2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
The development of test specifications based on the CEFR-J reading and listening scales
| Project/Area Number |
16K02976
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| Research Institution | Kanda University of International Studies |
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Principal Investigator |
PARK Siwon 神田外語大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (00458639)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
伊藤 泰子 神田外語大学, 外国語学部, 准教授 (00433681)
杉田 めぐみ 神田外語大学, 外国語学部, 講師 (70366938)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | CEFR-J / L2 reading / L2 listening / Test development |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This year, we developed listening and more reading test items and examined the hierarchical constructs of L2 listening and reading skills depicted in the CEFR-J listening and reading scales. We, with help from test item writers we hired, reviewed the existing reading test items for their linguistic and statistical quality based on the results obtained from multiple test administrations this and last years. Especially, early this year, we completed a set of listening test specifications, and together with a test item writer we hired, we wrote listening scripts and developed test items based on them. The scripts and the items based on them were written using the specifications constructed in line with the CEFR-J listening scales. The scripts and the questions were recorded by four English native speakers, and two sets of audio-recorded listening tests were prepared and administered to over 200 students. We then analyzed the test data and checked their statistical quality and their pertinence to their intended CEFR-J levels in terms of item difficulty. The findings we obtained from the data analyses collected using both reading and listening tests will be presented at an international conference in June 2018.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Overall, the project ran smoothly. The only thing we were not able to achieve last year was holding a seminar by inviting researchers interested in the topic of CEFR and CEFR-J. We decided not to offer this seminar because one of the researchers had to take a leave from work and was not able to be involved in the project for a semester. Also, we thought it was a reasonable decision to postpone the seminar because we could focus more on the completion of the test development and data collection and analyses this year. We plan to hold a symposium (rather than a seminar) in the last project year so that our findings can be fully shared with the participants.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Next year, two full sets of English reading and listening tests will be administered to over 1,000 students at a university located in Chiba, Japan. Each set of reading and listening tests includes common items, and all test items under each skill will be calibrated for their difficulty and their pertinence to the intended CEFR-J scales will be confirmed. With the complete data and the results of the analyses, we will write up a full research report including suggestions to the use and revision of the CEFR-J reading and listening descriptors. We will disseminate our findings with other researchers and educators in the field in the form of a symposium, conference presentations, and publications.
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| Causes of Carryover |
This year, one of the researchers had to take a leave from work and was not able to be involved in the project for a semester. While she was away from the project, she didn’t spend the portion of her budget. Also, we did not offer a seminar to share our research findings this year as we believed it was still premature to talk about what we had found at the seminar. Since there is a plan for a symposium to be held next year, we thought it would be more reasonable to spend the budget for the symposium instead of a small-scale seminar so that we could meet and share our research outcomes with those who share similar research interests.
Therefore, the incurring amount of the budget will be spent for the symposium. Also, we will hire more test script/item writers based on the listening scales and develop one or two more sets of listening tests depending on the budget this year.
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