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Hard evidence – links between Chinese language use out of school and ALC
test results
Bernadette Brouwers
Dr Luc LeAustralian Council for Educational Research
Assessment of Language Competence
• Annual international certificate program
• Second language tests of listening and reading
• Multiple choice format
• Seven languages
• Three levels
• Some questions in TL
Context
• Teacher concerns
• Participation rates for languages• Need to increase the number of
classroom second language learners (Orton, 2008:5)
• Understand the nature of the learner group (Scrimgeour, 2010, Asia Education Foundation National Summit)
• ALC aims
Research context
• Care was taken not to introduce German, Russian or Italian into schools with a sizeable community speaking the language. (Clyne et al, 1997, 1)
• … exposure to the language within the home … is insufficient to develop more than minimal skills in production. (Clyne et al, 1997, 121)
Research context
… on the VCE Chinese examination there is a clear native/non-native speaker divide on all assessment tasks.
Only in the case of Chinese is there a clear relationship between language background and performance at the global level.
(Elder, 2005, 36)
Research Context
• … higher achievement is not necessarily attributable to ethnic background
• …other factors … study outside school … number of years study at school had some impact … .
(Iwashita & Liem, 2005, 47)
Research Context
• … learner background is the most powerful factor influencing levels of achievement … particularly so for Chinese … . (Scarino et al, 2007, 119)
Research Context
• … almost all those who begin Chinese as a classroom-taught language quit before year 10 … almost all those taking Chinese in Year 12 are Chinese first language speakers. (Orton, 2008, 16)
Research questions
• What is the relationship between out-of-school study of Chinese on test results for students taking the 2012 ALC Certificate 2 test of Chinese?
• What is the relationship between out-of-school use of Chinese with family members on test results for students taking the 2012 ALC Certificate 2 test of Chinese?
Why is this interesting or useful?
• Concern re provision of Chinese at
senior secondary level
• Lack of level playing field
• Real data from sizeable cohort
Research methodology
• 2012 ALC student results and survey data
• Certificate 2 listening and reading tests in Chinese
• Certificate 2 listening and reading tests in Japanese
• Certificate 3 listening and reading tests in Japanese
Assumptions
• ALC tests are designed for L2 students
• Students taking the ALC are L2
students
Survey frequency
• Chinese Certificate 2 (N = approx 830)
• Japanese Certificate 2 (N = approx 2000)
• Japanese Certificate 3 (N = approx 1000)
ALC student survey
Results – where studied
Language Tutor Distance Ed Sat/community Other
Chinese 2
Listening -0.03 0.04 0.28 0.18
Reading -0.04 0.04 0.20 0.12
Japanese 2
Listening 0.04 0.09 0.15 0.16
Reading 0.06 0.11 0.14 0.17
Japanese 3
Listening 0.06 -0.01 0.13 0.12
Reading 0.07 0.01 0.14 0.11
Tutor
Distance Education
Saturday/community school
Other
Results - SpokenLanguage Mother Father Sibling Other relative Friends
Chinese 2
Listening 0.50 0.47 0.26 0.46 0.23
Reading 0.39 0.37 0.21 0.34 0.22
Japanese 2
Listening 0.22 0.17 0.08 0.19 0.11
Reading 0.20 0.17 0.08 0.16 0.10
Japanese 3
Listening 0.19 0.12 0.04 0.16 0.05
Reading 0.18 0.10 0.06 0.15 0.06
Spoken with mother
Spoken with father
Spoken with sibling
Spoken with other relative
Spoken with friends
Discussion
• Other relative
• Context/purpose of language use
• Interrelationship between variables
• Program type
• Time on task
Summary
• Study at Saturday school shows strongest positive
correlation
• Language spoken with mother/father/other relative
shows strongest positive correlation
• Effects strongest for Chinese Certificate 2
• Effect slightly greater for listening than for reading
(CH)
Thank you !
References• Clyne, M., Fernandez, S., Chen, I.Y., & Sumo-O’Connell, R. et al (1997).
Background Speakers: Diversity and its Management in LOTE Programs. Belconnen: Language Australia.
• Elder, C., (1995). Do bilinguals perform better than monolinguals on school foreign language examinations? Melbourne Papers in Language Testing, 4(1), 21-54.
• Iwashita, N. & Liem, I. (2005). Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 28(1), 36-51.
• Orton, J., (2010). The Current State of Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne and Confucius Institute.
• http://www.saale.unisa.edu.au/project.html