Language Assessment Feedback Towards Pedagogical Conversational Agent

Continuous development of technology provides an opportunity to incorporate feedback in online assessments.The mode of online instruction during the pandemic was the most significant survival change.Technology enabled every teacher and student to enter a virtual classroom to make sense of education.Feedback is part of language instruction and is a powerful key to improving students’learning performance.Feedback plays an influential and crucial role in teaching and learning.Feedback is an invaluable,ultimate learning tool for learners that aids them in not committing the same error again and creates impetus.Thus,knowing about formative exam feedback is students’right because quality feedback allures them.Given students’eagerness,providing feedback is considered a good practice to be followed by all the teaching faculty.Apropos of online feedback,the present study attempts to study how pedagogical agents provide online feedback in language assessments.The study also considers the characteristics of pedagogical conversational agents that are suitable for providing feedback in online language assessment.Simply put,the study encapsulates that screen agents play an essential role in students’motivation and acceptability of learning through feedback.

A new approach to classroom-based language assessment

If one considers the number of language learners that are worldwide,the number of classroom-based language assessments(CBLAs)that are given each year,and the number of decisions that are made on the basis of these,it is obvious that in terms of sheer numbers,more students are affected by CBLAs per year than by those based on large-scale language assessments.Because of this,it is essential that classroom teachers have the knowledge,skills,and tools to enable them to develop and use CBLAs that they can justify to stakeholders,e.g.,students,parents,and school authorities.In this paper we describe the approach to CBLAs that we have developed.First,we discuss the role of assessment in teaching and learning,the kinds of decisions that classroom teachers need to make,and the different modes of CBLAs.We then describe the process of using CBLAs to help teachers make decisions that will have beneficial consequences.Next,we discuss fairness and accountability in assessment and the process of assessment justification,including an assessment use argument.Finally,we discuss the process of developing CBLAs,using an example of a classroom-based language assessment to illustrate this.

Review of Issues of Language Assessments for Non-native Speakers of English

The paper reviews issues in language assessment, especially pertaining to the challenges faced in examining non-native speakers of English. The review revealed that low proficiency levels of well-established standard varieties of English affect the test achievement of non-native speakers across the world. Furthermore, the absence and improper evaluation of English tests, coupled with poor educational systems in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean lead to very low achievement in English. Based on the review, the paper recommends the use of accommodation, culture-specific designed tests, and more research as remedy for the problems. Areas of future research for Africa and specifically, Ghana are recommended.

Computer Based Assessment:an Innovation to Language Assessment

With the integration of technology and education,classroom teaching has experienced a substantial change.In order to improve the efficiency of assessment,computer has been adapted as a promising instrument in assessment area.This paper aims at evaluating the role that computer can play in language assessment.

Application of Post-Listening Summary Based on Oral Interpretation Contest Corpus in Language Assessment

A summary of oral interpretation can best reflect a person’s instant memory and adaptability.In various places where oral interpreters are needed,the requirements for interpreters are very high.Oral interpretation plays an important role in foreign communications.As international communications deepens and becomes more frequent,people are becoming enthusiastic about the research on oral interpretation.Whether in the West or in China,the research on oral interpretation and related content has never stopped since the seventies of the last century,and it has since been progressing and developing continuously.Based on this,this paper is divided into three parts to elaborate.Firstly,it explains the definition of oral interpretation,secondly the importance of oral interpretation quality assessment is explained,and finally the process and analysis of the establishment of a language assessment index system based on oral interpretation are explained.It is hoped that this paper will serve as a useful reference for relevant personnel.

Traditional and Computer-Based Evaluation of Preschoolers＇ Oral Language in Greek A Review of the Literature

The purpose of this study is to examine and present the procedures and the tools that are described in the literature for observing preschool children＇s communication competence. Informal and formal standardised testing activities are included and a distinction is made on traditional and computer-based screening and diagnosis. The results of study illustrate the current trends of the literature and discuss the possibility of the computer-based screening and diagnosis to partially make up for the expert-personnel shortage

Investigating the writing proficiency of pre-service English as a Second Language teachers:Making use of distinguishing features

This research aims to investigate the writing proficiency of Hong Kong pre-service ESL teachers,in particular how their writing proficiency differs as characterized by distinguishing features inherent in such teachers' writing performances. Over 120 pre-service ESL teachers from various programmes in local universities in Hong Kong were recruited for the study. Results showed that the higher their writing level,the better they performed in a set task as well as in grammatical range and accuracy. The different programmes they enrolled in could affect the number of cohesive devices they tended to use. Mode and years of study had an effect on task achievement and number of cohesive device. Pre-service teachers enrolled in the teacher training programmes on a part-time basis outperformed those enrolled on a full-time basis. Teachers with more teacher training outperformed newly admitted pre-service teachers.The results of this study could provide empirical evidence for identifying different levels of writing proficiency for Hong Kong pre-service ESL teachers. On this basis,the link between the writing proficiency of pre-service ESL teachers and their assessment of student scripts could be subsequently established in a follow-up study to explore their differences in scoring focuses and strategies when scoring students' writings. This could further contribute to teacher evaluation,teacher training concerning language proficiency,and the improvement of teachers' assessment literacy in high-stakes and L2 classroom writing assessment.

Current trends in outcome studies for children with hearing loss and the need to establish a comprehensive framework of measuring outcomes in children with hearing loss in China

Since the 1970s, outcome studies for children with hearing loss expanded from focusing on assessing auditory awareness and speech perception skills to evaluating language and speech development. Since the early 2000s, the multi-center large scale research systematically studied outcomes in the areas of auditory awareness, speech-perception, language development, speech development, educational achievements, cognitive development, and psychosocial development. These studies advocated the establishment of baseline and regular follow-up evaluations with a comprehensive framework centered on language development. Recent research interests also include understanding the vast differences in outcomes for children with hearing loss, understanding the relationships between neurocognitive development and language acquisition in children with hearing loss, and using outcome studies to guide evidence-based clinical practice. After the establishment of standardized Mandarin language assessments, outcomes research in China's Mainland has the potential to expand beyond auditory awareness and speech perception studies.

Evaluating IELTS Writing Test of Academic Module

As a large-scale standardized English proficiency test,IELTS attracts millions of test takers internationally.This essay,drawing on current theories in language testing and assessment,attempts to evaluate the writing test of the IELTS Academic Module.It is concluded that it is a generally valid and reliable test which generates overall beneficial effects,though several threats possibly undermine its test validity and reliability.Some suggestions on improvement are proposed at the end.

Project-based Learning （PBL） for Enhancing Chinese College Students＇ English Performance

Project-based learning （PBL） as an instructional approach focuses on student-centeredness through contextualizing learning by presenting students with real world issues and practices that aim at achieving enduring learning effects. As a challenge to traditional lecture-based instruction, PBL may generate positive backwash assessment effects via documenting the process of developing authentic language skills. These skills-oriented outcomes are achieved through proper curricula in appropriate learning situations via various dimensions. However, problems may occur such as management, pressure from administration, evaluation doing their selected projects. teacher/student attitude, class size and proper group process and criteria, and students＇ likely frustrations in

COLLEGE ENGLISH TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF LANGUAGE TESTING AND THEIR IMPACTS ON BACKWASH EFFECTS

This paper explores the perceptions of college English teachers towards language test development, with a focus on the harmful backwash effects, specifically derived from teachers' misconceptions. Personal accounts of ten college teachers of English were cited and analyzed in themes, and misconceptions were identified through descriptive interpretations. The study reveals that English teachers at college are not well-acquainted with the conceptual bases for language testing due to little formal instructions. Uninformed decisions on testing and unintelligent teacher-assessment practices are potential sources of harmful backwash on teaching and learning. A dangerous tendency of reduced efforts in teacher-assessments is present among language teachers, due to blind faith in established tests, and the absence of language testing competence or excessive emphasis on High-stakes tests in research. More in-service teacher training and action research are called for.

Speech Recognition Technology in Language Testing: Does Taking the Test in an EnglishSpeaking Environment Matter?

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.