Proposal Abstract (Summary) . . .a work in progress.

Proposal Abstract (Summary)

            The purpose of this project is to develop computer tools for the teaching and testing of second language skills. We have successfully developed a speaking test and administered it to over 1300 persons learning English as a second language, using an elicited imitation technique. We are currently doing basic research on a number of aspects of the test including: 1) item design—what should be the length and contents of each item and how can we generate new items using language corpora? 2) item administration—How should the items be administered?  Should there be a pause between the stimulus and response?  Should the examinee be in control of the presentation of each item?  Should there be a comprehension task between the presentation of the stimulus and the response? 3) item scoring—How should items be scored and what effect does the scoring method have on concurrent validity?  Our goal is to solve these basic research issues with regards to the test and its administration, and then to design a computer adaptive form of the test with a large calibrated item bank which can be used to delivered the test over the internet to any place in the world. We have already made a great deal of progress in the automatic scoring of items using speech recognition and we intend to continue to perfect this technology.  We also intend to expand the test into other languages, such as French and Spanish.