Young learner autonomy in synchronous oral telecollaborative tasks

ABSTRACTExamining spoken features across proficiency levels allows researchers to explore the nature of speaking proficiency as it develops. This line of research has thus far primarily focused on adult second language (L2) learners. Using cross-sectional data based on a large-scale language assessment intended for young L2 learners, in this study, we examined the distinguishing features that categorize the spoken performance of young English language learners (ages 9 to 12) across levels, and especially, between adjacent levels. The study constitutes an initial step in exploring the construct of speaking proficiency of young English language learners as it progresses. The results indicated that 16 spoken features, found to differentiate adult English learners, were associated with young learners’ English proficiency. We also found that spoken performance of young L2 English learners was characterized by different features at different levels. Findings of the study provide some preliminary observations regarding linguistic features that show differentiating power at different proficiency levels, offering insights into young learners’ English development. The findings can serve as preliminary suggestions for utilizing different rating criteria for constructing rubrics for assessing young learners at different levels of English proficiency.

Section 1: Introduction. Chapter 1. An Overview of English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners by Mikyung Kim Wolf & Yuko Goto Butler. Section 2: Theoretical Basis and Assessment Frameworks. Chapter 2. Theoretical and Developmental Issues to Consider in the Assessment of Young Learners' English Language Proficiency by Alison Bailey. Chapter 3. Designing TOEFL (R) Primary TM Tests by Yeonsuk Cho, Mitch Ginsburgh, Rick Morgan, Brad Moulder, Xiaoming Xi, & Maurice Cogan Hauck. Chapter 4 TOEFL Junior (R) Design Framework by Youngsoon So, Mikyung Kim Wolf, Maurice Cogan Hauck, Pamela Mollaun, Paul Rybinski, Daniel Tumposky, & Lin Wang. Chapter 5. Designing Task Types for English Language Proficiency Assessments for K-12 English Learners in the U.S. by Maurice Cogan Hauck, Emilie Pooler, Mikyung Kim Wolf, Alexis Lopez & David Anderson. Section 3: Empirical Studies for Validity Evidence. Chapter 6. A Field Test Study for the TOEFL (R) Primary TM Reading and Listening Tests by Jiyun Zu, Bradley Moulder, & Rick Morgan. Chapter 7. Strategies Used by Young English Learners in an Assessment Context by Lin Gu & Youngsoon So. Chapter 8. Using the Common European Framework of Reference to Facilitate Score Interpretations for Young Learners' English Language Proficiency Assessments by Spiros Papageorgiou & Patricia Baron. Chapter 9. Making a Validity Argument for Using the TOEFL Junior Standard Test as a Measure of Progress for Young English Language Learners by Lin Gu, J. R. Lockwood, & Donald E. Powers. Chapter 10. Comparing the Performance of Young English Language Learners and Native English Speakers on Speaking Assessment Tasks by Mikyung Kim Wolf, Alexis Lopez, Saerhim Oh, & Fred S. Tsutagawa. Section 4: Future Assessments and Innovations for Young Learners. Chapter 11. Considering Young Learners' Characteristics in Developing a Diagnostic Assessment by Eunice Eunhee Jang, Megan Vincett, Edith van der Boom, Clarissa Lau, & Yehbeen Yang. Chapter 12. Computerized Dynamic Assessments for Young Language Learners by Matthew E. Poehner, Jie Zhang, & Xiaofei Lu. Chapter 13. Measuring 21st Century Reading Comprehension Through Scenario-Based Assessments by Jane Shore, Mikyung Kim Wolf, Tenaha O'Reilly, & John P. Sabatini. Section 5: Conclusion. Chapter 14. Challenges and Future Directions for Young Learners' English Language Assessments and Validity Research by Yuko Goto Butler. Appendices.

Reading materials are considered having high readability if readers are interested to read the materials, understand the content of the materials and able to read the materials fluently. In contrast, reading materials with low readability discourage readers from reading the materials, create difficulties for readers to understand the content of the materials and prevent readers to read the materials fluently.

Second language (L2) motivation is of great importance for young foreign language learners, as it can both attract their interest towards learning the target language and improve their L2 achievements. Supporting students' need for relatedness (along with a need for competence and autonomy) is claimed to enhance behaviors that are self-motivated and self-determined. The purpose of this study is to explore the affordances of tablet technologies, such as Apple iPads, for satisfying young language learners' need for relatedness, both in classroom collaborative learning and social interactions beyond the school settings. The key findings of this qualitative study suggest the iPad's potentiality for promoting L2 motivation through exploiting its affordances to enhance collaborative learning and social development.

The chapter examines how the use of emergent mobile technologies such as iPad and iPod in the classroom with young language learners can promote innovative learning environments and authentic oral language learning experiences. The chapter is based on a collaborative action research (CAR) project involving young French language learners in primary schools in a western province of Canada. Findings show that the affordances of mobile technologies support the creation of innovative learning environments and authentic oral language learning experiences through collaborative dialogue and peer-peer scaffolding among young language learners. The outcomes of the inquiry also demonstrate that the use of mobile devices such as iPad and iPod promotes the emergence of metacognitive reflection among learners, as well as a greater sense of agency and autonomy.

The chapter examines how the use of emergent mobile technologies such as iPad and iPod in the classroom with young language learners can promote innovative learning environments and authentic oral language learning experiences. The chapter is based on a collaborative action research (CAR) project involving young French language learners in primary schools in a western province of Canada. Findings show that the affordances of mobile technologies support the creation of innovative learning environments and authentic oral language learning experiences through collaborative dialogue and peer-peer scaffolding among young language learners. The outcomes of the inquiry also demonstrate that the use of mobile devices such as iPad and iPod promotes the emergence of metacognitive reflection among learners, as well as a greater sense of agency and autonomy.

The multicultural and multilingual development of an individual is a matter of national and global security. The system of education in the Russian Federation functions within the all-European trend: multilingual educational institutions design curriculum for children of different nationalities speaking different languages. This paper outlines the educational model which places digital learning resources in the center of bilingual and multilingual education integrated of preschool and primary school age children who learn Russian as a state language, second language or heritage language. The construct is based on the empirical data collected in 2018 for the research study funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. The study was conducted in four state-funded and one private kindergartens, as well as in homeschooling environment, and involved bilingual young learners aged 4-6 and their educators. The experiment was carried out within the framework of Vygotskian sociocultural theory, particularly the ideas of mediated learning and stimuli-tools [Vygotsky, 1984], and applied the triadic scaffold protocol [Meskill, 2005] as a major data collection instrument. While the World Wide Web provides access to myriads of digital learning objects (DLOs) for language learners, only a minor part of digital content could be integrated into the educational curriculum of preschool institutions and into homeschooling [Vafina, Sadykova, Kayumova, 2018]. As such, educators and developers of DLOs for young language learners should have well-defined and scientifically proven conceptual dominants that serve as landmarks for selecting and integrating digital resources into the curriculum of young language learners. The authors propose an educational model for multilingual education of young Russian language learners based on four interconnected and interdependent conceptual dominants: 1) the trinity of “child-educator-DLO” where child’s interests play the leading role, 2) an educator as a subject of the learning process and an object of learning, 3) digital learning resources as medium of knowledge, ‘learning buddies’, and motivators (stimuli-tool), and 4) Russian language and culture as consolidators of the Russian society and Russian community abroad. Designing digital language resources that implement these conceptual dominants requires consolidated efforts of child psychologies, language educators, experts in the fields of multimodal information technologies, and most importantly, educators and parents.

Learner autonomy is widely recognized as a desirable educational goal in second or foreign language learning. However, the generality of the concept often makes it difficult to either nurture or measure the related traits. The present study focused on learner autonomy in the area of writing, exploring the use of the process approach as a means to foster its development in terms of students’ emerging writing skills. The study was conducted in the naturalistic settings of three secondary school ESL writing classrooms in Hong Kong involving 70 student participants. Data gathered quantitatively with a questionnaire and qualitatively through self-assessment forms, learners’ journals and case studies suggest that the process approach can reduce students’ reliance on the teacher and their tendency to seek help from others, while leading to growth in their metacognitive knowledge about writing and their knowledge of themselves as writers. These developments are all signs of the emergence of learner autonomy in these young ESL writers. Overall, the findings suggest that the process approach can bring about similar changes in young writers despite variations in the cultural backgrounds and teaching beliefs of its implementers. It is argued that the strength of the process approach may lie in the stimulation of the growth of autonomous skills and attitudes in writing in young learners, and such a strength should be recognized by language educators who view learner autonomy as a major educational goal.

Buta The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of the autonomous learning process (ALP) on learner autonomy of undergraduate students in English public speaking class and its effect size; and to explore how learner autonomy is revealed through the ALP. This study employed a variant of a mixed-methods approach, which is an embedded experimental design. Employing the cluster sampling method, nineteen Thai students were included. The students were trained in the ALP based on the four dimensions of learner autonomy (technical, psychological, political-critical, and sociocultural.) Quantitative data were collected from the Learner Autonomy for Public Speaking (LAPS) questionnaires and analyzed by the dependent samples t-test. Qualitative data were drawn from the Overall Written Reflections, and thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the level of students’ learner autonomy in the post-questionnaire significantly increased from the pre-questionnaire (p = 0.00). Its effect size is large (d = 1.28), and learner autonomy, as revealed through the ALP, can be classified into five emerging themes. The themes are (1) use and plans of the learning strategies, (2) evaluation of learning and learning strategies, (3) capacity to provide and accept praise and criticism, (4) increased positive emotions and (5) sense of awareness and a better understanding of self. Recommendations for further study are provided.The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of the autonomous learning process (ALP) on learner autonomy of undergraduate students in English public speaking class and its effect size; and to explore how learner autonomy is revealed through the ALP. This study employed a variant of a mixed-methods approach, which is an embedded experimental design. Employing the cluster sampling method, nineteen Thai students were included. The students were trained in the ALP based on the four dimensions of learner autonomy (technical, psychological, political-critical, and sociocultural.) Quantitative data were collected from the Learner Autonomy for Public Speaking (LAPS) questionnaires and analyzed by the dependent samples t-test. Qualitative data were drawn from the Overall Written Reflections, and thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. [A1] The findings revealed that the level of students’ learner autonomy in the post-questionnaire significantly increased from the pre-questionnaire (p = 0.00). Its effect size is large (d = 1.28), and learner autonomy, as revealed through the ALP, can be classified into five emerging themes. [A2] The themes are (1) use and plans of the learning strategies, (2) evaluation of learning and learning strategies, (3) capacity to provide and accept praise and criticism, (4) increased positive emotions and (5) sense of awareness and a better understanding of self. Recommendations for further study are provided. [A1]S-V agreement [A2]Emerging themes or emerging themes, or emergent themes?

In the context of learner autonomy, this study adopts mixed qualitative and quantitative research to investigate the EFL students’ autonomy in learning English at Shandong Institute of Science and Technology Vocational College, with the two research questions: (1) What is the current status of the autonomy in English language learning among Chinese EFL students in higher vocational institutions? (2)What are the main factors that affect the learner autonomy in learning English of EFL students in Chinese higher vocational institutions? With the stratified sampling method, one-hundred twenty-five sophomore students were randomlyselected from five majors to complete the close-ended questionnaire and 15 students among them were selected to participate in the focus-group interview. With a recovery rate of 92.8%, 125 pieces of the questionnaire were distributed and 116 pieces were valid. The data analysis tool adopts SPSS and thematic analysis. This study finds that the current EFL students have a relatively low level of autonomy in learning English and from the four dimensions of learner autonomy, the sociocultural dimension (M=2.87) is the lowest, compared to other three dimensions: political-philosophical (M=2.96), technical (M=2.99), psychological (M=3.21). The data from the focus group interviews presents the finding that students lack guidance from teachers to engage in autonomous learning. The personal correlation coefficient reflects that English teachers’ role is the largest factor in affecting students’ level of autonomy learning in English. Such findings recommend that English teachers in higher vocational institutions should notice their importance in the cultivation of learner autonomy in their students and adopt student-centred teaching based on learner autonomy.

Although learner autonomy is a widely recognized concept, whose value has been acknowledged by the Polish Ministry of National Education, it is not commonly implemented in Polish schools. Some signs of learner autonomy can be seen in secondary schools or at tertiary level, but the connection between autonomy and children has yet to be established. The aim of the article is to tackle the issue of autonomy among young learners and to attempt to prove that learner autonomy and young learners are not mutually exclusive. In the theoretical part, some relevant research and publications on child development and learner autonomy will be presented. Subsequently, the features of young-learner autonomy will be outlined. The empirical part will give an account of a Teaching young learners project that was carried out at Gdansk University Teacher Training College. The implementation of the principles of autonomy in the course of the project and some observations made during it will be presented.

Introduction This chapter sets out to establish a special case for young learner language assessment. What are the characteristics of young learners that need to be remembered in assessment decisions? We all know that young learners are different from adults, but how do we explain the important differences in a simple, accessible way? This chapter provides some central information about young learners – who they are, where they are learning, and what requires us to give them special consideration in assessment. Young language learners and their language programmes Young language learners are those who are learning a foreign or second language and who are doing so during the first six or seven years of formal schooling. In the education systems of most countries, young learners are children who are in primary or elementary school. In terms of age, young learners are between the ages of approximately five and twelve. Many young language learners can be called bilingual. Bilingual learners are those learners who learn two (or more) languages to some level of proficiency (Bialystok, 2001, p. 5). This rather vague definition – impossible to pin down because of the variety of experiences of learners – would tend to include children who are learning a foreign language in immersion and bilingual programmes and all children in second language programmes. The term would also include many, many children who learn a foreign or second language as they interact with speakers of other languages and dialects outside formal language programmes.

This chapter provides the young language learners' characteristics in relation to the development and use of English language proficiency (ELP) assessments. It describes a few key aspects to consider in the development and use of standardized ELP assessments given young learners' characteristics. The chapter focuses on a new assessment design technique called scenario-based assessment (SBA) and illustrates how technology-enhanced SBA can be used in standardized assessment settings as well as formative assessment settings to support young learners' reading assessment and development. It offers a unique perspective on the assessment of young learners and provides stimulating ideas for conducting future research and development work to improve ELP assessment practices with young learners. Standardized ELP assessments for young learners can provide information about individual students' achievements and levels of proficiency based on international, national, or local standards/curricula and individual students' growth in their ELP attainment.

Assessment tasks for young language learners (YLLs) should be cognitively appropriate and consistent with instructional foci of English language education. We investigated YLLs’ cognitive processes of taking computerized picture-based causal explanation speaking tasks. Ninety-six Chinese primary-school EFL learners in Grades 4 and 6 completed two causal explanation speaking tasks in Chinese (L1) and English (L2). Their eye movements during the test were recorded. We examined to what extent L1 cognitive processes differed across the two grade levels and to what extent L2 cognitive processes were related with L1 cognitive processes, L2 performance scores, and L2 productive and receptive vocabulary sizes and grade levels. We found that 4th and 6th graders had similar L1 cognitive processes. In the L2 performance, participants with fewer L2 linguistic resources viewed significantly longer and more frequently both the content-relevant areas of the task prompts and the areas not directly related to the content. The findings pointed to the dynamic complexities of interactions at speech-production stages between YLLs’ cognitive ability and L2 proficiency and the visual and textual stimuli of the tasks. We discussed implications of the findings and future research directions with reference to task design and young learners’ cognitive processes.

The main aim of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the importance of autonomy in language learning and teaching by addressing the issue of the development of autonomy in learning pronunciation by means of Internet resources among Polish senior high school learners. The data were collected by means of learners’ logs, group and individual interviews, observations, evaluation sheets and open-ended questions included in a pronunciation autonomy questionnaire. They were subjected to qualitative analysis and, in some cases, the ‘quantizing’ technique was also involved, which allowed for the transformation of the qualitative data into quantitative data (Miles and Huberman 1994, p. 42). The findings show that the use of Internet resources and the resultant independent work were not only welcomed by the experimental students but also contributed to a change in the way they learned English pronunciation and the development of certain behaviors characteristic of autonomous learning.