PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH: "Clozing" the Gap

The present study aims to sensitize SLA researchers to the importance of documenting and controlling for their participants' proficiency in the target language, with the goal of establishing more robust proficiency assessment standards in experimental research. First, this article presents a su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inStudies in second language acquisition Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 339 - 372
Main Author Tremblay, Annie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge University Press 01.09.2011
Subjects
Cloze Procedure
English language learners
French
Item Analysis
Language
Language Proficiency
Language Research
Language Tests
Native languages
Nonnative languages
Reliability
Research methods
Research tools
Researchers
Scores
Second language acquisition
Second Language Learning
Surveys
Test scores
Validity
Words
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Summary:The present study aims to sensitize SLA researchers to the importance of documenting and controlling for their participants' proficiency in the target language, with the goal of establishing more robust proficiency assessment standards in experimental research. First, this article presents a survey of recent (2000-2008) foreign and second-language (L2) acquisition studies that show that such standards have yet to be met. Second, it demonstrates the validity, reliability, and practicality of a cloze (i.e., fill-in-the-blank) test designed to discriminate among L2 learners of French at different proficiency levels. Subject and item analyses are performed on the cloze test scores of 169 L2 learners of French from various language backgrounds. The relationship between these scores and the learners' language background is examined. Cutoff points between proficiency levels are identified in the data. The test then is shared with scholars so that those working with a similar population of L2 learners of French can also use it.
ISSN:0272-2631
1470-1545
DOI:10.1017/S0272263111000015