The Interplay of Task Characteristics, Linguistic Complexity, and Language Proficiency in High‐Stakes English as a Foreign Language Writing

IF 3 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Tesol Quarterly Pub Date : 2023-08-10 DOI:10.1002/tesq.3254

Anja Riemenschneider, Zarah Weiß, Pauline Schröter, Walt Detmar Meurers

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The linguistic characteristics of text productions depend on various factors, including individual language proficiency as well as the tasks used to elicit the production. To date, little attention has been paid to whether some writing tasks are more suitable than others to represent and differentiate students' proficiency levels. This issue is especially relevant in the context of high‐stakes language examinations. In this study, we investigated task effects in English as a foreign language (EFL) Abitur examinations, the high‐stakes test qualifying for higher education admission in Germany. Based on texts produced by 362 students, we examined (a) if and how student writings differ in their linguistic complexity and (b) if the EFL Abitur tasks are equally suited to differentiate the students' proficiency levels. We used a broad operationalization of linguistic complexity, including measures from various linguistic domains in the computational analysis of the texts. The results of our mixed‐effects models show that student texts differ in their linguistic complexity primarily by the functional needs of the task types employed (summary, analysis, and argumentation). Furthermore, writing tasks that demand high independence in language performance are best suited to differentiate between proficiency levels, which becomes especially evident in vocabulary choice and usage.

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任务特征、语言复杂性和语言熟练程度在作为外语的高风险英语写作中的相互作用

文本生成的语言特征取决于各种因素，包括个人语言熟练程度以及用于引发生成的任务。迄今为止，很少有人关注某些写作任务是否比其他任务更适合代表和区分学生的熟练程度。这个问题在高风险的语言考试中尤为重要。在这项研究中，我们调查了任务效应在英语作为外语考试(EFL)中的作用，这是德国高等教育入学的高风险考试。基于362名学生的文本，我们检查了(a)学生写作在语言复杂性上是否以及如何不同;(b) EFL Abitur任务是否同样适合区分学生的熟练程度。我们使用了语言复杂性的广泛操作化，包括文本计算分析中来自不同语言领域的措施。我们的混合效应模型的结果表明，学生文本在语言复杂性上的差异主要取决于所使用的任务类型(摘要、分析和论证)的功能需求。此外，要求语言表现高度独立的写作任务最适合区分不同的熟练程度，这在词汇的选择和使用上尤为明显。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Tesol Quarterly Multiple-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

6.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： TESOL Quarterly, a professional, refereed journal, was first published in 1967. The Quarterly encourages submission of previously unpublished articles on topics of signiﬁcance to individuals concerned with English language teaching and learning and standard English as a second dialect. As a publication that represents a variety of cross-disciplinary interests, both theoretical and practical, the Quarterly invites manuscripts on a wide range of topics, especially in the following areas: -psychology and sociology of language learning and teaching -issues in research and research methodology -testing and evaluation -professional preparation -curriculum design and development -instructional methods, materials, and techniques -language planning -professional standards Because the Quarterly is committed to publishing manuscripts that contribute to bridging theory and practice in our profession, it particularly welcomes submissions that address the implications and applications of research in, for example, -anthropology -applied and theoretical linguistics -communication education -English education, including reading and writing theory -psycholinguistics -psychology -ﬁrst and second language acquisition -sociolinguistics The Quarterly prefers that all submissions be written in a style that is accessible to a broad readership, including those individuals who may not be familiar with the subject matter. TESOL Quarterly is an international journal. It welcomes submissions from English language contexts around the world.