ERIC Number: ED421506
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1998-Apr
Pages: 39
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Development of Program and Individual Student Evaluation Models for Foreign Language in the Elementary School.
Mills, Rollin W.
This study was conducted to evaluate the tests developed by elementary foreign language teachers of French, Japanese, and Spanish in a school district in South Carolina. The tests were designed to determine the level of end-of-year student learning and to provide a basis for evaluating the curriculum of each of the three languages. The French and Spanish tests contained tests of listening and comprehension, vocabulary, and reading, and the Japanese test contained tests of listening, complex listening skills, and vocabulary. The tests were analyzed in terms of item difficulty, high-low discrimination indices, and distributions patterns. The subtests were also analyzed, highlighting the tendency of teacher-made tests toward the measurement of minimal skills. The study provides descriptive statistics for all parts of the tests and the total test results. Analysis indicates that, in general, all three tests had too low a level of difficulty, with few questions to challenge the more able students. These results are a contribution toward the improved design of foreign language tests for elementary school students, for whom foreign language study is still relatively rare. (Contains 9 tables, 30 charts, and 17 references.) (SLD)
Descriptors: Difficulty Level, Elementary Education, French, Japanese, Language Tests, Listening Comprehension Tests, Models, Program Evaluation, Reading Tests, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, Second Language Programs, Spanish, Student Evaluation, Tables (Data), Teacher Made Tests, Test Construction
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A