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SPINE

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Title: SPINE


1
DFID/ESRC RES-167-25-0263
Measuring student subject learning in whose
language(s)? Guoxing Yu, Pauline Rea-Dickins,
Zuleikha Khamis, Oksana Afitska, Haji Mwevura,
Shumbana Said, Amour Khamis, Abdulla
Mohammed University of Bristol, State
University of Zanzibar Student Performance in
National Examinations the Dynamics of Language
(SPINE, 2007-2010)
  • 1. 1 Introduction
  • 3. Further questions
  • To what extent does the language background of
    test takers affect their performance in
    content-based assessment delivered in English?
  • To what extent do test takers English language
    abilities (esp. reading and writing skills)
    affect their performance in such assessments?
  • To what extent is test takers performance
    affected by language complexity and linguistic
    demands of test items?
  • How might test accommodations (e.g. modifying
    linguistic demands of items) affect performance
    in content-based assessments?
  • 6. Impact on teaching and learning
  • Three aspects of classroom learning and language
    use
  • Code switching and mixing and discourse features
    of teacher talk, e.g. safe talk (Hornberger
    Chick (2001) accommodating students as well as
    teachers low language ability, translation as
    coping strategy (Brock-Utne Holmarsdottir
    2004).
  • Classroom pedagogy a limited range of pedagogic
    activities to engage learners in subject and
    language learning, within environments with very
    limited resources available.
  • Learner classroom language lack of
    opportunities for participation in class e.g.,
    due to the unfamiliarity with the language of the
    instruction.

On a school wall in Kiswahili
  • 5. Impact on individuals in tests
  • AERA/APA/NCME 1999 91
  • For all test takers, any test that employs
    language is, in part, a measure of their language
    skills. This is of particular concern for test
    takers whose first language is not the language
    of the test.
  • 2. Effects of language background/ability on test
    performance
  • 3. Then, can TEST ACCOMMODATIONS (e.g.
    modification of linguistic complexity of items,
    use of native language, see Butler and Stevens
    1997, 2001) provide a quick fix as the most
    direct and immediate policy remedy to address the
    complex issues surrounding language in
    examinations?
  • 4. Effects of accommodations on performance
  • (a) Modifications of linguistic demands of items
  • Studies using linguistic modifications for EAL
    learners in content-based assessment have drawn
    on conceptually from findings of psychological
    studies where a changing in the wording or
    structure of a test item has been observed to
    affect students (mainly L1 learners) performance,
    however, in practice, the effects of linguistic
    modifications on test performance on EAL learners
    appear much more complex, interacting with
    students language abilities, type of items and
    subject areas, etc.
  • (b) Using L1, or dual-language or side-by-side
    bilingual tests, e.g.
  • Duncan et al. (2005) and Abedi et al. (2006) both
    found dual-language maths tests did not affect
    performance, though preferred by test takers
    (Duncan et al. 2005).
  • Eisemon et al. (1993) the language of
    assessment, French or Kirundi, profoundly
    influenced the measurement of achievement in most
    subjects tested. And the most able students were
    most affected by being measured through French.
  • 7. Social and political impacts
  • The opportunity to use examinations as a lever
    for change (Kellaghan Greaney 1992, 2004) in
    monitoring and improving education quality in SSA
    are often missed, misused or even abused, leading
    to a serious waste of scarce educational
    resources (Kellaghan Greaney 2004 13), and
  • rather seriously, raises issues of social and
    individual inequality with discrimination
    against minorities, rural populations, girls,
    and students whose first language differs from
    that of the examination (ibid. 7)
  • and raises at least three questions in relation
    to educational policies
  • Whether the problems of underachievement are
    related to a language of instruction that is
    different from the students home language as
    well as their teachers?
  • Whose language(s) should be used as a medium of
    instruction to meet the targets of quality
    Education for All?
  • Which language(s) should be used for formal and
    high stakes examinations?
  • 4. Examples of test items
  • Maths
  • Calculate the lateral angles in the figure below.
  • Given that a2-b2(ab)(a-b). Evaluate
    (204)2-(196)2
  • In a certain hotel of 30 customers, 17 enjoy
    Cocacola, 19 enjoy Fanta and 2 dont enjoy
    either. Fill in the venn diagram below and use it
    to find how many enjoy i) Cocacola only, ii)
    Fanta only and iii) both Cocacola and Fanta?
  • 4. The combined ages of Juma and Asha are 10
    years. The difference of Ashas age from twice
    Jumas age is 8 years. Find the ages of each one.
  • Chemistry
  • Name the process that could be used to obtain the
    named compound in the following mixture a)
    coconut oil from water, b) iodine and sand, c)
    salt from salt solution
  • Biology
  • Give a brief explanation on what will happen on
    the following A locust not suffocating when its
    head is immersed in water while the remaining
    part of body is outside.
  • 1.2 Context
  • NCLB Act of 2001 (USA) and Every Child Matters
    green paper (2003, UK)
  • World Declaration on Education for All and
    Framework for Action (UNESCO, 1990)
  • For students in SSA, English is an exoglossic
    language and their teachers are learners of
    English too and are not necessarily competent
    users of English.
  • that poor countries often operate expensive and
    often complex language policies, whereas rich
    countries usually operate simple and relatively
    cheap language policies . (Williams 20061987)
  • 2. Focus of Study 1
  • What evidence is there that language of
    examination constitutes a determining factor in
    the demonstration of subject knowledge of
    students whose first language differs from the
    language of examination
  • What assessment accommodations (including
    linguistic accommodations) are capable of
    addressing such linguistic unfairness in
    examinations?
  • What are the social and political impact of
    language of examination in Sub-Saharan African
    contexts?
  • 8. Some conclusions on the use of assessment
    accommodations
  • There are significant conceptual, methodological
    and political challenges of applying
    accommodations in a reliable, valid and feasible
    manner.
  • The inconsistency of research findings may be
    partly due to the complex nature and the
    interactions of accommodations with numerous
    other factors such as subject areas, student
    characteristics and the ways in which
    accommodations are implemented.
  • It is crucial to look beyond accommodations to
    analyze the impact of instruction-embedded
    factors and the ways in which learners
    examination performance may be shaped by the
    nature of language use in teaching and learning
    in order to gain better understandings of the
    interrelationships between the language of
    assessment and the language of instruction.

Language of examinations
Impacts on society and educational policies
national and international
Impacts on individuals performance and progress
BORA
Students Test performance
Teaching and learning
Interviews with teacher (video) and learners
(audio) on the use of L1 and L2 in science
learning
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