Task-based language test specifications designed for an adult tefl context in Morocco

Belyazid, Samia

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125867 Copy

Description

Title

Task-based language test specifications designed for an adult tefl context in Morocco

Author(s)

Belyazid, Samia

Issue Date

1997

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

• Davidson, Fred
• VanPatten, Bill

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Task-Based Language Teaching
• TEFL
• Adult Education
• Morocco
• Communicative Achievement
• Criterion-Referenced Language Testing
• Teaching English as Second Language

Language

eng

Abstract

This study follows the development of test specifications that generate content-based communicative achievement tests especially designed to suit the needs and interests of adult students in the context of an EFL course in Morocco. The tests are meant to bridge a gap between the teaching and evaluation of the course. Insights were drawn from Task-Based-Language Teaching (TBLT) for the application of the Criterion-Referenced Language Testing Development (CRLTD) Model (Lynch and Davidson 1994). CRLTD is a proactive process-method that has allowed the a group of expert TEF/SL instructors, including the researcher, to achieve the following: develop eleven test specifications-that include test items called "Test-Units", and work on the gradual evolution of the content validity of these test-units. This study was done because of two important motivations: a significant literature review, as well as, the context of the English in Other Departments (EOD) course. The literature review has covered two different angles; it briefly explains how TBLT draws insights from Sociolinguistics (Hymes 1967, Halliday 1972), Second Language Acquisition research (Preston 1989, Brown 1994, Ellis 1986 and 1990), CLT (Wilkins 1972, Savignon 1983, Nunan 1984 and 1989, Richards and Rogers 1986) as well as classroom research (Doyle 1983, Crookes 1986). Second, it provides a discussion of a selected body of Task-based research studies which has led to the following realizations: TBLT is multidimensional in scope in the sense that tasks are often used in the F/SL classroom to help learners acquire competence in multiple aspects of language use ranging from linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, cognitive to educational levels; and the second motivation is that in the EOD course there is a discrepancy between teaching and evaluation which has provided a relevant context familiar to the researcher providing motivation for this study. Familiarity with the course objectives and content is one of the prerequisites of the CRLTD framework. This CRLTD project has allowed the researcher to apply the TBLT multidimensional scope to the development of eleven test specifications (specs) especially suitable for EOD learners. The specs generate "test-units" which especially cater to the needs and interests of adult EFL learners in the context of Mohamed V university in Morocco. Each test unit includes an ultimate task with subtasks, all used to evaluate the learners on various competencies and skills in the new language. In the course of spec development, the revision of a cadre of twelve every single spec benefited expert second and foreign language teachers from different cultural backgrounds. The nationalities represented included: five Americans, three Moroccans, one French, one British, on Japanese and one South American. Fax, e-mail and postal service mail were used to communicate with those reviewers outside the UIUC area. During the evaluation process, they provided written and oral comments that helped refine the specs. In addition, a regular journal was kept by the researcher who noted major stages of the writing and revision. The reviewers' contribution included critique, correction, comments, and suggestions that provided the grounds for every single one of the eleven specs to increase their content validity. There were two revision cycles over the course of three and a half months of summer 1996. This thesis makes an extensive report on the developmental process of the eleven specs, as well as the results from their development and pedagogical implications of this research study. The current version of the specs is included in the Appendices section together with other materials that can be of assistance to any ES/FL adult instructor. These eleven specs are meant to provide some groundwork for ES/FL instructors to generate task-based language test units for adult EFL learners. One important outcome is that the CRLTD model (Lynch and Davidson 1994) is clearly adaptable to the use of the multidimensional scope of Task in TBLT in the context of test construction. It is this adaptability which has allowed for bridging a gap between the teaching and evaluation of this EFL course. Developing tests that not only match the course objectives but also meet these adult learners' specific language and educational needs and interest is what bridges this gap.

Type of Resource

text

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125867

Copyright and License Information

Copyright owned by the author.

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