Language Testing: Theoretical Background, Scaling and Employment of an Instrument for the Assessment of Language Proficiency

Author(s):

Christoph Gantefort

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

21. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

SES B6, Pre Conf Parallel Session

Time:

2009-09-25

11:00-12:30

Room:

HG, HS 31

Chair:

Ingrid Gogolin

Contribution

Due to the educational underachievement of many pupils with migratory background in the German school system, the diagnosis of linguistic ressources has increasingly become an important issue in recent years (Ehlich et al. 2005). On the one hand, instruments for the assessment of language proficiency are designed as a help for teachers in providing individual assistance in linguistic development. On the other, these instruments are employed for purposes of evaluating the linguistic status and development of larger groups in the context of evaluational research. In my opinion, identifying text-type-specific linguistic ressources, which can theoretically be understood as a component of a „Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency“(Cummins 2000) is an essential aspect of linguistic diagnosis. It can thus theoretically be assumed that pupils are able to transfer those textual ressources from their first to their second language (Knapp 1997).

Method

The current study presents the construction and scaling of an instrument for evaluating the developmental status of written language in a multilingual context. The instrument was developed in the context of a German program whose intention is to support pupils with migratory background in their language development (FörMig). The redesigned instrument can now help to identify the relationship between different skills within one language: General proficiency of a language, on the one hand, and capability of producing narrative texts, on the other (Gantefort/Roth 2008).

Expected Outcomes

Based on data collected in the context of a bilingual school project the main question to be discussed is, wether the theoretical assumptions for modelling types of linguistic proficiency can be empirically confirmed. Analysing the data of German pupils learning Sorbian as a second or a foreign language two main outcomes can be distinguished: Comparing the stability of bilingualism with regards to the distinguished skills, these pupils show a more balanced bilingualism in narrative skills than in being generally proficient in German and Sorbian. Thus, this phenomenon may be explained with the concept of transferable textual structures. However - as a regression analysis of narrative proficiency in the two languages shows - pupils are not able to benefit from L1-ressources in their second language until they have achieved a certain threshold level of general second language proficiency.

References

Cummins, J. (2000) Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevedon, Great Britain: Multilingual Matters. Ehlich, K. (2005): Anforderungen an Verfahren der regelmäßigen Sprachstandsfeststellung als Grundlage für die frühe und individuelle Sprachförderung von Kindern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund. In Zusammenarbeit mit: Bredel, Ursula/Garme, Birgitta/ Komor, Anna/Krumm Hans-Jürgen/McNamara, Tim/Reich, Hans H./Schnieders, Guido/ Thije, Jan D. ten/van den Bergh, Huub. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (= Bildungsreform, 11). Gantefort, Ch.; Roth, H.-J. (2008) Ein Sturz und seine Folgen: Zur Evaluation von Textkompetenz im narrativen Schreiben mit dem FörMig-Instrument "Tulpenbeet". In: Klinger, T.; Schwippert, K.; Leiblein, B. (Hg.) Evaluation im Modellprogramm FörMig. Planung und Realisierung eines Evalutionskonzepts. FÖRMIG Edition Bd.4, Münster: Waxmann Knapp, W. (1997) Schriftliches Erzählen in der Zweitsprache. Tübingen: Niemeyer

Author Information

Christoph Gantefort

Universität zu Köln

Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät

Köln

Update Modus of this Database

The current conference programme can be browsed in the conference management system (conftool) and, closer to the conference, in the conference app.
This database will be updated with the conference data after ECER.

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance, please use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference and the conference agenda provided in conftool.
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.