Problems and SignificanceWhen a foreign student is asked to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language he is asked to demonstrate some knowledge of that language. But the question is "What does it mean to know a language?".Some people say that knowing a language is knowing facts about the language. They deal with different aspects of language at different levels of analysis. Thus, a student who knows a foreign language has to have some knowledge of its morphology, syntax, and lexicon. In other words, in a language there are a number of specific things or facts, the knowledge of which constitutes a particular language.Some of the most widely used tests given to measure proficiency in English are "Test of English as a Foreign Language" (T0EFL), and the "Michigan Examination of Proficiency in English." Both of them use discrete-point items; that is, items which are intended to measure particular facts about the language. These examinations only test what degree of knowledge about the facts of the language the student has.There is growing concern among certain language test designers over the actual validity of this discrete-point approach because of the very difficult problem of identifying precisely many of the complex variables which define the competence of a speaker or listener in any act of communication.PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate performance tests which have been designed to date, and then develop a test where the student is asked to perform in the foreign language rather than give isolated facts about it.Method and MaterialFor this purpose, I worked under the guidance of Dr. Janet Ross and also with those students enrolled in the course "English for Foreign Students" offered in the English Department at Ball State University. The performance test was administered to these students during the Fall Quarter and results were compared with those on Composite Scores on the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency and the Michigan Test of Aural Comprehension.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181095 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Pineda, Adriana |
| Contributors | Ross, Janet |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 59 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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