Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-143). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29628

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

No description available.

Despite the widespread adoption of task-based language teaching in English as a foreign/second language (EF/SL), task difficulty has continued to be a controversial issue in task-based assessment. This research explores how feasible it is to implement a task-based approach to testing within the existing Chinese National English Curriculum (CNEC). The central problem that the study has addressed is how task difficulty can be established through the use of a theoretically-motivated analytic scheme, grounded in contemporary task research. The scheme needs to be able to take a test-task as input, and facilitate rating of the test task on a number of dimensions. / Initially, the scheme proposed by Norris Brown, Hudson, and Yoshioka (1998) was explored for validity and practicality in the Chinese context. Since this scheme did not work very effectively, a new analytic scheme for curriculum-based test-tasks was developed through a series of developmental cycles. At the end of this process, an Input-Processing-Output (IPO) task difficulty matrix was established which provided reliable estimates of rated test-task difficulty at both global and analytic levels. The IPO task difficulty matrix designed and used in the series of studies appears to have adequately distinguished between three levels of difficulty of a CNEC theme. / The research establishes (1) that the difficulty of the tasks can be used to sequence effectively both for testing and for teaching; (2) the methods by which the principles of task selection and task difficulty can be used with a wider range of test generators and test users, and (3) that rated task difficulty connects with objective measures of performance as well as conventional ratings of performance. / The scheme provides a practical tool, but also a theoretical perspective on how tasks themselves can be analyzed effectively. The main developmental cycles required experienced and trained ELT professionals to use the analytic rating scheme. A later phase employed less experienced and trained teachers and explored how they could be trained to use the rating scheme. This phase established that the scheme can be used in "non-expert" English language teaching (ELT) situations, provided that there is adequate training. Validity was explored through the use of a range of discourse analysis measures of the writing performance of a number of school-based EFL learners in China. / Luo, Shaoqian. / "October 2007." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3132. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-367). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

It has been proposed that backward inhibition (BI) is a mechanism which facilitates task-switching by suppressing the previous task. One view is that BI is generated in response to conflict between tasks being experienced during task-performance. Across twelve experiments, this thesis investigated this proposition by addressing two questions: What affects the size/presence of BI? and When is BI triggered?: What affects the size/presence of BI? and When is BI triggered? The findings from Chapter 2 suggest that BI is increased when conflict stemming from shared target features is present, and that the expectation, as well as experience, of conflict might increase BI. Chapter 3 suggests that BI is increased when target features are shared (and that no BI is present otherwise), but contrary to previous findings, BI is not increased when response features are shared. Chapter 4 provided indirect support for the view that BI can be present without between-task conflict (i.e., neither shared targets nor responses), and indicated that in such a context BI (at least at item-level) requires trial-by-trial cuing. Chapter 5 indicates that BI is triggered prior to response execution and after the preparation stage of task processing, therefore indicating that either the target processing stage or the response selection stage of task processing are responsible for triggering BI. Together, the results of the experiments in this thesis indicate that BI can be driven by conflict stemming from target sharing. However, there was no evidence that conflict stemming from response sharing drives BI. In addition, the data suggested that BI might be generated by the expectation of conflict and by task preparation. Therefore, BI might be applied in response to conflict at any stage of task processing and the decision to apply BI might be decided in advance of such conflict.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Psych.Org.)--University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.