ERIC Number: EJ1315812
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1543-4303
EISSN: N/A
Towards Improved Assessment of L2 Collocation Knowledge
Language Assessment Quarterly, v18 n4 p419-445 2021
Multiple test tasks are available for assessing L2 collocation knowledge. However, few studies have investigated the characteristics of a variety of recognition and recall tasks of collocation simultaneously, and most research on L2 collocations has focused on verb-noun and adjective-noun collocations. This study investigates (1) the relative informativeness of different tasks for assessing L2 collocation knowledge and (2) the effect of collocation type on learners' scores on collocation tasks. Four tasks were developed based on an extensive review of research on L2 collocations: a sentence writing task, fill-in-the-blank task, multiple-choice task, and Yes/No acceptability judgment task. Each task targeted 64 English collocations, including verb-noun, adjective-noun, adverb-adjective, and adverb-verb collocations. Four groups of adult ESL learners representing different levels of academic English literacy (n = 205) completed the tasks. An item response theory analysis showed that the sentence writing and fill-in-the-blank-tasks had similar difficulty and discriminating power, the eight-option multiple-choice task had the highest discriminating power, and the Yes/No judgment task had the lowest difficulty and discriminating power. The type of collocation did not have a significant effect on learners' scores when collocation frequency was held constant, regardless of task and learners' level of academic English literacy.
Descriptors: Phrase Structure, Second Language Learning, Language Tests, Recall (Psychology), Recognition (Psychology), Verbs, Nouns, Scores, English (Second Language), Task Analysis, Multiple Choice Tests, Academic Language, Second Language Instruction, Difficulty Level, Item Analysis, Language Proficiency, Test Format, Decision Making, Mandarin Chinese, Native Language, College Students, Vocabulary Skills, Item Response Theory, Computer Assisted Testing
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Test of English as a Foreign Language
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A