student perceptions of tl use in the secondary classroom bernadette brouwers and luc le
TRANSCRIPT
Student perceptions of TL use in the secondary classroom
Bernadette Brouwers
and
Luc Le
The Assessment of Language Competence
• Annual international certificate program
• Listening and reading comprehension tests
• Multiple choice format
• Six languages – CH, FR, GE, IN, IT, JA
• Three levels – Certificates 1-3
• Some questions in TL at level 2 and 3
Research Methodology
Data
• 2010 ALC student results
• Certificates 2 & 3 listening & reading tests in
Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and
Japanese
• Approx 20, 000 students
• Student survey data
Research Methodology
• Research question
• How does students’ perceived use of the target language in the classroom and school/community environment affect their results on the ALC?
Why is this interesting or useful?
• Queries about nature of language programs
• Expectations about use of TL
• Developments in the national curriculum
• Development of professional standards
• Focus on intercultural language learning
Assumptions
• The purpose of language learning is to be able to communicate proficiently in the target language
• learners learn a language best when they are provided opportunities to use the target language to communicate in a wide range of activities … in meaningful situations … . P 41, ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century
• teacher use of the target language is crucial as it provides the learners’ principal, even only, source of live, scaffolded input … p 7, Crawford in RELC Journal 35:1
Research Methodology
Analysis
• Item calibration using Rasch modelling
• Item discrimination and test reliability index
• Relationship between perceived TL use and
purpose and student performance in ALC tests
ALC student survey
Survey frequency
Certificate Frequency Percent Valid percent
Cumulative percent
Chinese 2 1287 6.5 6.5 6.5
French 2 5476 27.7 27.7 34.2
French 3 2333 11.8 11.8 46.0
German 2 1815 9.2 9.2 55.2
German 3 672 3.4 3.4 58.6
Indonesian 2 853 4.3 4.3 62.9
Italian 2 2333 11.8 11.8 74.7
Italian 3 808 4.1 4.1 78.8
Japanese 2 2701 13.7 13.7 92.4
Japanese 3 1501 7.6 7.6 100.0
Language use local community
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language use teacher in classroom
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language use most students in classroom
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose give information
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose instructions
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose discuss
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose explain
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose social purposes
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language use
Q1
Q2
Q3
Discussion - listening
• Small but significant correlations
• Strongest languages for community use:– Chinese – French 3– German 3– Italian 2 and 3– Japanese 2 and 3
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language purpose
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Discussion - listening
• Small but significant correlations
• Strongest languages for instructional use:– Chinese 2– French 2 and 3 – German 2– Indonesian 2– Italian 2 and 3
Correlations
-0.10
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language use
Q1
Q2
Q3
Discussion - reading
• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for community:
– Chinese 2, German 3, Italian 3, Japanese 2, Japanese 3
• Strongest languages for teachers:– Italian 2
• Strongest language for students– French 2
– German 2
– Indonesian 2
Indonesian
French 3
Italian 2
Italian 3
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language purpose
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Discussion• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for instructions:
French 2, German 2, Indonesian 2, Italian 2, Italian 3,
Japanese 2, Japanese 3
• Strongest languages for discussion:Chinese 2, French 3
• Strongest language for social purposes:German 3
NB No languages showed their strongest correlation for information or explanation purposes
French 2 Chinese 2
German 2 French 3
Indonesian 2 SocialItalian 2 German 3
Italian 3 ExplainJapanese 3 Japanese 2
Limitations
• Data not triangulated
• Teacher background not taken into
account
Summary
• Some variance according to language
• Positive correlation with performance on ALC tests
• Effect greater at Certificate 2 than at Certificate 3
level
• Effect slightly greater for listening than for reading
How can I use this information in my school?
• to stimulate discussion with colleagues
– What are my school’s views/practices on the use of the TL?
– How does the practice in my school reflect the ALC data?
– Do we expose students to authentic interactions optimising the use of the
TL?
– How does the use of the TL relate to our understandings of our own
professional knowledge and practice?
• to review the languages program and look at any underlying
assumptions about the use of the TL