摘要
This study investigates a particular use of an application of speech recognition technology in the assessment of English proficiency. The use of the application, called Versant English Test, is examined in the context of a country where English is not the first language of communication, in order to determine whether or not English as the first language of the country in which the test is taken could have a bearing on the test result. As suggested by Chun（2006）, this study compares the results achieved by test takers in a non-English speaking environment with those obtained by different test takers in an English speaking environment. To be able to decide whether the Versant is more prone to setting-related bias than other English proficiency tests, the Versant test scores are correlated with the TOEFL scores of the test-takers in a non-English speaking setting and the correlation coefficient is then compared with that achieved in an English-speaking environment. The results suggest that the correlation between the Versant and TOEFL in a non-English-speaking environment is not significantly different from that obtained in an English-speaking environment.
本实验是研究一个特定的评估英语水平的语音识别技术的应用程序。这个应用程序叫做Versant英语口语测试,此测试在不以英语为第一语言的国家中进行,以验证是否在英语作为第一语言的国家测试时,测试结果会受到影响。就像Chun(2006)所建议的那样,这个研究比较了在非英语环境下的考生和那些在英语环境中的不同考生所取得的测试结果。为了能够确定Versant测试是否比其他英语水平测试更易受到语言环境相关因素的影响,本研究将Versant测试分数分别与在非英语环境中进行托福考试考生的托福成绩,以及在英语环境中进行托福考试考生的托福成绩进行相关性分析,随后对比两相关系数。结果表明,在非英语环境中,Versant测试分数和托福成绩的相关性与在英语环境中的二者相关性并没有显著差异。
基金
funded by the American University of Sharjah through the university research grant program on a competitive basis
