Selected Can-Do Statements and Learning Materials for ATR CALL BRIX: Helping University Students in Japan Improve Their TOEIC Scores

This paper reports on the use of can-do statements (CDS) for the development of learning materials to prepare Japanese university students for the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). These learning materials have been made available on ATR CALL BRIX (http://www.atr-lt.jp/product...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inResearch-publishing.net
Main Authors Ishikawa, Yasushige, Kondo, Mutsumi, Akahane-Yamada, Reiko, Smith, Craig, Hatakeda, Hiroshi, Wada, Norihisa
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published Research-publishing 01.08.2012
Subjects
College Students
Computer Assisted Instruction
Correlation
Courseware
English (Second Language)
Foreign Countries
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructional Materials
Language Tests
Pretests Posttests
Scores
Second Language Instruction
Second Language Learning
Japan
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Summary:This paper reports on the use of can-do statements (CDS) for the development of learning materials to prepare Japanese university students for the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). These learning materials have been made available on ATR CALL BRIX (http://www.atr-lt.jp/products/brix/index.html), a wwwbased courseware with a learning management system (LMS) which contains study logs, achievement rate reports on student-set goals, the identification of students' weak points, and advice on test-taking strategies. CDS, the specific behaviors that an examinee at a certain score level can be expected to be able to perform in English (Chauncey Group International, 2000) have been conventionally used as descriptors to explain test scores to educators and employers who use TOEIC scores to assess the English proficiency levels of students and prospective employees. Official CDS published for the TOEIC 600-score level, and the CDS, at comparable levels, for the Society for Testing English Proficiency test (STEP), and for the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) were used to compile this study's CDS set. The CDS were given to 592 students as a self-report inventory immediately after they took a TOEIC test. The CDS were then used to develop TOEIC learning materials which were trialed in a TOEIC skill-building course for 22 students. According to comparisons of pre- and postcourse TOEIC scores, it was concluded that the use of CDS-based TOEIC learning tasks, which include advice on test-taking strategies, in a www-based course may help students improve their TOEIC scores. [For the complete volume, see ED574893.]