DOCSLIB.ORG

Does Washback Exist?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

DOCUMENT RESUME FL 020 178 ED 345 513 AUTHOR Alderson, J. Charles; Wall,Dianne TITLE Does Washback Exist? PUB DATE Feb 92 Symposium on the NOTE 23p.; Paper presented at a Educational and Social Impactsof Language Tests, Language Testing ResearchColloquium (February 1992). For a related document, seeFL 020 177. PUB TYPE Reports - Evaluative/Feasibility(142) Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Classroom Techniques;Educational Environment; Educational Research; EducationalTheories; Foreign Countries; Language Research;*Language Tests; *Learning Processes; LiteratureReviewa; Research Needs; Second LanguageInstruction; *Second Languages; *Testing the Test; Turkey IDENTIFIERS Nepal; Netherlands; *Teaching to ABSTRACT The concept of washback, orbackwash, defined as the influence of testing oninstruction, is discussed withrelation to second second language teaching andtesting. While the literature of be language testing suggests thattests are commonly considered to powerful determiners of whathappens in the classroom, Lheconcept of washback is not well defined.The first part of the discussion focuses on the concept, includingseveral different interpretations of the phenomenon. It isfound to be a far more complextopic than suggested by the basic washbackhypothesis, which is alsodiscussed and outlined. The literature oneducation in general is thenreviewed for additional information on theissues involved. Very little several research was found that directlyrelated to the subject, but studies are highlighted.Following this, empirical research on language testing is consulted forfurther insight. Studies in Turkey, the Netherlands, and Nepal arediscussed. Finally, areas for additional research are proposed,including further definition of washback, motivation and performance,the role of educational explanatory setting, research methodology,learner perceptions, and factors. A 39-item bibliography isappended. (MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS arethe best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** % 1Waghback "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS GRANTED SY MATERIAL HAS BEEN U.S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Does washback exist? Officv EdutaliOnei fiftearth a.):1 7vftro 0\1-0Aer EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) )44,TIEsOocurnsnt nss Nen riproducsd la& mowed from fho rof Son or OMNI lizattell onginsting IL J Charles Alderson and Dianne Wall O Minor chows have been made to improve roroduction gustily TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES Lancaster University INFORMATION CENTER (ERICV Points ol %%swot opnrons Slated in Itus dOeir mom do not neCOIMIPly HMI eient OtfiCts1 OEM position or poky ett Paper presented in the symposium on "The Educational and Social Impacts of Language Tests", Language Testing Research Colloquium, February 1992 g:14 Introduction CeZ The notion of washback, or backwash - the influence of tests f= on teaching - is commonplace in the educational and applied cal linguistic literature. There has developed within British applied linguistics a tendency to use the term "washbark" to label the phenomenon of the in _uence of t 3ting on teaching, although the older term "backwash" is still prevalent in the educational literature. Since discussions of this phenomenon within British language testing for the past twenty years have tended to use the term "washback" rather than "backwash", we continue the tradition, and use this term. Those who prefer the term "backwash", for whatever reason, are invited to consider "washback" to be a simple translation equivalent. We __are ourselves persuaded that the difference in terminology has no semantic or pragmatic significance whatsoever. It is commonly asserted that tests have influence: that is, that tests affect teachers and learners and thereby affect teaching and learning. (See, for example, Wiseman, 1961; Davies, 1968; Kellaghan, 1982; Alderson, 1986; Morrow, 1986; Pearson, 1988, Hughes, 1989; Khaniya, 1990a and b). For example, Pearson (1988), says: "It is generally accepted that public examinations influence the attitudes, behaviour, and motivation of teachers, learners and parents." Ebel (1979:23, quoted in Khaniya, 1990b, claims that it is common practice for students to work harder when they know that they are approaching exams than when they do not. In describing the effect of examinations, Wong (1969) writes: "The examination dictates the activities in schools. Syllabuses .. are issued by examination syndicates and central authorities. Interpretation of the syllabus is carried out chiefly by reference to past examination papers ./hich.. tend to carry questions similar in type and content year after year." c) (Wong, 1969, p363 quoted in Khaniya (1990b). (NJ 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 Washback Morris (1972:75) considers examinations necessaryto ensure that the curriculum is put into effect, andWiseman (1961:64, quoted in Khaniya (1990b), says that "goodexaminations are useful and desirable: without them educationwould be poorer and much less effective". Pilliner (1973:4) claims that the most importantrequirement of a good test is that it should be educationallybeneficial, thus taking washback for granted. Alderson (1986: 104) discusses the "potentially powerful influence of tests", and argues for innovations inthe language curriculum through innovations in languagetesting. Khaniya (1990h: 22) asserts that washback is aninherent attribute of an examination: "Since an examination is used as an achievementtest, asking students to take an exam entails teachingand preparing for it....Whatever is done all along the way(sic) of examination preparation is the 'washback'effect of the examination. This effect can influence the teachingand learning methods employed from beginning to endof a course if examinations require students to cover all what(sic) is entailed in the course objectives. But if an examdoes not require the students to work for the whole year,the whole preparation will rest on the last couple of weeks/namths before the examination". Khaniya also asserts that "an exam defines for thestudents the content and performance objectives of thecourse" (p 26). Pearson (1988) goes even further andclaims not only that gcod tests will encourage the use of "beneficial teaching-learning processes", but also that they "will be more or less directly usable as teaching learning activities. Similarly, good teaching-learningtasks will be more or less directly usable for testing purposes, even though practical or financialconstraints limit the possibilities." None of these assertions appear to us to be in any way unusual. Washback is often introduced on languagetesting courses as a powerful concept thatall test designers need to pay attention to, and which mostclassroom teachers are all too aware of. Swain (1985) discusses theimportance of the influence of the test on teaching, and recommends that test developers "bias for best" and "work for washback".(Although quite how test designers are to take account of evenpotential washback, much less actually experienced washback, is to our knowledge not discussed.) Davies (1985) asks whether tests rmcessarily follow the curriculum, and suggests thatperhaps tests ought to be leading and influencingcurricula. Some writers have even gone so far as to suggest that atest's 3 Washback validity should be measured by the degreeto which it has had a beneficial influence onteaching. Keith Morrow(1986) coined the term "washback validity" todenote the quality of the relationship between a test and associatedteaching. The notion presumably means something like:"this test is valid when it has good washback"; andconversely, "this test is invalid when it has negative washback". He says (p6): "The first validity criterion that Iwould .. put forward for (these examinations) would be a measureof how far the intended washback effect was actuallybeing met in practice". He admits, however: "I am not sureat this stage how it could be measured", although he then goes onto claim: "In essence an examination ofwashback validity would take testing researchers into theclassroom in order to observe the effect of their tests inaction". He cites Wilkins, Widdowson and others asasserting that direct tests of language performancewill be "most beneficial in terms of washback effect", and arguesthat communicative te As like the former RSA CUEFLshould have a "powerful and pos'tive washback effect into theclassroom" (p6). This sentiment was echoed recently in thegeneral educational literature,by Frederiksen and Collins(1989), whose criteria for a valid test include the degreeof directness of assessment of cognitive skills, and thedegree of subjective --judgement that is required to assign a score.They consider that valid tests will involve thesubjective, direct assessment of higher-order cognitiveskills Indeed, Frederiksen and Collins introduce aconcept similar to "washback validity", with a different name:the term "systemic validity", which they define as follows: "A systematically valid test is onethat induces in the education system curricular and instructionalchanges that foster the development of the cognitiveskills that the test is designed to measure. Evidence forsystemic validity would be an improvement in those skillsafter the test has been in place within the educational systemfor a period of time" (p27) However, to our knowledge, this formof validity has never been demonstrated, or indeedinvestigated,
Recommended publications
  • British Council, London (England). English Language *Communicative Competence

    British Council, London (England). English Language *Communicative Competence

    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 258 440 FL 014 475 AUTHOR Alderson, J. Charles, 54.; Hughes, Arthur, Ed. TITLE Issues in Language Testing. ELT Documents 111. INSTITUTION British Council, London (England). English Language and Literature Div. REPORT NO ISBN-0-901618-51-9 PUB DATE 81 NOTE 211p, PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020)-- Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Communicative Competence (Languages); Conference Proceedings; *English (Second Language); *English for Special Purposes; *Language Proficiency; *Language Tests; Second Language Instruction; Test Validity ABSTRACT A symposium focusing on problems in the assessment of foreign or second language learning brought seven applied linguists together to discuss three areas of debate: communicative language testing, testing of English for specific purposes, and general language proficiency assessment. In each of these areas, the participants reviewed selected papers on the topic, reacted to them on paper, and discussed them as a group. The collected papers, reactions, and discussion reports on communicative language testing include the following: "Communicative Language Testing: Revolution or Evolution" (Keith Morrow) ancl responses by Cyril J. Weir, Alan Moller, and J. Charles Alderson. The next section, 9n testing of English for specific purposes, includes: "Specifications for an English Language Testing Service" (Brendan J. Carroll) and responses by Caroline M. Clapham, Clive Criper, and Ian Seaton. The final section, on general language proficiency, includes: "Basic Concerns /Al Test Validation" (Adrian S. Palmer and Lyle F. Bachman) and "Why Are We Interested in General Language Proficiency'?" (Helmut J. Vollmer), reactions of Arthur Hughes and Alan Davies, and the `subsequent response of Helmut J. Vollmer.
  • An Exploration Into What Promotes Or Hinders Beneficial English Test Washback on Teaching and Learning

    An Exploration Into What Promotes Or Hinders Beneficial English Test Washback on Teaching and Learning

    Doctor of Education Dissertation Title: AN EXPLORATION INTO WHAT PROMOTES OR HINDERS BENEFICIAL ENGLISH TEST WASHBACK ON TEACHING AND LEARNING By Martin Murray Student number: 0039713437 Principal Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Shirley O’Neill Associate Supervisors: Dr. Sang-Soon Park (from 2012) Dr. Kathryn Young (before 2012) June 2013 Faculty of Education, University of Southern Queensland Abstract Ethical English language testing requires an ongoing effort to improve the quality of English test item design. It also requires the identification of what factors might encourage or obstruct positive washback and impact. The advantages and disadvantages of summative high-stakes English tests compared to feasible alternative forms of assessment should also be considered. For instance, an evaluative review of this research suggests the greater appropriateness of multiple medium-stakes formative English assessments over high-stakes summative English tests for students at the case study school. This case study explores the washback phenomenon and related impact phenomenon at one CMI (Chinese Medium of Instruction) secondary school in Hong Kong in order to find out what promotes or hinders beneficial English test washback and impact on teaching and learning at this school and includes a comparison between a new and a long established high-stakes English test. Another focus of this research is the lower academic performance and lower English language proficiency levels of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. A total of 256 student participants completed questionnaires; 147 student participants took part in group interviews; and 7 teacher participants took part in individual interviews. A total of 23 lesson observations occurred as well as one English SBA (School-based Assessment) assessing session and one group tutorial.
  • Code-Mixing and Literal Translation in Nepal's English Newspapers

    Code-Mixing and Literal Translation in Nepal's English Newspapers

    NELTA Code-Mixing and literal translation in Nepal’s English newspapers Sagar Poudel Tribhuvan University, Nepal Abstract This study examines the texts published in English newspapers in Nepal to find out the code mixing and literal translation of Nepali language. For the study, the data were taken from the secondary sources. Mainly two English newspapers, The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post published in Nepal were taken as the sources of the data purposively. Code mixing is the use of code from one language into another language in the course of using it in communication. Similarly, literal translation is translating the source language text into the target language text with the equivalence of structure, lexicon and morphology. Such code mixing and literal translation brings variation into target language. The study found out that the codes, which are associated with religion, particular culture, local context and situations are mixed with English language. Similarly, the popular expressions among the Nepalese context were found literally translated. Keywords: Code-mixing, literal translation, context, social situation, culture communities are improvised and Introduction marginalized. As a result, linguistic minorities have remained socially Nepal is a multiethnic, multicultural and excluded from harnessing national multilingual country. It is small in area, benefits in the fields such as politics, but has complex cultural diversity economy, education, employment and so including linguistic plurality. The on. Despite its foreign language status, number of languages spoken in the English language is increasingly used in country varies in different census reports. Nepalese context. It is used in almost all However, 123 languages are officially sectors such as education, trade, tourism, recognised by CBS (2011).
  • Aurora Tsai's Review of the Diagnosis of Reading in a Second Or Foreign

    Aurora Tsai's Review of the Diagnosis of Reading in a Second Or Foreign

    Reading in a Foreign Language April 2015, Volume 27, No. 1 ISSN 1539-0578 pp. 117–121 Reviewed work: The Diagnosis of Reading in a Second or Foreign Language. (2015). Alderson, C., Haapakangas, E., Huhta, A., Nieminen, L., & Ullakonoja, R. New York and London: Routledge. Pp. 265. ISBN 978-0-415-66290-1 (paperback). $49.95 Reviewed by Aurora Tsai Carnegie Mellon University United States http://www.amazon.com In The Diagnosis of Reading in a Second or Foreign Language, Charles Alderson, Eeva-Leena Haapakangas, Ari Huhta, Lea Nieminen, and Riikka Ullakonoja discuss prominent theories concerning the diagnosis of reading in a second or foreign language (SFL). Until now, the area of diagnosis in SFL reading has received little attention, despite its increasing importance as the number of second language learners continues to grow across the world. As the authors point out, researchers have not yet established a theory of how SFL diagnosis works, which makes it difficult to establish reliable procedures for accurately diagnosing and helping students in need. In this important contribution to reading and diagnostic research, Alderson et al. illustrate the challenges involved in carrying out diagnostic procedures, conceptualize a theory of diagnosis, provide an overview of SFL reading, and highlight important factors to consider in diagnostic assessment. Moreover, they provide detailed examples of tests developed specifically for diagnosis, most of which arise from their most current research projects. Because this book covers a wide variety of SFL reading and diagnostic topics, researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, language assessment, education, and even governmental organizations or military departments would consider it an enormously helpful and enlightening resource on SFL reading.
  • Language and Linguistics 2009

    Language and Linguistics 2009

    Visit us at: www.cambridge.org/asia ASIA SALES CONTACTS Cambridge University Press Asia 79 Anson Road #06-04 China – Beijing Office Singapore 079906 Room 1208–09, Tower B, Chengjian Plaza Phone (86) 10 8227 4100 Phone (65) 6323 2701 No. 18, Beitaipingzhuang Road, Haidian District Fax (86) 10 8227 4105 Fax (65) 6323 2370 Beijing 100088, China Email [email protected] Email [email protected] China – Shanghai Office Room N, Floor 19 Phone (86) 21 5301 4700 Zhiyuan Building Fax (86) 21 5301 4710 768, XieTu Road, Shanghai Email [email protected] 200023, China ➤ See page 9 ➤ See page 1 ➤ See page 10 China – Guangzhou Office RM 1501, East Tower, Dong Shan Plaza Phone (86) 20 8732 6913 69 Xian Lie Zhong Lu, Guangzhou 510095 Fax (86) 20 8732 6693 Language and China Email [email protected] China – Hong Kong and other areas Unit 1015–1016, Tower 1 Phone (852) 2997 7500 Millennium City 1, Fax (852) 2997 6230 Linguistics 2009 388 Kwun Tong Road Email [email protected] Kwun Tong, Kowloon Hong Kong, SAR www.cambridge.org/linguistics India Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd. Phone (91) 11 2327 4196 / 2328 8533 Cambridge House, 4381/4, Ansari Road Fax (91) 11 2328 8534 Daryaganj, New Delhi – 110002, India Email [email protected] Japan Sakura Building, 1F, 1-10-1 Kanda Nishiki-cho Phone, ELT (81) 3 3295 5875 ➤ See page 1 ➤ See page 2 ➤ See page 3 Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo – 101-0054 Phone, Academic (81) 3 3291 4068 Japan Email [email protected] Malaysia Suite 9.01, 9th Floor, Amcorp Tower Phone (603) 7954 4043 Amcorp Trade Centre, 18 Persiaran Barat Fax (603) 7954 4127 46050 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Email [email protected] Philippines 4th Floor, Port Royal Place Phone (632) 8405734/35 118 Rada Street, Legaspi Village Fax (632) 8405734 Makati City, Philippines [email protected] South Korea 2FL, Jeonglim Building Phone (82) 2 2547 2890 254-27, Nonhyun-dong, Gangnam-gu, Fax (82) 2 2547 4411 Seoul 135-010, South Korea Email [email protected] Taiwan 11F-2, No.
  • (JWEEP) Hybridity in Nepalese English

    (JWEEP) Hybridity in Nepalese English

    Journal of World Englishes and Educational Practices (JWEEP) ISSN: 2707-7586 DOI: 10.32996/jweep Website: https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jweep/index Hybridity in Nepalese English Shankar Dewan1* and Chandra Kumar Laksamba, PhD2 1Lecturer, Department of English, Sukuna Multiple Campus, Sundarharaincha, Morang, Nepal 2Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, Nepal Open University, Manbhawan, Lalitpur, Nepal Corresponding Author: Shankar Dewan, E-mail: [email protected] ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received: December 3, 2020 With its unprecedented spread globally, English has been diversified, nativized, and Accepted: December 11, 2020 hybridized in different countries. In Nepal, English is code-mixed or hybridized as a Volume: 2 result of its contact with the local languages, the bilinguals’ creativity, and the Issue: 6 nativization by Nepalese English speakers. This qualitative content analysis paper DOI: 0.32996/jweep.2020.2.6.2 attempts to describe hybridity in Nepalese English by bringing the linguistic examples from two anthologies of stories, two novels, five essays and two articles written in KEYWORDS English by Nepalese writers, one news story published in the English newspaper, advertisements/banners, and diary entries, which were sampled purposively. The Nepalese English, language present study showed that hybridity is found in affixation, reduplication, contact, hybridity, bilinguals’ compounding, blending, neologisms, and calques. Pedagogically, speakers of creativity, nativization Nepalese English can
  • A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence

    A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence

    This is a repository copy of Do New Technologies Facilitate the Acquisition of Reading Skills? : A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/75113/ Version: Published Version Conference or Workshop Item: Handley, Zoe Louise orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-3443 and Walter, Catherine (2010) Do New Technologies Facilitate the Acquisition of Reading Skills? : A Systematic Review of the Research Evidence. In: British Association of Applied Linguistics, 09-11 Sep 2010. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Applied Linguistics, Global and Local Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics 9-11 September 2010 University of Aberdeen Edited by Robert McColl Millar & Mercedes Durham Applied Linguistics, Global and Local Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics 9-11 September 2010 University of Aberdeen Edited by Robert McColl Millar & Mercedes Durham Applied Linguistics, Global and Local Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics 9-11 September 2010 University of Aberdeen Published by Scitsiugnil Press 1 Maiden Road, London, UK And produced in the UK Copyright © 2011 Copyright subsists with the individual contributors severally in their own contributions.
  • 13EUROSLA 249-252.Qxd

    13EUROSLA 249-252.Qxd

    About the authors Riikka Alanen is a professor of applied linguistics at the Centre for Applied Language Studies of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research interests include L2 learn- ing and teaching as task-mediated activity and the role of consciousness and agency in the learning process. She has written articles in Finnish and English about children’s L2 learning process as well as their beliefs about English as a Foreign Language. She is also the co-editor of the volume Language in Action: Vygotsky and Leontievian legacy today (2007). J. Charles Alderson is professor of Linguistics and English Language Education at Lancaster University. He is a specialist in language testing and the author of numerous books, book chapters and academic articles on the topic, as well as on reading in a sec- ond or foreign language. He is a former co-editor of the journal Language Testing, co- editor of the Cambridge Language Assessment Series and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA). See also http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/profiles/J-Charles-Alderson/ Inge Bartning is a professor of French at Stockholm University. She has taught and pub- lished in the domain of French syntax, semantics and pragmatics. In the last two decades her main interest has been in French L2 acquisition, in particular the domain of developmental stages, advanced learners and ultimate attainment of morpho-syntax, discourse and information structure. She is currently participating in a joint project ‘High Level Proficiency in Second Language Use’ with three other departments at Stockholm university (see www.biling.su.se/~AAA).
  • Curriculum and Syllabus Design in ELT. Report on the Dunford House Seminar (England, United Kingdom, July 16-26, 1984)

    Curriculum and Syllabus Design in ELT. Report on the Dunford House Seminar (England, United Kingdom, July 16-26, 1984)

    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 358 706 FL 021 249 AUTHOR Toney, Terry, Ed. TITLE Curriculum and Syllabus Design in ELT. Report on the Dunford House Seminar (England, United Kingdom, July 16-26, 1984). INSTITUTION British Council, London (England). PUB DATE 85 NOTE 152p.; For other Dunford House Seminar proceedings, see FL 021 247-257. AVAILABLE FROMEnglish Language Division, The British Council, Medlock Street, Manchester M15 4AA, England, United Kingdom. PUB TYPE Collected Works Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Behavioral Objectives; Case Studies; Communicative Competence (Languages); *Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Evaluation; Developing Nations; Educational Technology; Elementary Secondary Education; *English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Higher Education; *Language Teachers; *Language Tests; Modern Languages; Research Methodology; Second Language Instruction; *Teacher Education; Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS Egypt; Hong Kong; Yemen ABSTRACT Proceedings of a seminar on curriculum and syllabus design for training English-as-a-Second-Language teachers are presented in the form of papers, presentations, and summary narrative. They include: "Curriculum and Syllabus Design in ELT"; "Key Issues in Curriculum and Syllabus Design for ELT" (Christopher Brumfit); "Approaches to Curriculum Design" (Janet Maw); "Graded Objectives in Modern Languages" (Sheila Rowell); "Performance Objectives in the Hong Kong DTEO" (Richard Cauldwell); "The Relationship between Teaching and Learning"
  • The 2015 Pansig Journal Narratives: Raising the Happiness Quotient

    The 2015 Pansig Journal Narratives: Raising the Happiness Quotient

    The 2015 PanSIG Journal Narratives: Raising the Happiness Quotient Edited & Published by JALT PanSIG Proceedings Editor-in-Chief Gavin Brooks Doshisha University Editors Mathew Porter (Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University) Donna Fujimoto (Osaka Jogakuin University) Donna Tatsuki (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies.) Layout and Design by Gavin Brooks Message from the editors: The 14th Annual PanSIG Conference was held at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies on May 16th and 17th, 2015. The theme of the conference was, “Narratives: Raising the Happiness Quotient.” This was a collaborative effort from 26 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). The conference was highly successful and participants were able to attend presentations on a variety of topics from a wide spectrum in the fields of language teaching and learning. With this year conference the name of the post conference publication has been changed to the 2015 PanSIG Journal to reflect the work that the authors’ put into their papers. With a blind peer review process and dedicated reviewing and editing committees, along with motivated and professional authors, the quality of the papers submitted to the post conference publication is consistently very high. The same is true for the papers that have been included in the 2015 PanSIG Journal. This year’s publication is a representative effort from the conference in Kobe and 30 papers from a number of different SIGs on a diverse range of topics were accepted for publication in this year’s volume. These include papers that focus on both research topics and teaching practices and serve to highlight the effort and creativity of the participants of the conference and the members of the SIGs involved.
  • Intersections Between SLA and Language Testing Research

    Intersections Between SLA and Language Testing Research

    EUROSLA MONOGRAPHS SERIES 1 COMMUNICATIVE PROFICIENCY AND LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT: intersections between SLA and language testing research EDITED BY INGE BARTNING University of Stockholm MAISA MARTIN University of Jyväskylä INEKE VEDDER University of Amsterdam EUROPEAN SECOND LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION 2010 Eurosla monographs Eurosla publishes a monographs series, available open access on the association’s website. The series includes both single-author and edited volumes on any aspect of second langua- ge acquisition. Manuscripts are evaluated with a double blind peer review system to ensu- re that they meet the highest qualitative standards. Editors Gabriele Pallotti (Series editor), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Fabiana Rosi (Assistant editor), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia © The Authors 2010 Published under the Creative Commons "Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0" license ISBN 978-1-4466-6993-8 First published by Eurosla, 2010 Graphic design and layout: Pia ’t Lam An online version of this volume can be downloaded from eurosla.org Table of contents Foreword 5 Developmental stages in second-language acquisition and levels of second-language proficiency: Are there links between them? Jan H. Hulstijn, J. Charles Alderson and Rob Schoonen 11 Designing and assessing L2 writing tasks across CEFR proficiency levels Riikka Alanen, Ari Huhta and Mirja Tarnanen 21 On Becoming an Independent User Maisa Martin, Sanna Mustonen, Nina Reiman and Marja Seilonen 57 Communicative Adequacy and Linguistic Complexity in L2 writing
  • The Criterion: an International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165

    The Criterion: an International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165

    www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN-0976-8165 English in Multilingual and Cross-cultural Context: Exploring Opportunities and Meeting the Challenges Dr Anil S Kapoor Associate Professor Smt. R R H Patel Mahila Arts College Vijapur, Mehsana Gujarat. The proposed paper endeavours to analyse the role of English language in growing economies, like India, and transforming societies like Nepal. It also attempts to establish that English language has become the vehicle of transformation and an objective means to interpret the numerous cross-cultural contexts within the pluralistic societies. The paper proposes that if the linguistic pre-eminence of English, as a foreign language, is maintained it may affect numerous indigenous native languages/paroles and ultimately disturb the traditional fabric of the ancient cultures. The paper does not suggest that the English language should be dissuaded but it surely seeks to endorse the need to promote English as a more acceptable native language, expressing the hue and taste of the region, in any multilingual and cross-cultural context. The English language has flourished and developed in multilingual and cross- cultural environments. It has become the indisputable world language, owing largely to its status as a link language in multilingual and pluralistic societies. The main reasons for the growth of English may be attributed to the rise and fall of the British Colonial rule, the imminent linguistic void in the immediate post colonial era that required a lingua franca to fill the hiatus and in the more resent times the role of English as the language of modernity, Science, technology, knowledge and development.