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Module 5119
Language Testing and Assessment



Week 10
Assessing receptive skills 2
Listening
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Outline
The listening process and sub-skills
Defining the listening construct
Issues of design and administration

Group project



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Opening discussion
Have you ever taken any listening test in any language? Share your experience of taking the test with other members in your group.

Share your experience of constructing and administering listening test in your context of language teaching and testing. What type of texts, methods and questions did you use? What are some of the challenges involved in testing listening comprehension?
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What is listening?
Invisible, inaudible cognitive process
We observe only result of the meaningful input in the form of spoken or written output just as we observe the result of the wind by noticing trees waving back and forth
Assessment of listening must be made by inferences
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What is listening?
Invisible cognitive process

Complex
Individual
Active
Automatic
Interactive
Ongoing
Inferential



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Two-stage process of listening
Apprehending linguistic information>linguistic processing> lower-level processing

Relating linguistic information to a broader context>macro comprehension

Hierarchical process
Sequential
Order of difficulty





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Top-down and bottom-up views
Bottom-up
The smallest units of language are identified first, and these
are ‘chained together’ to form the next highest unit and so
on…Meaning resides within the text, and the derivation of
meaning is the final step in a lengthy process.

Top-down
Depends on the use of context and background knowledge to
understand the meaning of the incoming message. Listeners
form hypotheses which they test through the selective
sampling of the discourse elements.



Interactive-compensatory model
Information from more than one level is utilized
simultaneously. Deficiencies at one level can be compensated for by any other level

Non-linguistic knowledge compensates for linguistic deficiency of less able learners. It facilitates linguistic processing of more able learners
Compensation is not a guarantee for arriving at
correct interpretations.
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Aspects of the listening process
The acoustic input to the listener
Applying knowledge of the language
Using world knowledge
The context of communication
Building mental representations of meanings

Basic types of listening
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Sub-skills in listening
A multifaceted process with a large number of components
Theoretical taxonomies
Research-based taxonomies
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Activity
Read through the taxonomy of listening sub-skills
in the handout. Decide which ones call for lower
level processing and which ones higher level
processing. You could write L for the former and
H for the latter beside each of them.

Lower-level processing> questions based on clearly stated information

Higher level processing> required learners to make inferences based on stated information
What makes listening difficult?
Clustering: attending to phrases, clauses, constituents
Redundancy: repetition, rephrasing, elaborations
Reduced forms:
Performance variables: hesitations, pauses, corrections in natural speech
Colloquial language: idioms, slang
Rate of delivery
Stress, rhythm, and intonation: prosodic elements in spoken language
Interaction: interactive flow of language from listening to speaking to listening
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Defining listening construct
Test purpose and TLU domain

Competence-based approach
Task-based approach
Interactive approach

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Test design issues
Tasks
Tasks as operationalisation of construct
TLU domain or course goals
A representative sample

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Text types
Spoken language
Collaborative and non-collaborative texts
Authenticity
Conversations, announcements, service encounters, answering machine messages, directions, lectures, narratives, anecdotes, personal reports, news broadcasts, interviews, advertisements, debates and talkback exchanges
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Test formats
Short answer questions
True false
Multiple choice
Information transfer
Gap filling
Summary cloze
Dictation


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Cont’d
As many formats as feasible
Impact of test format on performance
Impact of construct-irrelevant factors
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Other issues
Length of the test
Audio/video/live speech
How many times to listen
Language of instructions and response
Reading time/question review
Note taking




Designing assessment tasks
Intensive listening
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Designing assessment tasks
Responsive listening
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Designing assessment tasks
Selective listening
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Information transfer: Multiple-picture-cued selection
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Designing assessment tasks
Extensive listening
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Extensive listening
Dialogue and multiple choice comprehension items

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Extensive listening
Dialogue and authentic questions on details

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Research questions

The influence of the short answer method on the measurement of listening comprehension;

Whether test items can measure higher-level cognitive processes;

Whether test items can measure how well listeners monitor the appropriacy of their interpretation;

How question review influences comprehension and test performance.


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Summary

Higher level items not significantly more difficult> two stage view inadequate

Competent listeners agree on propositional content of text. Listening is not just decoding, or understanding text on a literal or propositional level only.

Listening is an active, inferential process of constructing and interpreting, which seems reasonable in the light of the listener’s own assessment of the situation, background knowledge and the purpose of listening.


Practice
With a linguistic objective assigned to each pair or group, construct a listening cloze test for two word verbs, verb tenses, prepositions, transition words, articles, and/or other grammatical categories
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Group work: Leading Discussion


Group 2 (Name?, Name? & Name?):
Group 3 (Name?, Name? & Name?):