Linguistic Correlates of Proficiency (LCP)

• Published in: Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics pp. 95 - 254
• Main Authors: Cook, Svetlana V, Sweet, Shauna J, Lancaster, Alia, Pandža, Nicholas B, Jackson, Scott R, Pelzl, Eric, Gor, Kira, Doughty, Catherine J
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Georgetown University Press 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Ability; Foreign language instruction; Foreign language learning; Job requirements; Language proficiency; Nonce words; Teaching
• ISBN: 9781626165403; 1626165408

Language proficiency assessment plays an important role in a wide range of contexts related to foreign language learning, from relatively low-stakes evaluation and placement applications to high-stakes applications such as job requirements or eligibility for incentive pay. Proficiency itself is a broad construct, but typically focuses on the idea of functional ability, in the sense that certain levels of proficiency are aligned with the ability to function in certain broad capacities in the language. Three commonly used functional proficiency scales include the Interagency Language Roundtable? (ILR) scale, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale, and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) scale. Results from the analysis of accuracy and RT complement one another to provide a more complete picture of L2 learners developing proficiency. Models of accuracy suggest that as their proficiency increases, learners are more likely to recognize real words and correctly reject nonce words with control phonemes. However, results also suggest that higher proficiency learners are no more likely than their peers to accurately discriminate between confusable phonemes in nonce word targets.