Managıng task-related trouble ın l2 oral profıcıency tests: contrastıng ınteractıon data and rater assessment

Bu çalışma deneysel bir çıkış noktası olarak ikinci dil konuşma testlerindeki etkileşimin doğasını temel almaktadır. Öğrencilerin sözlü yeterlilik testlerindeki performansı ile ‘test konuşması’ yönetimi sosyal uygulaması arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemekteyiz. Temel odak noktamız konuşma çözümlemesi kullanarak öğrecilerin akranlarıyla yürüttükleri test etkileşimlerinde aktiviteye bağlı problemlerle nasıl başa çıktıklarıdır. Öğrencilerin sadece dilbilimsel yeteneklerinin değil ayni zamanda etkileşimsel yeteneklerinin ve kendilerine verilen konuyu ele alışlarının da ölçüldüğünü göz önünde bulundurarak, etkinlik yönetimi üzerine olan vurgumuz ‘test etkinliğine yönelim genel test neticesine derinlemesine bağlıdır’ varsayımından yola çıkmaktadır. Aktivite-ilintili Sorunların (AİS) farklı çeşitlerinin muhtelif test aktivitesi anlayışlarını ortaya çıkardığını ve ‘iyi bir aktivite yöneticisi olabilmenin’ aktiviteye ve test biçimine ölçülü bir yaklaşıma bağlı olduğunu göstermekteyiz. Bu aktivite yönetme stratejilerini uygulayabildiğini gösteren öğrenciler aynı zamanda yüksek derecede yetkin olarak ölçülmüşlerdir, ancak çalışmamızda belirlediğimiz diğer aktivite yönetim stratejileri düşük notlar ile ilişkilendirilmiştir. Fakat, alt-beceri değerlendirmeleri ile görev yönetimi arasındaki ilişki her zaman çok açık olmamıştır. Öğrencilerin gösterdiği farklı test anlayışlarının nasıl değerlendirildiklerinin bir parçası olduğunu ve belirli aktivite yönetim stratejilerinin daha az uygun olarak ölçüldüğünü savunmaktayız. Çalışmamızın sözlü yeterlilik alt-beceri ölçülerinin geçerliğini sağladığına ve öğrenci performansı ve değerlendirmesi ile alakalı sonuçları olduğu için de test görevlerinin tasarlanması konusunu sorguladığına inanmaktayız.

The present study takes as an empirical point of departure the nature of interaction in second language speaking tests. We examine the relationship between ratings of students’ performance in an oral proficiency test and the social practice of conducting ‘test talk’. Using conversation analysis, our focal point is how students in peer- driven test interactions manage trouble related to the task-at-hand. Given that students were assessed not only on their linguistic skills, but also on their interactional ability and treatment of topics assigned, our emphasis on task management stems from a hypothesis that orientation to the test task is intimately connected to overall test outcome. We demonstrate that different types of task-related trouble (TRT) reveal diverse understandings of the test task and that ‘doing-being a successful task manager’ is connected to a moderate orientation to the task and test format. Students displaying such task management strategies were also assessed as highly proficient, whereas other task management strategies identified in our study correlated with low scores and grades. However, the relationship between subskill ratings and task management was not always clear-cut. We argue that the diverging understandings of the test task that learners display become part of how they are assessed and that certain task management strategies are rated less favorably than others. Our study holds promise for the fine-tuning of oral proficiency subskill ratings and raises questions as to the framing of test tasks, since this appears to have implications for student performance and evaluation.

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