Comprehensibility in Language Assessment - A Broader Perspective - Parvaneh Tavakoli
Comprehensibility at a Discourse / Text Level
Comprehensibility in Language Assessment - A Broader Perspective - Parvaneh Tavakoli
Parvaneh Tavakoli [+]
University of Reading
View Website
Parvaneh Tavakoli is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading. Parvaneh's main research interest lies in the interface of second language acquisition, language teaching, and language testing. Parvaneh has led several international research projects investigating the effects of task and task design on performance, acquisition, assessment and policy in different contexts. Her research has been published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals and books.
Sheryl Cooke [+]
British Council
Sheryl Cooke is an Assessment Researcher with the British Council Assessment Research Group. Sheryl has 20 years’ experience in various areas of language assessment and her qualifications include an MA Language Testing (Lancaster University) and an MA Linguistics (SOAS). She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), focusing on the assessment of spoken English and the potential implications for English as a Lingua Franca. Her research interests include assessment of speaking, the use of new technologies in language testing and the ethics of language assessment in the global context.
Description
Spoken texts and the features associated with longer turns of monologic speech are the focus of this chapter. These typically include monologues such as presentations or speeches, narration and extended turns that might include characteristics of argumentation or description. Potentially impactful elements identified in the literature (e.g. Isaacs & Trofimovich, 2012) and in research are examined and, as in chapter 2, analysed from three perspectives: a) reported impact on comprehensibility b) how the features are reflected in rating scales c) impact of L1 discourse conventions on comprehensibility