Title: SPINE
1DFID/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)
- 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