by
Oller is known as the
unitary competence
hypothesis (UCH)
Tests based on UCH
Integrative tests including:
1. Dictation
2. Cloze-test
3. Composition
4. Oral interview
Criticisms on UCH
Conceptually: Derivation of one factor
is the result of the nature of the data
used (conscious & explicit features of
language & not functional &
sociolinguistics aspects)
Methodologically: PCA is
inappropriate. It overestimates the sig. of
the first derived factor.
Criticisms on UCH