Assessing Learners’ Competence in L2 Chinese 二语汉语能力测试


Book Description

Assessing Learners’ Competence in L2 Chinese is the first book intended to answer the question on whether existing standardised and classroom-based assessments can reflect learners’ competence in L2 Chinese. The Chinese language has enjoyed increasing global popularity amongst second/foreign language learners and has become one of the major modern languages for school and university curricula. However, to many teachers and researchers, it has been difficult to answer with confidence whether the existing standardised and classroom tests can reflect learners’ competence in L2 Chinese. This book defines and redefines the constructs for assessing L2 Chinese competence that have been overlooked or misplaced because of the unique features of the Chinese language. The book provides theoretical backgrounds and practical methodologies for assessing competence in L2 Chinese trainees and experienced teachers of Chinese as a second language. It will provide invaluable guidelines and ready-made workshop materials for postgraduate teacher training programmes. Researchers and academics will find innovative frameworks on the subject for further studies and debates.







Chinese as a Second Language Assessment


Book Description

This book brings together 13 original research papers that address emerging issues in the assessment of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) in five major areas, including standards in CSL assessment; development of CSL tests; assessment of diverse knowledge and skills; computer-supported assessment; and CSL assessment in relation to instruction and teachers’ assessment competence. It goes beyond the psychometric testing of Chinese and provides cutting-edge examinations of the interfaces of assessment with sociology of language, acquisition, pedagogy, and modern technologies, as well as teacher education. Given its unique features and broad range of topics, the book offers an intriguing and valuable resource, not only for scholars and researchers but also teacher educators and assessment practitioners who are directly or indirectly involved in CSL assessment.




Developing Writing Competence in L2 Chinese Classrooms


Book Description

This edited volume focuses on writing Chinese as a second language (L2). It provides readers with cutting-edge empirical research and insightful teaching methods and strategies for effectively developing L2 writing competence in L2 Chinese classroom contexts. The themes encompass heritage versus foreign language writers, individual versus collaborative writing, writing as process versus writing as product, writing-focused intervention and written corrective feedback in L2 Chinese classrooms, as well as online writing instruction during and beyond the pandemic. In addition to providing meaningful and innovative contributions for graduate students and researchers who wish to further explore learners’ writing development in L2 Chinese, each chapter offers practical, detailed and insightful pedagogical recommendations to assist language teachers and educators, graduate students and research scholars in making well-informed decisions on writing instruction in L2 Chinese and to facilitate the implementation of writing-focused activities within classrooms.




Chinese as a Second Language Multilinguals’ Speech Competence and Speech Performance


Book Description

This book offers a comprehensive and systematic review of multilingual L2 learners’ spoken Chinese, focusing on the dual dimensions of speech competence and speech performance. Specifically, by adopting a mixed-methods approach, it explores the cognitive, affective, and socio-cultural differences between intermediate and advanced multilingual learners’ L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance. Drawing on a theoretical framework underpinned by the affective filter hypothesis, L2 willingness to communicate model, L2 motivational self-system, and L2 speech production models, this book not only contributes to our theoretical understanding of the roles of various factors in L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance, but also offers practical insights into the implications for both teachers and learners in terms of how to minimize the gap between these two dimensions among L2 Chinese learners. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations of L2 Chinese speech and on future directions for the field.




Pragmatics of Chinese as a Second Language


Book Description

This book brings together a collection of high-quality empirical studies which examine multiple aspects involved in the acquisition, teaching and assessment of pragmatics in Chinese as a second language (L2). The studies collectively address some of the most cutting-edge issues in the field of L2 pragmatics, such as the acquisition of key pragmatic features, methodological innovations in pragmatics assessment, individual difference factors and virtual learning contexts. The majority of the chapters include detailed descriptions of the instruments used and additional material in the appendices, making it a truly valuable collection for researchers and students alike. Furthermore, the publication includes the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of empirical research in L2 Chinese pragmatics published bilingually (in English and Chinese) between 1995 and 2022, along with a supplemental annotated bibliography. While the empirical studies all focus on Chinese as the target language, the issues they address have implications for L2 pragmatics research in general and this book will appeal to those interested in the latest developments in the field.




Assessing Speaking in Context


Book Description

This edited volume investigates the nature and possible applications of an expanded and reconceptualized theoretical construct of speaking as a dynamic socially-constructed endeavour. It addresses both theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures to define and circumscribe the assessment of contextualized speaking. The chapters focus on the complexity brought about by actual interactional competence in speaking tasks and discuss how testing and assessment models and practices can incorporate recent research findings on the inherently dynamic and situated nature of language use. The volume presents research on language assessment in a variety of languages other than English, including French, Chinese and Japanese. It also examines the role that embodied action (gaze, gesture, orientation to materials and texts in the environment) plays in assessment practices, an area that has heretofore remained under-explored. Chapter 6 is free to download as an open access publication. You can access it here: https://zenodo.org/record/5163340#.YQvJ0IhKjcs




The Concise Companion to Language Assessment


Book Description

The Concise Companion to Language Assessment provides a state-of-the-art overview of the crucial areas of language assessment, teaching, and learning. Edited by one of the foremost scholars in the field, The Concise Companion combines newly commissioned articles on innovations in assessment with a selection of chapters from The Companion to Language Assessment, the landmark four-volume reference work first published in 2013. Presented in eight themes, The Concise Companion addresses a broad range of language assessment methods, issues, and contexts. Forty-five chapters cover assessment conceptualization, development, research, and policy, as well as recent changes in language assessment technology, learning-oriented assessment, teacher-based assessment, teacher assessment literacy, plurilingual assessment, assessment for immigration, and more. Exploring the past, present, and future possibilities of the dynamic field, The Concise Companion to Language Assessment: Contains dedicated chapters on listening, speaking, reading writing, vocabulary, pronunciation, intercultural competence, and other language skills Describes fundamental assessment design and scoring guidelines, as well as advanced concepts in scenario-based assessment and automated performance scoring Provides insights on different assessment environments, such as classrooms, universities, employment, immigration, and healthcare Covers various qualitative and quantitative research methods, including introspective methods, classical reliability, and structural equation modeling Discusses the impacts of colonialism and discrimination on the history of language assessment Explores the use of AI in writing evaluation, plagiarism and cheating detection, and other assessment contexts Sure to become a standard text for the next generation of applied linguistics students, The Concise Companion to Language Assessment is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in applied linguistics, language assessment, TESOL, second language acquisition, and language policy.







Crossing Boundaries in Researching, Understanding, and Improving Language Education


Book Description

This volume brings together original papers from language education scholars from around the world to explore, exemplify, and discuss the multiplicity of boundary crossing in language education. It emphasizes the potential of boundary crossing for expansive learning, and aims to generate new insights, through boundary crossing, into the complexity of language education and approaches to innovative practices. This volume also underscores the important role of expert boundary crossers. In particular, it aims to honor G. Richard Tucker, Paul Mellon University Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, celebrating his distinguished scholarship on language education and paying tribute to the inspiration and mentorship he has given to the contributors of this volume to cross boundaries academically and professionally. This volume is organized into four sections, namely, language learning and development; teachers and instructional processes; program innovation, implementation, and evaluation; and language-in-education policy and planning. These sections or themes, which are necessarily cross-cutting, also represent the major areas of scholarship where Prof. Tucker has made distinguished contributions for over half a century.