Nghe slide - testing listening skill slides

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TESTING LISTENING SKILL
1. Listening construct
2. Listening input and factors affecting
the task difficulty
3. Listening sub-skills
4. Task types
 apprehending linguistic information -
linguistic processing (lower level
processing)
relating the information to a broader
context - application of the results of the
first (macro-comprehension)
(cf. similar distinction by Vanderplank
(1988): following vs understanding)
these processes may be simultaneous
and interacting, rather than sequential
 The bottom-up vs. top-down views (Buck, 2001)
BOTTOM-UP TOP-DOWN
- The process takes place in a
definite order, starting with
the lowest level moving up
to the highest level.
Acoustic input 
phonemes  individual
words  syntactic level 
literal meaning in terms of
the communicative
situation
- This sees language
comprehension as a
process of passing through
a number of consecutive
stages or levels
- The processing of different
types of knowledge does not
occur in a fixed sequence.
Different types of processing
may happen at the same time
or in any convenient order.
Bottom-up:
The smallest units of language are identified
first, and these are 'chained together' to form
the next highest unit and so on.. Meaning
resides within the text, and the derivation of
meaning is the final step in a lengthy process in
which language is translated from one form of
symbolic representation to another.
Brindley and Nunan (1992) p.3
Top down:
Depends on the use of context and
background knowledge to understand
the meaning of the incoming message.
Listeners form hypotheses which they
test out through the selective sampling
of discourse elements. Related to
schema theory, and theories of the role
of frames and scripts.

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 Listening comprehension is the result of an
interaction between a number of information
sources, which include the acoustic input,
different types of linguistic knowledge,
details of the context, and general world
knowledge and so forth, and listeners use
whatever information they have available, or
whatever information seems relevant to help
them interpret what the speaker is saying.
 Types of knowledge used in understanding
spoken language
- In input to the listener
- Applying knowledge of the language
- Using world knowledge
- The context of communication
- Building mental representation of meaning
1. Listening construct
2. Listening input and factors affecting
the task difficulty
3. Listening sub-skills
4. Task types
 Speech rate
Length of passage
Syntactic difficulty
Vocabulary
Discourse structure
Noise level
Accent
Propositional density
Amount of redundancy
Topic familiarity
McNamara, 2012
 Does allowing note-taking make a
difference?
Does allowing question preview make a
difference?
Do visuals aid comprehension?
Do item formats make a difference?
McNamara, 2012
Hale and Courtney (1994)
allow a choice
don’t force
makes no difference
McNamara, 2012

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Sherman (1997)
no effect
though strong preference among
candidates
McNamara, 2012
Gruba 1997, 1999
can mislead as much as can assist
Ginther 2002
visuals that complement content makes
listening easier;
visuals that provide context distract
listener from text, especially lower level
listeners (cf Rubin, 1994)
See also Baltova (1994); Ockey (2007);
Wagner (2007)
McNamara, 2012
Berne 1993: MCQ format
Subjects performed better on MCQs
than on open-ended tasks or cloze tasks
Wu 1998: MCQ format vs other formats
disadvantages weaker students
allows uninformed guessing
McNamara, 2012
 Speech rate
Length of passage
Syntactic difficulty
Vocabulary
Discourse structure
Noise level
Accent
Propositional density
Amount of redundancy
Topic familiarity
McNamara, 2012
 The study also considered task factors.
Which task factors were included in the
study?
The main effects at the overall test level on
listening difficulty of the variables studied
are reported in Table 3. What does this
table show?
Brindley & Slatyer go on to argue that these
main effects are misleading. What do they
mean by that? Give two examples from their
more detailed analysis of the impact of the
variables at the individual item level.
McNamara, 2012
 Compared performance on different
versions of the ‘same’ input material
Varied features of the input - speed, text
type,input source
Varied features of the task - number of
hearings, item format (completing a
table, short answer questions)
McNamara, 2012

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 Two of the variables studied appeared
to have an overall impact on difficulty:
Information transfer format easier than
sentence completion format (30% easier)
Faster speech rate was more difficult (30%
harder)
BUT
Interaction of many variables at
individual item level made this hard to
interpret
McNamara, 2012
1. Listening construct
2. Listening input and factors affecting
the task difficulty
3. Listening sub-skills
4. Task types
 Listening comprehension is a complex,
multidimensional process
 Many of the components are crucial in
listening, but no evidence that any of
these taxonomies constitute a complete
unified description of the listening
process

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1. Listening construct
2. Listening input and factors affecting
the task difficulty
3. Listening sub-skills
4. Task types
 It is possible to identify and isolate the
separate bits, or elements, of language –
the units of linguistic knowledge – and
test each one of these separately

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 Reduced redundancy
- Noise tests
- Listening cloze
 Gap-fill techniques
- Gap-filling on summaries
 Dictation
 Statement evaluation
 Translation

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 Authentic texts
 Providing a communicative purpose
 Authentic tasks

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 Short-answer questions
 Multiple – choice questions
 True/false questions
 Inference questions
 Multiple-choice questions
- All items ought to be pre-tested before
being used
- Complex and unpredictable
 Construct each item to assess a single written objective
 Base each item on a specific problem stated clearly in the
stem
 Include as much of the item as possible in the stem, but
do not include irrelevant material
 state the stem in positive form
 Word the alternatives clearly and concisely
 Keep the alternatives mutually exclusive
 Keep the alternatives homogeneous in content
Keep the alternatives free from clues as to which response
is correct (parallel form, equal length, key words, etc.)
 Avoid the alternatives “all of the above” or “none of the
above”
 Include one and only one correct or clearly best answer in
each item
Present the answer in each of the alternative positions
approximately an equal number of times, in a random
order
Lay out the items in a clear and consistent manner
 Use proper grammar, punctuation, and
spelling
 Avoid using unnecessarily difficult
vocabulary
 Analyze the effectiveness of each item
after each administration of the test
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