This study applied the latest developments in language testing validation theory to derive a core body of evidence that can contribute to the validation of a large-scale, high-stakes English as a Foreign Language (EFL) testing program in Japan. The testing program consists of a set of seven level-specific tests targeting different levels of proficiency. This core aspect of the program was selected as the main focus of this study. The socio-cognitive model of language test development and validation provided a coherent framework for the collection, analysis and interpretation of evidence. Three research questions targeted core elements of a validity argument identified in the literature on the socio-cognitive model. RQ 1 investigated the criterial contextual and cognitive features of tasks at different levels of proficiency, Expert judgment and automated analysis tools were used to analyze a large bank of items administered in operational tests across multiple years. RQ 2 addressed empirical item difficulty across the seven levels of proficiency. An innovative approach to vertical scaling was used to place previously administered items from all levels onto a single Rasch-based difficulty scale. RQ 3 used multiple standard-setting methods to investigate whether the seven levels could be meaningfully related to an external proficiency framework. In addition, the study identified three subsidiary goals: firstly, toevaluate the efficacy of applying international standards of best practice to a local context: secondly, to critically evaluate the model of validation; and thirdly, to generate insights directly applicable to operational quality assurance. The study provides evidence across all three research questions to support the claim that the seven levels in the program are distinct. At the same time, the results provide insights into how to strengthen explicit task specification to improve consistency across levels. This study is the largest application of the socio-cognitive model in terms of the amount of operational data analyzed, and thus makes a significant contribution to the ongoing study of validity theory in the context of language testing. While the study demonstrates the efficacy of the socio-cognitive model selected to drive the research design, it also provides recommendations for further refining the model, with implications for the theory and practice of language testing validation.

Abstract Since 2005, it has been government policy in Taiwan to introduce English in Grade 3 of primary schooling (when learners are generally age 9). The overall aim of this research project was to investigate some of the problems associated with the implementation of this policy by combining research involving teacher cognition with research involving the criterion-referenced analysis of a sample of textbooks produced in Taiwan for young learners and a sample of lessons taught in Taiwanese primary schools. A questionnaire-based survey of a sample of teachers of English in Taiwanese primary schools (166 respondents) was conducted, focusing on teacher background and training, views about national and local policies, approaches to course content, methodology and teaching resources, and perceptions of their own proficiency in English and of their own training needs. Only 46 (27%) of the respondents reported that they had a qualification specific to the teaching of English and 41 (25%) reported that they had neither a qualification in teaching English nor a general primary teaching qualification. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of policies relating to the teaching of English at national level (46/ 29%), local level (39/24%) and in their own school (28/17%). Although many reported that the availability of resources (125/ 75%) and/ or student interest (101/ 61%) played a role in determining what they taught, none reported that the national curriculum guidelines did so. Although official policy in Taiwan endorses the use of 'communicative language teaching', only 103 (62%) of respondents reported that their own approach was communicatively-oriented, with 18 (11%) observing that they preferred grammar-translation. A more in-depth survey relating to teacher perception of pre- and in-service training was conducted using a questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Although all 10 participants in this survey are officially classified as being trained to teach English in Taiwanese primary schools, the type and extent of their training varied widely and all of them expressed dissatisfaction with that training, noting that they had no confidence in the trainers' own competence in teaching English to young learners. All claimed that critical issues were either omitted altogether or dealt with in a superficial way. One contextual factor that has a significant impact on teacher performance in Taiwan is the quality of the textbooks that are generally available. A sample of textbooks (3 different series) produced in Taiwan was analysed and evaluated, the analysis revealing that the materials were often poorly organised, inappropriately selected and illustrated, contextually inappropriate. Finally, from a sample of twenty videotaped English lessons taught to students in primary schools in Taiwan, six that were considered to be typical were transcribed, analysed and evaluated in relation to criteria derived from a review of literature on teaching effectiveness. All of these lessons were found to be characterised by problems in a number of areas, including lesson focus, lesson staging, concept introduction, concept checking, and the setting up and conducting activities. It is concluded that the implementation of official policy on the teaching of English in primary schools in Taiwan is fraught with problems, problems that are evident at every stage in the process, from teacher education, through materials design to lesson planning and delivery.

Researchers have explored second language (L2) teachers' knowledge focusing not only on their prior language learning experience, previous L2 teacher education, and teaching practices, but also on specific curricular areas, such as teaching L2 grammar, teaching L2 reading, and teaching L2 writing. This line of research has contributed to L2 teacher education, particularly how to develop an effective knowledge base for teacher candidates. This dissertation was conducted to investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' knowledge of vocabulary instruction. Specifically, employing three qualitative techniques for data collection (i.e., interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recall), the study examined seven Chinese EFL university teachers'knowledge of vocabulary instruction from four dimensions: their beliefs about vocabulary learning, their understandings about vocabulary teaching, the relationship between their knowledge of vocabulary instruction and vocabulary teaching practices, and the sources of their knowledge about vocabulary instruction. The findings of the study indicate that Chinese EFL teachers have well-developed content knowledge of EFL vocabulary. They also have well-established belief systems about how to learn and teach vocabulary. Moreover, their beliefs about vocabulary teaching tend to be consistent with their vocabulary teaching practices though some inconsistencies have been identified as well. It was also found that Chinese EFL teachers¡¯ knowledge of vocabulary instruction is derived from a variety of sources, of which formal EFL education and teaching practices are considered as the two most influential. EFL teachers' individual differences were also identified to impact their beliefs about vocabulary instruction. This dissertation has at least three potential contributions. As one of the first attempts to investigate teacher knowledge of vocabulary instruction in the field of L2 teacher education, this research expands studies on L2 teachers' knowledge base. It also provides information about L2 teachers' knowledge in one less studied context, i.e., Chinese EFL vocabulary teaching. Finally, the use of observations, interviews, and stimulated recall to collect data in this study serves as an impetus for enriching techniques to examine Chinese EFL teacher knowledge.

To understand learners’ beliefs about language learning and strategy use in an EFL exit test environment, this study investigated Taiwanese university students’ language learning beliefs; EFL exit test beliefs; language learning, test-preparation, and test-taking strategies; the relationships among their beliefs and strategy use; and the differences in students’ beliefs and strategy use according to their major, gender, grade level, entrance exam English score, and EFL exit test experience. A total of 518 Taiwanese university students participated in the questionnaire study. Two major instruments were developed and used to measure students’ beliefs and strategy use in the Taiwanese EFL exit test context: (1) the Belief about Language Learning in an EFL Exit test Context (BALLIEETC), and (2) the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning in an EFL Exit test Context (SILLEETC). Analysis of the questionnaire data involved descriptive statistics, factor analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The questionnaire results suggested the following: (1) students believed in the importance of speaking English well, repeating and practicing, learning vocabulary words, acquiring excellent pronunciation, and correcting errors; (2) students primarily used memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, test-preparation, and test-taking strategies to learn English, prepare for the EFL exit test, and take the test; (3) students’ beliefs were associated with their strategy use; (4) English majors had stronger beliefs and higher levels of strategy use than non-English majors; (5) students with higher entrance exam English scores had stronger beliefs and higher levels of strategy use than those of lower scores; (6) college seniors believed more in foreign language aptitude and use test-taking strategies more often than freshmen; (7) students who had taken and passed an EFL exit test had stronger beliefs and higher levels of strategy use than those who had not taken a test. The results of this study support an association between learners’ beliefs and strategy use. Understanding students’ beliefs about language learning and the EFL exit test, as well as their use of language-learning, test-preparation, and test-taking strategies, may enable EFL teachers to help students develop effective language learning, test-preparation, and test-taking strategies and improve their English abilities and EFL exit test performance. The field of second language acquisition may also benefit from insights into students’ beliefs and their use of strategies in an EFL exit test environment. The EFL exit test may affect students’ beliefs about language learning and strategy use, such as their having stronger beliefs about the importance of vocabulary and higher levels of memory strategy use. / text

Språkinlärning är inte alltid problemfri för elever. Ett problem som kan uppstå är språklig ängslan som gör att språkinlärning förknippas med negativa känslor. Språklig ängslan kan påverka elever långt fram i livet och även påverka andra områden om de inte uppmärksammas i tid. Examensarbetet Tysta elever inom engelskundervisning syftar till att undersöka hur lärarna i studien resonerar kring begreppet språklig ängslan, elevers motivation till att prata engelska och hur lärarna tror att elever påverkas av lärarens inställning till ämnet. Undersökningen genomfördes med enkäter som publicerades på internet. Svaren på enkäterna kategoriserades och tolkades för att sedan kopplas till MacIntyres teori -willingness to communicate (WTC). Resultatet av undersökningen visade att även om inte alla lärare kände till begreppet språklig ängslan så hade nästan samtliga upplevt konsekvenserna av denna ängslan. Enligt lärarna är motivation och glädje viktiga komponenter i engelskundervisning och kan locka ängsliga elever till att prata engelska. Att elever påverkas av lärarens inställning till ämnet är något lärarna i studien är överens om. I de fall läraren har dåliga erfarenheter som påverkar inställningen negativt kan denna erfarenhet vändas till något positivt om läraren är medveten om sin inställning och använder den på ett genomtänkt sätt. Fortsatt forskning inom området kan vara att mer utförligt undersöka lärarens roll som motivationshöjare för språkligt ängsliga elever. / <p>Engelska</p>

This study aims to outline, describe, and analyse, using interviews, phenomenology and Marxism, the manner in which EFL teachers in Sweden have experienced the methodological impacts and the ideological implications of the 2011 syllabus reforms. By means of phenomenological reduction, this study aims to accurately represent the life-world of the Swedish EFL professional. Doing so yields insight into the connections between ideology, syllabi, teaching methodologies, and the manner in which these are experienced. The study is based on a text analysis of the 2011 syllabus grounded in Marxist philosophy and four interviews with teachers active in southern Sweden. The design of the interviews was drawn from the phenomenological approach, meaning that the teachers were asked to describe and conceptualise freely. In this manner the phenomena will occur as they are, enabling the researcher to describe without intruding, and extrapolate without interrupting. The interviews revealed the syllabus to be a document with which EFL professionals have little quarrel. Its communicative approach was well-received by the teachers, but by no means overwhelmingly revolutionary. Its openness and interpretative aspects were positive and negative, as it created both freedoms and risks in terms of content and assessment. In ideological terms, the syllabus represented a skill-value relation, where skills and knowledge are subject to criteria of usefulness and marketability within the learners’ future work life.

Many studies show that language learners see the benefits of using their first language in order to learn second or subsequent languages, while they also see some disadvantages. This reflects dominant ideas in language learning about the importance of keeping languages separate. The present study examines translanguaging, a strategy in which learners are encouraged to use their entire linguistic repertoires during language learning. To this aim, data are examined from Swedish learners (n= 168) in grades 7-9 to investigate their attitudes and perceptions towards translanguaging in the EFL classroom, and to shed light on the roles of age and proficiency in constraining them. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire and a proficiency test in order to measure the participants’ proficiency in English. Unlike the mixed views reported in previous studies, the learners investigated here had a positive view of translanguaging and perceived it as beneficial to their learning. Furthermore, the findings suggest that learners often used Swedish for specific functions, especially explaining grammar and vocabulary, clarifying tasks and instructions, comparing the languages and asking questions. This was even more so for low proficiency learners, who used translanguaging more for both practical and social purposes. On the other hand, higher proficiency learners used less Swedish and viewed translanguaging as less helpful. These learners also reported that their teachers used more Swedish in the classroom compared with their less proficient peers. It was also found that learners showed a greater tendency to use translanguaging with increasing age, although this might have been due to differences between teachers and their individual practices. / Många studier visar att elever ser fördelarna med att använda sitt förstaspråk för att lära sig andra eller efterföljande språk, medan de också ser några nackdelar. Detta återspeglar dominerande idéer i språkinlärningen om vikten av att hålla språken åtskilda. I den här studien undersöks transspråkande (translanguaging), en strategi där eleven uppmuntras att använda hela sin språkliga repertoar under språkinlärningen. För detta ändamål undersöks data från svenska elever (n = 168) i årskurs 7-9 för att undersöka deras attityder och uppfattningar kring transspråkande i det EFL-klassrummet och för att belysa hur faktorerna ålder och färdighet påverkar dem. Uppgifterna samlades in med hjälp av en enkät och ett färdighetstest för att mäta deltagarnas färdigheter på engelska. Till skillnad från de blandade åsikter som rapporterats i tidigare studier hade de studenter som undersöktes i denna studien en positiv syn på transspråkande och uppfattade det som fördelaktigt för deras lärande. Dessutom tyder resultaten på att eleverna ofta använde svenska för specifika funktioner; särskilt att förklara grammatik och nya ord, klargöra uppgifter och instruktioner, jämföra språk och ställa frågor. Detta var ännu mer för elever med låg färdighet, som använde transspråkande mer för både praktiska och sociala ändamål. Å andra sidan använde elever med högre kompetens mindre svenska och betraktade transspråkande som mindre användbart. Dessa elever rapporterade också att deras lärare använde mer svenska i klassrummet jämfört med sina kamrater med lägre färdighet. Studien pekar också på att eleverna visade en större tendens att använda transspråkande med ökande ålder, även om detta kan ha berott på skillnader mellan lärare och deras individuella metoder.

Globalization has led to English being the leading language of communication providing opportunities for pupils to develop their English proficiency in different contexts. In this study, teachers’ language choices in the EFL classroom are being observed and the reasons behind them are being discussed during the following interviews. The study aims to increase our understanding of what role the English language as the primary teaching language should have in the EFL classroom at Swedish lower secondary schools to benefit pupils’ language learning in the best way possible. Four teachers, that are teaching at two different lower-secondary schools in southern Sweden participated in the study. In total four classroom observations were conducted followed by four semi-structured teacher interviews. The results found during observations and interviews were then connected to the theories of Language Mode, Translanguaging and Codeswitching. The results of the observations showed a slight difference in the use of English and Swedish during teaching. This study concludes that there is a slight variation in what role the English language has in the four observed classrooms. However, the contexts in which it was used were all coherent. Furthermore, the use of Swedish also showed a slight variation but was explained to be used as a tool for explaining, clarifying and ensuring understanding. Finally, the use of translanguaging practices was believed to have a positive effect on pupils’ learning outcomes although a slight difference was shown here as well.

The aim of this research project was to contribute to the knowledge about the teaching practices taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, by investigating the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in online teaching by five EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers and their experiences of transforming from classroom teaching to online teaching during the pandemic. Furthermore, this study has also investigated how these teachers believe online teaching has affected their students’ English learning. The data was collected by using semi-structured interviews. The data were later analyzed by thematic analyses, and divided into themes, sub-themes and codes. It was concluded that teachers had both positive and negative experiences from teaching online. The fact that the education could be continued from home and that the teachers had improved their teaching practices was frequently expressed in positive opinions. However, the results from the study also revealed that the teachers had mostly negative experiences in terms of the actual process of teaching online, personal feelings, and the effects on students’ English learning. Issues such as technical difficulties, teaching online being time consuming and inhibited interactions are among the negative experiences regarding online teaching. In addition, suggestions have been made on how to improve distance education and how teaching online in the future requires teachers to be educated in how to implement effective ICT tools in their online teaching. / Syftet med denna studie har varit att bidra till kunskap om den undervisning som har skett under COVID-19 pandemin, genom att undersöka användningen av IKT (informations och kommunikations teknik) i den onlineundervisning som bedrivits av fem EFL-lärare (English as a Foreign Language) och deras erfarenheter av övergången från klassrumsundervisning till onlineundervisning. Vidare har denna studie även undersökt hur dessa lärare tror att onlineundervisningen har påverkat elevernas lärande i ämnet engelska. Datan samlades in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Lärarnas svar analyserades senare med hjälp av tematiska analyser och delades in i teman, undertema och koder. Resultatet visade att lärarna hade både positiva och negativa erfarenheter av att undervisa online. Det faktum att eleverna kunde fortsätta sin utbildning hemifrån och att lärarna hade förbättrat sin egen undervisning uttryckets ofta i positiva åsikter. Resultat från studien visade däremot att lärarna hade mest negativa erfarenheter när det gällde den faktiska processen av att undervisa online, personliga känslor, och effekterna onlineundervisning har haft på elevernas lärande i ämnet engelska. Problematik så som tekniska svårigheter, att det var tidskrävande och att interaktionen mellan lärare och elever hämmades tillhör några av de negativa erfarenheter av onlineundervisning som lärarna vittnade om. Denna studie presenterar förslag på hur man kan förbättra distansutbildning och hur fortsatt undervisning online kräver att lärare utbildas i hur man implementerar effektiva IKT-verktyg i sin onlineundervisning.

This qualitative study deals with Chinese middle school teachers' and Swedish upper secondary school teachers' beliefs and practices regarding the use of L1 in the EFL classroom. Through semi-structured interview questions, data were collected from five Chinese teachers and five Swedish teachers. The interviews with the Chinese teachers were conducted by the researcher on a one-to-one basis, while five Swedish teachers were asked to answer the same questions via email. The results of this study showed that there were both differences and similarities between the two groups of teachers. The Swedish teachers had a fairly negative view regarding the usage of L1 in the EFL classroom and most of them claimed that the only time they codeswitched was when giving individual feedback, when making direct comparisons to the Swedish language or when the class got out of hand. Most of the five Chinese teachers deemed target language exclusivity not logically feasible and codeswitched mostly with the students' comprehension in mind. The findings mostly agreed with previous research. / Denna kvalitativa studie handlar om kinesiska högstadielärares och svenska gymnasielärares åsikter och bruk när det gäller användningen av moderspråket i engelskundervisningen. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samlades data in från fem kinesiska lärare. Intervjuerna med de kinesiska lärarna genomfördes, en i taget. Fem svenska engelsklärare ombads att svara på samma frågor via epost. Resultaten av denna studie visade både skillnader och likheter i åsikter och bruk hos de tio lärarna. De svenska engelsklärarna hade en ganska negativ syn på användningen av modersmålet i engelskunderviningen och kodväxlade mestadels när de gav individuell feedback, när de gjorde direkta jämförelser med det svenska språket och när de förlorade kontrollen över klassen. De flesta av de fem kinesiska lärarna ansåg att exklusiv användning av målspråket inte var logiskt rimligt med tanke på elevernas förståelse. Resultaten stämde mestadels överens med tidigare forskning.