Student perceptions of TL use in the secondary classroom

Bernadette Brouwers

and

Luc Le

The Assessment of Language Competence

• Annual international certificate program

• Listening and reading comprehension tests

• Multiple choice format

• Six languages – CH, FR, GE, IN, IT, JA

• Three levels – Certificates 1-3

• Some questions in TL at level 2 and 3

Research Methodology

Data

• 2010 ALC student results

• Certificates 2 & 3 listening & reading tests in

Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and

Japanese

• Approx 20, 000 students

• Student survey data

Research Methodology

• Research question

• How does students’ perceived use of the target language in the classroom and school/community environment affect their results on the ALC?

Why is this interesting or useful?

• Queries about nature of language programs

• Expectations about use of TL

• Developments in the national curriculum

• Development of professional standards

• Focus on intercultural language learning

Assumptions

• The purpose of language learning is to be able to communicate proficiently in the target language

• learners learn a language best when they are provided opportunities to use the target language to communicate in a wide range of activities … in meaningful situations … . P 41, ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century

• teacher use of the target language is crucial as it provides the learners’ principal, even only, source of live, scaffolded input … p 7, Crawford in RELC Journal 35:1

Research Methodology

Analysis

• Item calibration using Rasch modelling

• Item discrimination and test reliability index

• Relationship between perceived TL use and

purpose and student performance in ALC tests

ALC student survey

Survey frequency

Certificate Frequency Percent Valid percent

Cumulative percent

Chinese 2 1287 6.5 6.5 6.5

French 2 5476 27.7 27.7 34.2

French 3 2333 11.8 11.8 46.0

German 2 1815 9.2 9.2 55.2

German 3 672 3.4 3.4 58.6

Indonesian 2 853 4.3 4.3 62.9

Italian 2 2333 11.8 11.8 74.7

Italian 3 808 4.1 4.1 78.8

Japanese 2 2701 13.7 13.7 92.4

Japanese 3 1501 7.6 7.6 100.0

Language use local community

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language use teacher in classroom

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language use most students in classroom

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language purpose give information

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language purpose instructions

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language purpose discuss

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language purpose explain

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Language purpose social purposes

• 1 never• 2 sometimes• 3 usually• 4 always

Correlations

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language use

Q1

Q2

Q3

Discussion - listening

• Small but significant correlations

• Strongest languages for community use:– Chinese – French 3– German 3– Italian 2 and 3– Japanese 2 and 3

Correlations

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35 Correlation between Listening and Language purpose

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Discussion - listening

• Small but significant correlations

• Strongest languages for instructional use:– Chinese 2– French 2 and 3 – German 2– Indonesian 2– Italian 2 and 3

Correlations

-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language use

Q1

Q2

Q3

Discussion - reading

• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for community:

– Chinese 2, German 3, Italian 3, Japanese 2, Japanese 3

• Strongest languages for teachers:– Italian 2

• Strongest language for students– French 2

– German 2

– Indonesian 2

Indonesian

French 3

Italian 2

Italian 3

Correlations

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35 Correlation between Reading and Language purpose

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Discussion• Small but significant correlations• Strongest languages for instructions:

French 2, German 2, Indonesian 2, Italian 2, Italian 3,

Japanese 2, Japanese 3

• Strongest languages for discussion:Chinese 2, French 3

• Strongest language for social purposes:German 3

NB No languages showed their strongest correlation for information or explanation purposes

French 2 Chinese 2

German 2 French 3

Indonesian 2 SocialItalian 2 German 3

Italian 3 ExplainJapanese 3 Japanese 2

Limitations

• Data not triangulated

• Teacher background not taken into

account

Summary

• Some variance according to language

• Positive correlation with performance on ALC tests

• Effect greater at Certificate 2 than at Certificate 3

level

• Effect slightly greater for listening than for reading

How can I use this information in my school?

• to stimulate discussion with colleagues

– What are my school’s views/practices on the use of the TL?

– How does the practice in my school reflect the ALC data?

– Do we expose students to authentic interactions optimising the use of the

TL?

– How does the use of the TL relate to our understandings of our own

professional knowledge and practice?

• to review the languages program and look at any underlying

assumptions about the use of the TL