Criteria and Bias in Native English Teachers’ Assessment of L2 Pragmatic Appropriacy: Content and FACETS Analyses

The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher - Tập 23 Số 3 - Trang 425-434 - 2014
Tajeddin, Zia1, Alemi, Minoo2
1Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
2Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Tóm tắt

Although there are studies on the pragmatic assessment, to date no research has been done on native English raters’ criteria for the assessment of EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. Focusing on this topic, this study pursued two purposes. The first one was to find the criteria for rating the speech act of apology in L2 by native English teachers. The second was to investigate whether there was rater bias in native English teachers’ rating of apology. To this end, 51 native English teachers rated six different pragmatic situations for an apology discourse completion task (DCT) which were accompanied by an L2 learner’s response to each situation. Besides rating, the raters were asked to describe the way they rated the response to each DCT situation. The content analysis of raters’ descriptions revealed five criteria they mostly applied in their rating: expression of apology, situation explanation, repair offer, promise for future, and politeness. FACETS was used to find the rater bias. Results indicated that raters showed different degrees of severity and leniency in their ratings, which contradicts the myth of native speakers being a benchmark in language assessment, including pragmatic assessment.

Tài liệu tham khảo

citation_journal_title=RELC Journal; citation_title=Understanding discrepancies in rater judgement on national-level oral examination tasks; citation_author=HT Ang-Aw, CCM Goh; citation_volume=42; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2011; citation_pages=31-51; citation_doi=10.1177/0033688210390226; citation_id=CR1 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=‘Naïve’ native speakers and judgments of oral proficiency in Spanish; citation_author=D Barnwell; citation_volume=6; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1989; citation_pages=152-163; citation_doi=10.1177/026553228900600203; citation_id=CR2 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=The effect of rater variables in the development of an occupation-specific language performance test; citation_author=A Brown; citation_volume=12; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=1995; citation_pages=1-15; citation_doi=10.1177/026553229501200101; citation_id=CR3 citation_title=Understanding language structure, interaction, and variation; citation_publication_date=2000; citation_id=CR4; citation_author=S Brown; citation_author=S Attardo; citation_publisher=The University of Michigan Press citation_title=Politeness; citation_publication_date=1987; citation_id=CR5; citation_author=P Brown; citation_author=S Levinson; citation_publisher=Cambridge University Press citation_journal_title=Intercultural Pragmatics; citation_title=From ‘sorry very much’ to ‘I’m ever so sorry’: Acquisitional patterns in L2 apologies by Catalan learners of English; citation_author=SM Dalmau, CH Gotor; citation_volume=4; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=2007; citation_pages=287-315; citation_doi=10.1515/IP.2007.014; citation_id=CR6 Du, Y., Wright, B. D., & Brown, W. L. (1996). Differential facet functioning detection in direct writing assessment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York. citation_journal_title=Language Assessment Quarterly; citation_title=Examining rater effects in TestDaF writing and speaking performance assessments: A many-facet Rasch analysis; citation_author=T Eckes; citation_volume=2; citation_issue=3; citation_publication_date=2005; citation_pages=197-221; citation_doi=10.1207/s15434311laq0203_2; citation_id=CR8 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Rater types in writing performance assessments: A classification approach to rater variability; citation_author=T Eckes; citation_volume=25; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=2008; citation_pages=155-185; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532207086780; citation_id=CR9 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Evaluating rater response to an online training program for L2 writing assessment; citation_author=C Elder, G Barkhuizen, U Knock, J Randow; citation_volume=24; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2007; citation_pages=37-64; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532207071511; citation_id=CR10 citation_journal_title=Journal of Educational Measurement; citation_title=Examining rater errors in the assessment of written compositions with a many-faceted Rasch model; citation_author=G Englehard; citation_volume=31; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1994; citation_pages=93-112; citation_doi=10.1111/j.1745-3984.1994.tb00436.x; citation_id=CR11 citation_title=On apologizing; citation_inbook_title=Conversational routine: Explorations in standardized communication situations and prepatterned speech; citation_publication_date=1981; citation_pages=259-271; citation_id=CR12; citation_author=B Fraser; citation_publisher=Mouton citation_journal_title=Modern Language Journal; citation_title=Perceptions of the communicative efforts of American students of Spanish; citation_author=VB Galloway; citation_volume=64; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=1980; citation_pages=428-433; citation_doi=10.1111/j.1540-4781.1980.tb05218.x; citation_id=CR13 citation_journal_title=Language in Society; citation_title=Apologies in New Zealand English; citation_author=J Holmes; citation_volume=19; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1990; citation_pages=155-199; citation_doi=10.1017/S0047404500014366; citation_id=CR14 citation_journal_title=System; citation_title=Teachers’ perceptions of error: The effects of first language and experience; citation_author=K Hyland, E Anan; citation_volume=34; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=2006; citation_pages=509-519; citation_doi=10.1016/j.system.2006.09.001; citation_id=CR15 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=The influence of rater language background on writing performance assessment; citation_author=JS Johnson, GS Lim; citation_volume=26; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=2009; citation_pages=485-505; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532209340186; citation_id=CR16 citation_journal_title=Journal of Pragmatics; citation_title=The semantic and pragmatic analysis of South Korean and Australian English apologetic speech acts; citation_author=H Kim; citation_volume=40; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=2008; citation_pages=257-278; citation_doi=10.1016/j.pragma.2007.11.003; citation_id=CR17 citation_journal_title=Proceedings of Sophia University Linguistic Society; citation_title=Longitudinal study on the development of pragmatic competence in a natural learning context: Perception behind performance; citation_author=S Kondo; citation_volume=12; citation_publication_date=1997; citation_pages=35-54; citation_id=CR18 Kondo, S. (1997b). The development of pragmatic competence by Japanese learners of English in a natural learning context: Longitudinal study on interlanguage apologies, MA Thesis, Sophia University, Graduate School of Language and Linguistics. citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=A FACETS analysis of rater bias in measuring Japanese L2 writing performance; citation_author=K Kondo-Brown; citation_volume=19; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2002; citation_pages=3-31; citation_doi=10.1191/0265532202lt218oa; citation_id=CR20 citation_journal_title=Asia Pacific Education Review; citation_title=Native and non-native rater behavior in grading Korean students’ English essays; citation_author=HK Lee; citation_volume=10; citation_issue=3; citation_publication_date=2009; citation_pages=387-397; citation_doi=10.1007/s12564-009-9030-3; citation_id=CR21 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=The development and maintenance of rating quality in performance writing assessment: A longitudinal study of new and experienced raters; citation_author=GS Lim; citation_volume=28; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=2011; citation_pages=543-560; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532211406422; citation_id=CR22 citation_title=FACETS; citation_publication_date=1996; citation_id=CR23; citation_author=JM Linacre; citation_author=B Wright; citation_publisher=MESA Press citation_journal_title=Reflections on English Language Teaching; citation_title=Assessing EFL learners’ interlanguage pragmatic knowledge: Implications for testers and teachers; citation_author=J Liu; citation_volume=5; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2006; citation_pages=1-22; citation_id=CR24 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Assessment criteria in a large-scale writing test: What do they really mean to the raters?; citation_author=T Lumley; citation_volume=19; citation_issue=3; citation_publication_date=2002; citation_pages=246-276; citation_doi=10.1191/0265532202lt230oa; citation_id=CR25 citation_title=Assessing second language writing: The rater’s perspective; citation_publication_date=2005; citation_id=CR26; citation_author=T Lumley; citation_publisher=Peter Lang citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Rater characteristics and rater bias: Implications for training; citation_author=T Lumley, TF McNamara; citation_volume=12; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=1995; citation_pages=54-71; citation_doi=10.1177/026553229501200104; citation_id=CR27 citation_title=Transfer and proficiency in interlanguage apologizing; citation_inbook_title=Speech acts across cultures; citation_publication_date=1996; citation_pages=155-187; citation_id=CR28; citation_author=N Maeshiba; citation_author=N Yoshinaga; citation_author=G Kasper; citation_author=S Ross; citation_publisher=Mouton de Gruyter McIntyre, P. N. (1993). The importance and effectiveness of moderation training on the reliability of teachers’ assessment of ESL writing samples. MA Thesis, University of Melbourne. citation_title=Measuring second language performance; citation_publication_date=1996; citation_id=CR30; citation_author=TF McNamara; citation_publisher=Longman citation_journal_title=Journal of Hokkaido University of Education at Kushiro; citation_title=Apology is not necessary: An in-depth analysis of my own intercultural and intracultural miscommunication; citation_author=K Nonaka; citation_volume=32; citation_publication_date=2000; citation_pages=155-186; citation_id=CR31 citation_title=Apology: A speech act set; citation_inbook_title=Sociolinguistics and language acquisition; citation_publication_date=1983; citation_pages=18-35; citation_id=CR32; citation_author=E Olshtain; citation_author=AD Cohen; citation_publisher=Newbury House citation_journal_title=System; citation_title=The FCE Speaking test: using rater reports to help interpret test scores; citation_author=M Orr; citation_volume=30; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=2002; citation_pages=143-154; citation_doi=10.1016/S0346-251X(02)00002-7; citation_id=CR33 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=A multi-method analysis of evaluation criteria used to assess the speaking proficiency of graduate student instructors; citation_author=IC Plough, SL Briggs, S Bonn; citation_volume=27; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=2010; citation_pages=235-260; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532209349469; citation_id=CR34 citation_journal_title=Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; citation_title=Why convene rater teams: an investigation of the benefits of anticipated discussion, consensus, and rater motivation; citation_author=SG Roch; citation_volume=104; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2007; citation_pages=14-29; citation_doi=10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.08.003; citation_id=CR35 Roever, C. (2001). A web-based test of interlanguage pragmalinguistic knowledge: Speech acts, routines, and implicatures. Unpublished doctoral Dissertation, University of Hawai‘i, Honolulu, Hawai‘i. citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Rater bias patterns in an EFL writing assessment; citation_author=E Schaefer; citation_volume=25; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=2008; citation_pages=465-493; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532208094273; citation_id=CR37 citation_journal_title=Modern Language Journal; citation_title=The effect of raters’ background and training on the reliability of direct writing tests; citation_author=E Shohamy, CM Gordon, R Kraemer; citation_volume=76; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=1992; citation_pages=27-33; citation_doi=10.1111/j.1540-4781.1992.tb02574.x; citation_id=CR38 Son, M. (2010). Examining rater bias: An evaluation of possible factors influencing elicited imitation ratings. MA project, Brigham Young University. citation_journal_title=Journal of Second Language Writing; citation_title=Do English and ESL faculty differ in evaluating the essays of native English-speaking and ESL students?; citation_author=B Song, I Caruso; citation_volume=5; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1996; citation_pages=163-182; citation_doi=10.1016/S1060-3743(96)90023-5; citation_id=CR40 citation_journal_title=Communication Research; citation_title=A Japan–U.S. comparison of apology styles; citation_author=N Sugimoto; citation_volume=24; citation_issue=4; citation_publication_date=1997; citation_pages=349-370; citation_doi=10.1177/009365097024004002; citation_id=CR41 citation_title=Longitudinal studies in interlanguage pragmatics; citation_inbook_title=Handbook of pragmatics; citation_publication_date=2010; citation_pages=333-361; citation_id=CR42; citation_author=N Taguchi; citation_publisher=Mouton de Gruyter citation_journal_title=Pragmatics; citation_title=Rater variation in the assessment of speech acts; citation_author=N Taguchi; citation_volume=21; citation_issue=3; citation_publication_date=2011; citation_pages=453-471; citation_id=CR43 Weigle, S.C. (1994a). Effects of training on raters of English as a second language compositions: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Effects of training on raters of ESL compositions; citation_author=SC Weigle; citation_volume=11; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1994; citation_pages=197-223; citation_doi=10.1177/026553229401100206; citation_id=CR45 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Using FACETS to model rater training effects; citation_author=SC Weigle; citation_volume=15; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1998; citation_pages=263-287; citation_doi=10.1177/026553229801500205; citation_id=CR46 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Exploring bias analysis as a tool for improving rater consistency in assessing oral interaction; citation_author=G Wigglesworth; citation_volume=10; citation_issue=3; citation_publication_date=1993; citation_pages=305-335; citation_doi=10.1177/026553229301000306; citation_id=CR47 citation_journal_title=Australian Review of Applied Linguistics; citation_title=Patterns of rater behaviour in the assessment of an oral interaction test; citation_author=G Wigglesworth; citation_volume=17; citation_issue=2; citation_publication_date=1994; citation_pages=77-103; citation_id=CR48 citation_title=Investigating interlanguage pragmatic ability; citation_inbook_title=Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing; citation_publication_date=2008; citation_pages=201-223; citation_id=CR49; citation_author=S Yamashita; citation_publisher=Multilingual Matters citation_journal_title=Second Language Studies; citation_title=Rater bias in assessing the pragmatics of KFL learners using facets analysis; citation_author=SJ Youn; citation_volume=26; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2007; citation_pages=85-163; citation_id=CR50 citation_journal_title=Language Testing; citation_title=Judgments of oral proficiency by non-native and native English speaking teacher raters: Competing or complementary constructs?; citation_author=Y Zhang, C Elder; citation_volume=28; citation_issue=1; citation_publication_date=2011; citation_pages=31-50; citation_doi=10.1177/0265532209360671; citation_id=CR51