Elicited Imitation (EI) is an assessment approach that uses sentence imitation tasks to gauge the oral proficiency level of test takers. EI tests have been created for several of the world's languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese, French, and Mandarin. Little research has been conducted for using the EI approach with learners of Russian. This dissertation describes a multi-faceted study that was presented in two journal articles for the creation and analysis of a Russian EI test. The EI test was created for and tested with Russian-speaking missionaries and employees at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, UT. The first article describes the creation of the test and analyzes its ability to predict oral language proficiency by comparing individuals' scores on the EI to their scores on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The test was found to effectively predict an individual's OPI score (R2 = .86). The second article analyzes the difference in person ability estimates and item difficulty measures between items from a general content bank and a religious content bank. The mean score for the content specific items (x̄ = .51) was significantly higher than the mean score for the general test (x̄ = .44, p < 0.001). Additionally, the item difficulties for the religious items were significantly less than the item difficulties for the general items (p < 0.05).

This study is a longitudinal study that investigated the development of English oral proficiency—complexity, accuracy, and fluency—under the pre-task and on-line planning conditions with task repetition among Japanese high school students. This study is unique because it is longitudinal and includes qualitative data. The participants were 15 Japanese high school students whose English proficiency level is categorized as low proficiency. Narrative tasks, post-task questionnaires, journals, and interviews were used in this study. In the narrative tasks, they were asked to describe a four-picture story three times with two minutes planning time, when they were allowed to listen to an ALT (assistant language teacher) tell the story and take notes. They completed a post-task questionnaire and a journal after completing the task. Interviews were conducted two times to further investigate their questionnaire responses and what they wrote in their journal entries. The results showed that low proficiency learners increased oral fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and syntactic accuracy through repeating the same task within a single session, and syntactic complexity and lexical complexity through repeating the same type of task during the academic year. The aural input between the first, second, and third performance can lead them to draw their attention to form-meaning connections, resulting in increased oral performance. In addition, low and intermediate beginners benefited in increasing oral fluency, syntactic complexity, and syntactic accuracy, while high beginners benefited in improving oral fluency and lexical complexity under pre-task and on-line planning conditions with repetition during the academic year. The study suggests that the combined use of pre-task planning, on-line planning, and task repetition have a cumulative effect and can facilitate the development of oral fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and syntactic accuracy for low proficiency high school learns of English. If learners are given the opportunity to plan before and during task performance with repetition, and to make the condition that draws their attention to both form and meaning, it is the most effective strategy to improve oral fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and syntactic accuracy in task-based teaching in the classrooms. / Language Arts

The general areas of research for this study are personality and second language acquisition. The three goals of this study are to (a) develop a personality instrument (the Questionnaire of English Environment Personality [QuEEP]) that accounts for second language influences on personality, and more effectively captures personality than an established personality instrument (the International Personality Item Pool Big Five Factor Markers [IPIP BFFM]), (b) determine if personality changes after studying abroad for a month, and (c) determine if certain personality types are likely to improve oral proficiency when studying abroad. In relation to the study’s first goal, 262-items, using a five-point Likert scale, were created and administered to 287 Japanese university students to measure five personality factors based on the extraversion, emotional stability, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness factors of the Big Five model of personality (McCrae & Costa, 1987). These items were then culled to 50 items by examining their suitability through factor analysis and Rasch analysis. Two 50-item versions of the QuEEP were drawn from the same 262-items, one based on three factor analyses, and the other based on Rasch analysis. Both versions of the QuEEP included 10 items for each of the five personality factors in the Big Five. Both versions of the QuEEP outperformed the IPIP BFFM on four measures of validity, including content validity, structural validity, external validity, and generalizability, while the IPIP BFFM outperformed both versions of the QuEEP on the substantive aspect of construct validity. As a result, it was concluded that the QuEEP, specifically the version derived from the Rasch analysis, was more effective at capturing personality that was influenced by a second language than the IPIP BFFM. In relation to the study’s second goal, the personality for 38 study-abroad students was assessed, through a pre-departure and post-return administration of the QuEEP and IPIP BFFM, to determine if the participants’ personality changed after one month abroad. The results indicated that the personality measures of extraversion and emotional stability increased significantly after one month abroad, as measured by the QuEEP. The IPIP BFFM did not indicate any significant personality changes. In relation to the study’s third goal, the 38 study-abroad students also completed a pre-departure and post-return interview test to determine if certain personality types benefited more from studying abroad in terms of oral proficiency, which included eight measures of fluency, complexity, and accuracy. The results indicated that when the participants were divided into high and low groups for each personality dimension (e.g., a high extraversion and a low extraversion group), the only significant differences between the groups in measures of oral proficiency involved the pauses fluency variable (low QuEEP emotional stability group), the words per second fluency variable (high IPIP BFFM extraversion group), the pauses fluency variable (high IPIP BFFM extraversion group), and the accuracy variable (low IPIP BFFM openness group). After Bonferroni adjustments were conducted, these findings were rendered not significant. However, when analyzed cross-sectionally rather than longitudinally, there were several significant correlations involving the QuEEP pretest and pre-interview test data, most notably between oral proficiency and extraversion and emotional stability. The IPIP BFFM posttest also indicated significant correlations between oral proficiency and agreeableness and openness. The QuEEP posttest and post-interview test data, and the IPIP BFFM pretest and pre-interview test data indicated fewer significant correlations with oral proficiency. / Language Arts

This study deals with the testing and grading of Swedish school leaving students’ oral proficiency in English, and with certain aspects of these students’ linguistic competence. The analyses and results are based on material drawn from an assessment project carried out at Gothenburg University in 1993. The 29 students taking part in the project were interviewed three times by three different interviewers in tests comprising three tasks, similar in structure but different in content. The interviewers were of three categories: school teachers of English, university teachers of English and native speakers of English. The student production was graded on a five-point scale according to a set of rating criteria. The interviewers assigned generally positive but often differing grades to the student performance. The grades were influenced by the students’ ability to communicate and speak with flow, and by gaps in vocabulary and by occurrences of grammatical errors. The students’ use of discourse phenomena and compensatory strategies was also of importance to the grades assigned. Many students were considered to have acceptable intonation and rhythm, but nevertheless an evident Swedish accent. The linguistic features studied comprised the verbal group, vocabulary, discourse markers and pronunciation. Differences could be observed between the members of the interviewer categories regarding the grades they assigned to student production. The school teachers seem to have paid special attention to grammatical accuracy, and the native speakers appear to have had a notion of communicative competence where accuracy plays a less important role. Differences in the grades assigned could also be explained by the order in which the interviews were made, by some students’ hesitant delivery, by the positive or negative effect of various fillers in the students’ speech, and by the interviewing methods used by the interviewers in the tests.

Orientador: Douglas Altamiro Consolo / Banca: José Carlos Paes de Almeida Filho / Banca: Maria Helena Vieira Abrahão / Resumo: O presente estudo, apoiando-se na contribuição das crenças de uma professora de inglês e de seus alunos, envolvidos em contexto de escola pública, objetiva caracterizar o nível de PO dessa docente e o uso da L-alvo na interação verbal (professor-aluno e alunoprofessor) em sua prática de sala de aula, no sentido de (re)definir seu perfil como docente de LI. Estas são questões fundamentais, relacionadas à constatação em pesquisas (PINHEL, 2004; GARCIA, 2001; CONSOLO, 1990) de que grande parte dos professores de LE possui um baixo nível de PO, restrita, na maioria dos casos, à produção oral de alguns comandos na L-alvo, o que pode resultar em um processo de aprendizagem frustrante e deficiente para seus alunos. Dessa forma, esta investigação caracteriza-se como uma pesquisa de bases interacionista e etnográfica, com procedimentos quantitativos, aplicada a um estudo de caso. A professora-participante deste estudo (P) atua na rede pública municipal, tendo 14 anos de prática pedagógica. Os dados analisados sugerem que a visão de linguagem e de ensino e aprendizagem de LI da professora voltada para a forma gramatical, corroborada por fatores sociais adversos presentes no contexto estudado, é coerente com a limitada PO apresentada pela mesma, no teste a que foi submetida e, ainda, com o pouco uso da L-alvo na interação verbal professor-aluno e aluno-professor. Ressalta-se que uma possível mudança relacionada à oralidade provavelmente não ocorrerá, caso a docente em questão não renove suas concepções de linguagem e de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas e não deixe de privilegiar a LM durante as aulas, em detrimento da LI, a qual poderia ser introduzida aos poucos nesse contexto, porém, continuamente, criando-se um ambiente favorável ao ensino de LE. Acredita-se, também, que a valorização do papel do inglês, sobretudo por parte dos alunos, e a busca dessa... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present work, which had as support the beliefs of an English teacher as well as her students', both involved in a public school context, aims at characterizing this teacher's oral proficiency level and the use of the target language during the verbal interaction (teacher-student and student-teacher) in her teaching practice, seeking (re)definition of her profile as an ESL (English as Second Language) teacher. These issues are considered fundamental due to the evidence in many researches (PINHEL, 2004; GARCIA, 2001; CONSOLO, 1990) that the majority of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers have a low level of oral proficiency, restricted, in most cases, to the oral production of some commands in the target language, resulting in a frustrating and inefficient learning process to their students. Thus, this investigation is characterized as a research of ethnographic and interactive analysis traditions, having as well a quantitative focus, and constitutes a case study. The teacher who participated in this study has been teaching in a public school for 14 years. The data collected suggest that this teacher's conception of language and teaching and learning process concerning grammar, strengthened by adverse factors that can be found in the context in question, is coherent to the limited oral proficiency presented by her when submitted to an oral test and to the insufficient use of the target language during the teacher-student and student-teacher verbal interaction. It is relevant to emphasize that a change related to the oral ability will not show results if the teacher in question does not renew her language learning and teaching conceptions, and continues using her mother language to the detriment of the target one which could be introduced little by little in this context, in a continuous way, producing a favorable environment to the teaching of a foreign language... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Orientador: Douglas Altamiro Consolo / Banca: Matilde Virginia Ricardi Scaramucci / Banca: Vera Lúcia Teixeira da Silva / Banca: Solange Aranha / Banca: Suzi Marques Spatti Cavalari / Resumo: Este estudo teve por objetivo analisar a competência lexical na produção oral em inglês como língua estrangeira (ILE) de um grupo de formandos em Letras, tanto em sala de aula como em situações de avaliação. Pretende-se oferecer um panorama da proficiência oral desses futuros professores, com foco no vocabulário, por meio de instrumentos de avaliação da proficiência oral utilizados tanto em situação de sala de aula como em situação de avaliação, para, com base nos resultados da análise do componente lexical, contribuir para o processo de validação dos descritores de vocabulário de um teste de proficiência destinado a professores de ILE, ainda em sua fase de elaboração. Considerando-se que a avaliação de línguas, no domínio da proficiência oral, tem sido amplamente discutida na literatura internacional de Linguística Aplicada, esta pesquisa envolve questões acerca da proficiência necessária para professores de ILE, ingressantes no mercado de trabalho no contexto de ensino e aprendizagem de LE no Brasil. É sabido que o vocabulário se constitui em um dos componentes mais importantes da proficiência em língua estrangeira (STÆR, 2008), no entanto, no que concerne à competência lexical, a maioria dos estudos tem enfocado o conhecimento de vocabulário em vez de seu uso produtivo (HILTON, 2008). Além disso, pouco se sabe sobre a verdadeira relação entre a produção oral de vocabulário e os níveis de proficiência adotados na avaliação de proficiência oral. Diante desta questão, esta pesquisa, realizada em uma universidade estadual paulista, almeja investigar a competência lexical com base na linguagem produzida oralmente tanto em sala de aula como em situações de avaliação. Uma vez que os testes orais dos consagrados exames FCE e IELTS consideram as várias... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The purpose of this study is to discuss the process of assessing vocabulary oral production in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) of students graduating from English Language and Literature BA courses (henceforth Letters courses). It aimed to analyze students‟ oral proficiency based on vocabulary use, in class and in oral test situations, in order to contribute for the validation of the vocabulary descriptors, based on the results from vocabulary analysis of an oral proficiency test which is still being designed and implemented as a test for teachers. Assuming that the assessment of specific language areas within the domain of oral language proficiency has been discussed in a number of studies from the international literature in the field of Applied Linguistics, this research study addresses the issues regarding the proficiency required for pre-service teachers who are preparing to enter the field of ELT in Brazil. In view of vocabulary, assumed as one of the most important components of foreign language proficiency (STÆR, 2008), most studies have focused on vocabulary knowledge rather than on the productive use of vocabulary when it comes to lexical proficiency (HILTON, 2008) and little is known about the actual relationship between vocabulary oral production and speaking proficiency levels. Based on this rationale, this study was carried out in a pre-service teacher education course at a public university in Sao Paulo state and aims at investigating the process of oral production and assessment of the lexical component in class and in oral test situations. Once the oral tests of the high stakes exams FCE and IELTS reflect a view of speaking ability which involves multiple competencies, lexical proficiency was assessed by means of two mock speaking FCE tests, two IELTS mock tests of the speaking... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador: Douglas Altamiro Consolo / Banca: Silvia Matravolgyi Damião / Banca: Suzi Marques Spatti-Cavalari / Resumo: Neste estudo investiga-se a questão da proficiência oral de duas professoras de inglês como língua estrangeira de acordo com o seu desempenho no TEPOLI (Teste de Proficiência Oral em Língua Inglesa). A linguagem das professoras é analisada em termos da precisão gramatical e da metalinguagem por meio da comparação entre a produção oral em contexto pré-serviço e a produção oral em contexto em serviço, ou seja, em contexto de teste e em contexto de sala de aula, respectivamente. Busca-se contribuir para a validação do TEPOLI como instrumento de avaliação da proficiência oral do professor no cenário brasileiro, integrando-se aos demais estudos no escopo desse teste oral e no escopo do EPPLE (Exame de Proficiência para Professores de Língua Estrangeira). O objetivo principal desta investigação é observar se o tipo de metalinguagem produzido no teste oral condiz com o tipo de metalinguagem utilizado em sala de aula pelas professoras. Utiliza-se uma metodologia qualitativa para análise de transcrições do teste e de aulas ministradas pelas professoras-participantes formadas em Licenciatura em Letras de modo a obter-se um recorte do uso da metalinguagem em sala de aula, contexto real de uso da língua-alvo pelo professor de língua estrangeira. A precisão gramatical é analisada devido a sua importância na qualidade da produção oral do professor, cuja fala pode ser vista como a principal fonte de insumo para os alunos em sala de aula. O arcabouço teórico da investigação baseia-se em estudos sobre a avaliação de línguas por testes, os conceitos de proficiência e competência linguístico-comunicativa e competência profissional, o efeito retroativo e a fala do professor. Os resultados desta pesquisa trazem implicações para a segunda tarefa do TEPOLI especificamente, e para os descritores das faixas de proficiência do teste em relação à metalinguagem... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Neste estudo investiga-se a questão da proficiência oral de duas professoras de inglês como língua estrangeira de acordo com o seu desempenho no TEPOLI (Teste de Proficiência Oral em Língua Inglesa). A linguagem das professoras é analisada em termos da precisão gramatical e da metalinguagem por meio da comparação entre a produção oral em contexto pré-serviço e a produção oral em contexto em serviço, ou seja, em contexto de teste e em contexto de sala de aula, respectivamente. Busca-se contribuir para a validação do TEPOLI como instrumento de avaliação da proficiência oral do professor no cenário brasileiro, integrando-se aos demais estudos no escopo desse teste oral e no escopo do EPPLE (Exame de Proficiência para Professores de Língua Estrangeira). O objetivo principal desta investigação é observar se o tipo de metalinguagem produzido no teste oral condiz com o tipo de metalinguagem utilizado em sala de aula pelas professoras. Utiliza-se uma metodologia qualitativa para análise de transcrições do teste e de aulas ministradas pelas professoras-participantes formadas em Licenciatura em Letras de modo a obter-se um recorte do uso da metalinguagem em sala de aula, contexto real de uso da língua-alvo pelo professor de língua estrangeira. A precisão gramatical é analisada devido a sua importância na qualidade da produção oral do professor, cuja fala pode ser vista como a principal fonte de insumo para os alunos em sala de aula. O arcabouço teórico da investigação baseia-se em estudos sobre a avaliação de línguas por testes, os conceitos de proficiência e competência linguístico-comunicativa e competência profissional, o efeito retroativo e a fala do professor. Os resultados desta pesquisa trazem implicações para a segunda tarefa do TEPOLI especificamente, e para os descritores das faixas de proficiência do teste em relação... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This thesis focuses on oral proficiency in French by learners of French at a Swedish high school. The purpose of this work was to try to find out to what extent and in what situations the learners speak in the target language at the time of the teaching. The study was conducted through both a qualitative and a quantitative study. The qualitative study was carried out by observing oral interaction between teacher and students. The quantitative study was conducted through various questions that the students had to answer in a questionnaire. The results from the observation show that the students speak in the target language (French) when the teacher predominantly uses French at the time of teaching. The results also show that when the teacher interacts and puts questions to the students in the target language, the students also respond to the target language. Another thing that the result shows is that the teacher comes with constant encouragement to the students, which motivates the students to talk in the target language. / Detta examensarbete fokuserar på muntlig språkfärdighet i franska hos elever som läser franska vid en svensk högstadieskola. Syftet med det här arbetet var att försöka ta reda i vilken utsträckning och i vilka situationer eleverna pratar på målspråket vid undervisningstillfället. Undersökningen genomfördes genom både en kvalitativ och en kvantitativ studie. Den kvalitativa studien genomfördes genom att observera hur den muntliga interaktionen mellan lärare-elever såg ut. Den kvantitativa studien genomfördes genom olika frågor som eleverna fick svara på i en enkät. Resultatet utifrån den observation som gjordes i samband med denna undersökning visar att eleverna pratar på målspråket (franska) när läraren övervägande använder sig av franska vid undervisningstillfället. I resultatet framgår också att när läraren interagerar och ställer frågor till eleverna på målspråket, så svarar också eleverna på målspråket. Ytterligare en sak som resultatet visar på är att läraren kommer med ständig uppmuntran till eleverna, vilket motiverar eleverna att prata på målspråket.

Teachers of foreign languages typically encourage their students to speak in the target language (TL) often, but due to various factors, this is not always achieved. Some reasons might include insufficient vocabulary, lack of topic knowledge, embarrassment, or simple unwillingness. Much of the existing research observes uses of the TL or native language (L1). The purpose of this study was to examine how often students use the TL in paired interactions and whether that amount has any relationship to the students' oral proficiency at the end of the course. In a SPAN 105 course at Brigham Young University, 27 students participated in this project by recording themselves during six in-class, paired interactions, after which they provided comments via questionnaires. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, with both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data revealed information about the time spent in the TL, as well as the time spent in the L1, and what relationship these variables had with listening comprehension and oral proficiency. The qualitative data exposed emergent findings related to TL/L1 use: helpful tools, effects of task type, pitfalls the students experienced, struggles and benefits of partnering, effects of recording, and student perceptions about the L1. The results of the study indicate a need for teacher strategies to encourage TL use in the classroom.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att utreda vad aktuell forskning säger om undervisningen i muntlig framställning i gymnasieskolan. I studien har tidigare forskning inom området systematiskt samlats in och analyserats. Resultatet visar att muntlig framställning ofta får mycket begränsat undervisningsutrymme i den svenska gymnasieskolan. I svenskämnet tycks den muntliga delen oftast åsidosättas till fördel för skriftliga aktiviteter samt litteraturarbete. Trots att forskning förespråkar systematisk talträning och metakunskap för utveckling av muntlig kommunikativ kompetens, tycks denna typ av undervisning få begränsat utrymme i arbetet med muntliga framställningar. Elever efterfrågar mer undervisning i muntlig framställning samt utvidgad respons och vägledning från lärare. Genom jämförelser med internationella studier kan det konstateras att finns likartad problematik även i andra länder. / <p>Svenska</p>