Constructing a Scale to Assess L2 Written Speech Act Performance: WDCT and E-Mail Tasks

Autor/inn/en	Chen, Yuan-shan; Liu, Jianda
Titel	Constructing a Scale to Assess L2 Written Speech Act Performance: WDCT and E-Mail Tasks
Quelle	In: Language Assessment Quarterly, 13 (2016) 3, S.231-250 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1543-4303
DOI	10.1080/15434303.2016.1213844
Schlagwörter	Speech Acts; North Americans; Grammar; Electronic Mail; Writing Teachers; Foreign Countries; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Qualitative Research; Evaluators; Language Tests; Asians; Language Teachers; Scoring Rubrics; Reliability; Validity; Rating Scales; Pragmatics; Language Proficiency; Undergraduate Students; Majors (Students); Teacher Student Relationship; College Faculty; Taiwan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprechakt; Grammatik; Elektronischer Briefkasten; Ausland; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Qualitative Forschung; Language test; Sprachtest; Asian; Asiat; Asiatin; Asiaten; Asiate; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; Scoring formulas; Auswertungsbogen; Reliabilität; Gültigkeit; Rating-Skala; Pragmalinguistik; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Fakultät
Abstract	This study reports the development of a scale to evaluate the speech act performance by intermediate-level Chinese learners of English. A qualitative analysis of the American raters' comments was conducted on learner scripts in response to a total of 16 apology and request written discourse completion task (WDCT) situations. The results showed that in content, these raters attended to features, including "amount of information," "politeness," "clarity," and "relevance." For form, they focused on "grammar," "phrasing," and "word choice." These features were then incorporated into the scale design, resulting in a scoring rubric consisting of two 10-point subscales, each of which contains five levels with descriptors for each performance level. For scale validation, seven experienced American writing teachers in Taiwan evaluated 84 e-mail requests written by the Chinese learners to their professors. Reliability and validity of the rating scale were explored through the FACETS analysis. The results showed that the scale can be used in a reliable and valid way. The study concludes with a discussion of the usefulness of this rating scale and proposes directions for future research. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01