Learners Of Different Proficiency Levels Research Articles

E-learning op Maat

The present study explored the effect of reading texts in an electronic learning environment for 46 adult second language learners of Dutch with different proficiency levels. The reading materials were selected dynamically, based on the "fit" between the vocabulary proficiency of individual students and the relative difficulty of the texts. Text difficulty was determined on the basis of the relative proportion of words unknown to the learner (lemma coverage). The texts were analyzed, selected and presented online, accompanied by a personalized electronic dictionary with words that were assumed to be unknown to the reader. The vocabulary learned implicitly while reading was measured in a pretest - treatment - posttest design. The learners read three texts, with lemma coverages of 92%, 90% and 85%, respectively. The relation between dictionary use and word retention was also examined. The study revealed an average word-learning improvement of 32,5%, with no differences between texts with a 92%, 90% or 85% lemma coverage. With respect to dictionary use, the learners looked up an average of 8.0 words. Two-thirds of these words were known to them; they looked up only one-third of the unknown words. We found there was a relation between dictionary use and the retention of unknown words. We concluded that the method we propose for an automated adaptive selection of reading texts and individualized dictionaries ensures that learners of different proficiency levels receive linguistic input that is best suited to their abilities.

ONE SIZE FITS ALL?: Recasts, Prompts, and L2 Learning

This quasi-experimental study investigated the potential benefits of two corrective feedback techniques (recasts and prompts) for learners of different proficiency levels. Sixty-four students in three intact grade 6 intensive English as a second language classes in the Montreal area were assigned to the two experimental conditions—one received corrective feedback in the form of recasts and the other in the form of prompts—and a control group. The instructional intervention, which was spread over a period of 4 weeks, targeted third-person possessive determiners his and her, a difficult aspect of English grammar for these Francophone learners of English. Participants' knowledge of the target structure was tested immediately before the experimental intervention, once immediately after it ended, and again 4 weeks later through written and oral tasks. All three groups benefited from the instructional intervention, with both experimental groups benefiting the most. Results also indicated that, overall, prompts were more effective than recasts and that the effectiveness of recasts depended on the learners' proficiency. In particular, high-proficiency learners benefited equally from both prompts and recasts, whereas low-proficiency learners benefited significantly more from prompts than recasts.This study is based on the first author's Ph.D. research (Ammar, 2003). We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the participating teachers and students. We thank Patsy Lightbown, Roy Lyster, Pavel Trofimovich, and the anonymous SSLA reviewers for their valuable input and feedback on earlier versions of this paper.

DIALANG: A Diagnostic Language Assessment System (review)

DIALANG: A Diagnostic Language Assessment System. http://www.dialang.org.1 Su Zhang and Nancy Thompson DIALANG is a diagnostic language assessment system that offers tests of different language skills in 14 European languages by integrating self-assessments and external assessments. It is computer-based, delivered via the Internet, and can be downloaded free of charge. The purpose of the DIALANG assessment system is to provide users with diagnostic information about their language proficiency, which will help them become aware of their strengths and weaknesses and find ways to develop their language skills. It offers separate assessments in reading, writing, listening, grammatical structures, and vocabulary. The 14 languages featured include the 11 European Union official languages - Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish - as well as Irish, Icelandic, and Norwegian. DIALANG's target group is teenagers and adults who wish to have their foreign language skills diagnosed and evaluated, independent of any formal education system. Specifically, according to DIALANG - Project & System (2000, ¶7), the DIALANG assessment system will be 'immensely useful for all European citizens who want to obtain reliable information about their proficiency in any of the 14 languages.' It may also be of interest to teachers, as an instrument for placement purposes, and to organizations, as a tool for promoting language proficiency among staff. The current version of DIALANG provides tests at three difficulty levels - 'easy,' 'intermediate,' and 'difficult' - allowing learners of different proficiency levels to use the assessment system. The DIALANG assessment procedure is as follows: 1. First, the user chooses the language of instructions and feedback; this should be the user's L1 or a language that he or she knows very well. 2. Then the user chooses the language and the particular skill in which he or she wants to be tested. Before starting the actual language skill test, the user will be given a vocabulary size placement test, in which a collection of 'words' - real and invented verbs - are presented. The user decides whether each 'word' exists in the language being tested. By estimating the user's vocabulary size, DIALANG obtains an indication of the appropriate proficiency level and thus determines which level of test to present. The user will get feedback from taking the placement test. There is only one placement test for any given language. [End Page 290] 3. If the user chooses a test in listening, writing, or reading, a self-assessment questionnaire is then administered. The results of the questionnaire will help determine the level of the test to be given and will be compared with the user's test results to see whether the self-assessment is realistic. There is only one self-assessment questionnaire for each skill. If a test in grammatical structures or vocabulary is chosen, the system proceeds directly to the next step. 4. The user will be presented with a test at an appropriate level of difficulty (i.e., easy, intermediate, or difficult) in the chosen skill. There are 30 items in each test. At the present stage, the test methods are limited; only various forms of multiple-choice, gap-filling (cloze), and short-answer questions are available. For each test, the user can choose to receive either immediate or delayed feedback. Throughout the assessment process, the user has the option of skipping the placement test or the self-assessment questionnaire or of exiting a test. 5. After completing a test in grammatical structures or vocabulary, the user will receive feedback regarding his or her level in the chosen skill on the Common European Framework scale (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, or C2: A is the basic user level, B independent, and C proficient) and regarding what people can typically do with the language at that proficiency level. Users can also check their answers. If a test is completed in listening, writing, or reading, besides receiving the above feedback, the user will also be informed whether his or her self-assessment in that skill matches the test results and, if there is a mismatch, of possible reasons for this. The user will be provided with information about what typical learners at the different levels can do in the...

The Development of L2 Intuitions

Intuitions, particularly judgments of grammaticality, have played an important role in theoretical linguistics, but the nature of grammaticality judgments by second language learners has not received adequate attention. The present study is an investigation of the function of grammaticality judgments in second language acquisition. Two groups of learners of different proficiency levels were asked to give grammaticality judgments of sentences they had written and of sentences other students had written. The results were analyzed in terms of the subjects' ability to make the appropriate grammaticality judgments and to correct those sentences they had judged to be ungrammatical. The results indicate that with increased proficiency in English, learners move from an overall ability to make general assessments of grammaticality to an ability to identify and/or correct particular details. The results of this study are also discussed in terms of Bialystok's (1979, 1981) notion of implicit/explicit knowledge and the general function of metalinguistics awareness in second language acquisition.