Papers by Viphavee Vongpumivitch
Previous studies have shown that web-based concordancing is advantageous for tertiary-level learn... more Previous studies have shown that web-based concordancing is advantageous for tertiary-level learners or above in improving their vocabulary knowledge and writing skills; however, its effects on primary school students are less well known as relatively little research has been conducted for this particular age group. Therefore, In the present study, a Chinese-English concordancer specifically designed for Taiwanese primary school students was developed with a corpus taken from sentences modeling their English textbooks. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of web-based concordancing on children's vocabulary learning. In order to observe the development of vocabulary knowledge, one of the longitudinal designs, the time-series design (Mellow, Reeder, & Forster, 1996), was adopted for 28 weeks long. In the study, seven fifth graders in an intact class were required to provide the word meanings, usage of the target words and produce sentences with the words before, during, and after the concordancing consultation as the treatment. Measurements included vocabulary tests, a background questionnaire, and a final interview about students' perceptions about the concordancing learning. The results displayed that the young participants significantly improved their knowledge of the target words immediately after using the concordancing, but regressed a bit at the end of the study. In addition, the students also indicated the aspects they favored as well as the troubles they encountered during the concordancing learning. Finally, pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are also provided.
This paper is a review of studies on the assessment of speaking ability conducted by Taiwanese re... more This paper is a review of studies on the assessment of speaking ability conducted by Taiwanese researchers that were published between January 2001 and July 2006. Papers written by Taiwanese scholars that have been published in international and domestic journals as well as proceedings of conferences held in Taiwan are summarized. Based on a review of eighteen papers, it seems one of the main research focuses has been on the difficulty of speaking test tasks. Other topics that have been addressed are pausing pattern, self-assessment of speaking ability, and the use of technology to assess speaking. The paper presents a critical analysis of the existing studies and calls for more research into other aspects of speaking assessment such as diagnostic testing, strategies used in speaking tests, and portfolio testing of speaking. The paper also identifies seven additional topics in speaking assessment research that remain unexplored in Taiwan. Finally, the paper argues for the need for Taiwanese researchers to submit their works to peer-reviewed journals in order to facilitate wider access to the knowledge base that has already been established in this country.
Language Assessment Quarterly, 2012
English-as-a-Foreign-Language Assessment in Taiwan This special issue is about English-as-a-forei... more English-as-a-Foreign-Language Assessment in Taiwan This special issue is about English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) assessment in Taiwan, an oceanic nation located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. Taiwan is a small country with a complex history, linguistic background, and socio-political situation, all of which are related to the important role that English plays in Taiwan today. Thus, some background information about Taiwan is provided here so that the international readership can obtain a better understanding of the rationale behind the articles presented in this issue. Taiwan, or the Republic of China, comprises the main island of Taiwan and the archipelagoes of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, along with a number of small islands. First settled by Austronesian people thousands of years ago, the main island of Taiwan was believed to be mentioned in ancient Chinese history as early as the 3rd century and referred to as "Ilha Formosa" by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Throughout its history, Taiwan has been governed by many groups of settlers, namely, the Dutch in the 17th century, the Chinese through Koxinga and the Qing Dynasty from the 17th century to the 19th century, the Japanese at the end of 19th century up until the 1940s, and back to the Chinese again after the Nationalist Party ("Kuomingtang") moved from mainland China to Taiwan in the 1940s. By 2010, of the population of 23 million in Taiwan, 95% are Han Chinese, with a small percentage of Taiwanese aboriginals remaining (The Republic of China Yearbook, 2010). In recent years, the Taiwanese population has also included immigrants from different countries, especially South East Asians who come to marry Taiwanese citizens or for job opportunities. Within the larger group of Han Chinese, the majority speak Southern Min (also known as "Taiwanese Hokkien," or "Hoklo"), whereas the rest speak Hakka and other Chinese dialects. For all Taiwanese, Mandarin, referred to as "guoyu" (literally meaning "national language"), has been the official language since the Nationalist government took control. It is used at every level of education and as lingua franca among the various linguistic groups in Taiwan. In the decades following World War II, Taiwan's rapid economic growth has transformed it into an industrialized developed country and one of the "Four Asian Tigers" (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan). Ever since the "Taiwan Miracle" in the 1980s, the Taiwanese advanced technology industry has played a key role in the global economy, because a large portion of the world's consumer electronics parts are made by Taiwanese companies. As a result, it is not surprising to see that more and more young Taiwanese put serious effort into
The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, Nov 5, 2012
As time is an important variable in second language acquisition (SLA), longitudinal studies play ... more As time is an important variable in second language acquisition (SLA), longitudinal studies play a crucial role in research. Keywords: 21st century; CALL; esl/efl; corpus; language learning technology; vocabulary
Language Assessment Quarterly, 2012
The General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) was developed in accordance with the Taiwanese Minist... more The General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) was developed in accordance with the Taiwanese Ministry of Education's three goals to improve learners' English proficiency, motivate English learning, and promote lifelong learning. This article used questionnaires to investigate the success of the GEPT in meeting these goals. As the GEPT is intended for Taiwanese English as a foreign language, learners from all walks of life (Wu, 2012), both student and non-student GEPT test takers were involved in this study (n = 384). Results showed that although most test takers responded that the GEPT was successful in making them feel that their English has improved, only a slight majority responded that the GEPT was successful in motivating them to learn English. Most test takers did not support the idea that the GEPT was successful in promoting lifelong learning. Probit regression was used to examine the relationships between these verdicts and variables such as test takers' background, motivational influences, feeling toward the GEPT, perceptions toward self-assessment, learner autonomy, and capacities for lifelong learning. Based on the findings, the article argues for a unique place of the GEPT in the Taiwanese context and reflects on the use of tests to promote lifelong learning of a foreign language.
Frontiers in Psychology
Idioms have been recognized to be commonly adopted by academic practitioners in their speech and ... more Idioms have been recognized to be commonly adopted by academic practitioners in their speech and writing. However, despite their common occurrence in English communication, idioms pose great challenges for non-native English speakers, as they are often ignored in English classrooms. Particularly in Vietnam, a minimal number of idioms appear in English textbooks published by the Ministry of Education, and teachers appeared to under-emphasize English idioms’ usefulness in conversation. To fill the gap, the present study adopted YouTube for Vietnamese students to undertake supplementary learning of English idiom knowledge. The study recruited 34 students and randomly assigned them to a control group and an experimental group. Both groups were required to take notes during their watching. Yet, only the experimental group would take extra exercises at the end of their watching. Immediate post-tests, delayed post-tests, and a survey were conducted. The findings demonstrate that the studen...
Although it is essential to the validity of writing test scores that raters are trained rigorousl... more Although it is essential to the validity of writing test scores that raters are trained rigorously This study investigates the rating procedures applied by nine classroom teachers who rated two sets of eight compositions in two sessions, not realizing that half of the papers in the second round were repeated. Think-aloud data were provided with two repeated papers. Results indicated that despite a training session that they normally would not receive, the teachers' ratings have very low intra-and inter-rater reliability. Generalizability analysis shows low correlations between the five constructs on the analytical rating scale, with the largest error variance for content and organization. Verbal protocols reveal that the teachers implemented their understanding of the criteria in vastly different ways due to their experience, personalities, and, sometimes, personal agendas. Although the teachers agree that more rater quality control studies should be conducted, it is questionab...
Previous studies have shown that web-based concordancing is advantageous for tertiary-level learn... more Previous studies have shown that web-based concordancing is advantageous for tertiary-level learners or above in improving their vocabulary knowledge and writing skills; however, its effects on primary school students are less well known as relatively little research has been conducted for this particular age group. Therefore, In the present study, a Chinese-English concordancer specifically designed for Taiwanese primary school students was developed with a corpus taken from sentences modeling their English textbooks. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of web-based concordancing on children's vocabulary learning. In order to observe the development of vocabulary knowledge, one of the longitudinal designs, the time-series design (Mellow, Reeder, & Forster, 1996), was adopted for 28 weeks long. In the study, seven fifth graders in an intact class were required to provide the word meanings, usage of the target words and produce sentences with the words before, dur...
PROFILE For more than 20 years, J. Charles Alderson has been an internationally respected scholar... more PROFILE For more than 20 years, J. Charles Alderson has been an internationally respected scholar in language testing. He has published research in a wide variety of areas, including reading assessment, test development, test validation, test impact (washback), computer-based testing, English for specific purposes testing, the effect of background knowledge on student performance, and the relationship between language testing and second language acquisition theory. His most recent book,
Issues in Applied Linguistics, 2001
Issues in Applied Linguistics, Jun 30, 2001
This paper is a review of studies on the assessment of speaking ability conducted by Taiwanese re... more This paper is a review of studies on the assessment of speaking ability conducted by Taiwanese researchers that were published between January 2001 and July 2006. Papers written by Taiwanese scholars that have been published in international and domestic journals as well as proceedings of conferences held in Taiwan are summarized. Based on a review of eighteen papers, it seems one of the main research focuses has been on the difficulty of speaking test tasks. Other topics that have been addressed are pausing pattern, self-assessment of speaking ability, and the use of technology to assess speaking. The paper presents a critical analysis of the existing studies and calls for more research into other aspects of speaking assessment such as diagnostic testing, strategies used in speaking tests, and portfolio testing of speaking. The paper also identifies seven additional topics in speaking assessment research that remain unexplored in Taiwan. Finally, the paper argues for the need for T...
Although it is essential to the validity of writing test scores that raters are trained rigorousl... more Although it is essential to the validity of writing test scores that raters are trained rigorously (Lumley, 2002; Weigle, 1994, 1998), in reality rater trainings vary depending on resources and practicality. At a large Canadian university, the ESL program does not have the resources to train teachers to be familiar with its 5-category analytical scale used in rating classroom compositions. Yet, contrary to a common understanding that classroom-based exams are low-stakes, these writing exams are of absolute high stakes for students because failure in ESL courses may prevent one from graduation. Therefore, it is undeniable that the rating scores should be valid and fair. This study investigates the rating procedures applied by nine classroom teachers who rated two sets of eight compositions in two sessions, not realizing that half of the papers in the second round were repeated. Think-aloud data were provided with two repeated papers. Results indicated that despite a training session ...
Issues in Applied Linguistics, Jun 30, 2001
English For Specific Purposes, 2009
This study is a corpus-based lexical study that aims to explore the use of words in Coxhead’s (20... more This study is a corpus-based lexical study that aims to explore the use of words in Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) in journal articles in the field of applied linguistics. A 1.5 million-word corpus called the Applied Linguistics Research Articles Corpus (ALC) was created for this study. The corpus consists of 200 research articles that have been published in
Issues in Applied Linguistics, Jun 30, 2001
The following section contains interviews with noted language testing experts Charles Alderson an... more The following section contains interviews with noted language testing experts Charles Alderson and Dorry Kenyon, whom we had the chance to interview during the Fourth Annual Southern California Association for Language Assessment Research (SCALAR) Conference held in Los Angeles on May 11-12, 2001. The theme of the conference was "Foreign Language Assessment at School and College Levels," an area in which both Alderson and Kenyon have much experience and insight. They provide complementary perspectives on issues in language testing because of their varied backgrounds, research interests, and the different test development and research projects with which they have been involved. Alderson, an applied linguist by training, is a professor of applied linguistics at Lancaster University. He has done a great deal of work on both theoretical and Issues in Applied Linguistics
The Companion to Language Assessment, 2013
The Companion to Language Assessment, 2013
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Papers by Viphavee Vongpumivitch