Student perceptions of TL use in the secondary classroom
Bernadette Brouwers
and
Luc Le
The Assessment of Language Competence
• Annual international certificate program
• Listening and reading comprehension tests
• Multiple choice format
• Six languages – CH, FR, GE, IN, IT, JA
• Three levels – Certificates 1-3
• Some questions in TL at level 2 and 3
Research Methodology
Data
• 2010 ALC student results
• Certificates 2 & 3 listening & reading tests in
Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and
Japanese
• Approx 20, 000 students
• Student survey data
Research Methodology
• Research question
• How does students’ perceived use of the target language in the classroom and school/community environment affect their results on the ALC?
Why is this interesting or useful?
• Queries about nature of language programs
• Expectations about use of TL
• Developments in the national curriculum
• Development of professional standards
• Focus on intercultural language learning
Assumptions
• The purpose of language learning is to be able to communicate proficiently in the target language
• learners learn a language best when they are provided opportunities to use the target language to communicate in a wide range of activities … in meaningful situations … . P 41, ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century
• teacher use of the target language is crucial as it provides the learners’ principal, even only, source of live, scaffolded input … p 7, Crawford in RELC Journal 35:1
Research Methodology
Analysis
• Item calibration using Rasch modelling
• Item discrimination and test reliability index
• Relationship between perceived TL use and
purpose and student performance in ALC tests
ALC student survey
Survey frequency
Certificate Frequency Percent Valid percent
Cumulative percent
Chinese 2 1287 6.5 6.5 6.5
French 2 5476 27.7 27.7 34.2
French 3 2333 11.8 11.8 46.0
German 2 1815 9.2 9.2 55.2
German 3 672 3.4 3.4 58.6
Indonesian 2 853 4.3 4.3 62.9
Italian 2 2333 11.8 11.8 74.7
Italian 3 808 4.1 4.1 78.8
Japanese 2 2701 13.7 13.7 92.4
Japanese 3 1501 7.6 7.6 100.0
Language use local community
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language use teacher in classroom
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language use most students in classroom
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose give information
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose instructions
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose discuss
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose explain
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Language purpose social purposes
• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language use
Q1
Q2
Q3
Discussion - listening
• Small but significant correlations
• Strongest languages for community use:– Chinese – French 3– German 3– Italian 2 and 3– Japanese 2 and 3
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language purpose
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Discussion - listening
• Small but significant correlations
• Strongest languages for instructional use:– Chinese 2– French 2 and 3 – German 2– Indonesian 2– Italian 2 and 3
Correlations
-0.10
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language use
Q1
Q2
Q3
Discussion - reading
• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for community:
– Chinese 2, German 3, Italian 3, Japanese 2, Japanese 3
• Strongest languages for teachers:– Italian 2
• Strongest language for students– French 2
– German 2
– Indonesian 2
Indonesian
French 3
Italian 2
Italian 3
Correlations
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language purpose
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Discussion• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for instructions:
French 2, German 2, Indonesian 2, Italian 2, Italian 3,
Japanese 2, Japanese 3
• Strongest languages for discussion:Chinese 2, French 3
• Strongest language for social purposes:German 3
NB No languages showed their strongest correlation for information or explanation purposes
French 2 Chinese 2
German 2 French 3
Indonesian 2 SocialItalian 2 German 3
Italian 3 ExplainJapanese 3 Japanese 2
Limitations
• Data not triangulated
• Teacher background not taken into
account
Summary
• Some variance according to language
• Positive correlation with performance on ALC tests
• Effect greater at Certificate 2 than at Certificate 3
level
• Effect slightly greater for listening than for reading
How can I use this information in my school?
• to stimulate discussion with colleagues
– What are my school’s views/practices on the use of the TL?
– How does the practice in my school reflect the ALC data?
– Do we expose students to authentic interactions optimising the use of the
TL?
– How does the use of the TL relate to our understandings of our own
professional knowledge and practice?
• to review the languages program and look at any underlying
assumptions about the use of the TL
