Designing and assessing a digital, discipline-specific literacy assessment tool

[EN] The C-Test as a tool for assessing language competence has been in existence for nearly 40 years, having been designed by Professors Klein-Braley and Raatz for implementation in German and English. Much research has been conducted over the ensuing years, particularly in regards to reliability and construct validity, for which it is reported to perform reliably and in multiple languages. The author engaged in C-Test research in 1995 focusing on concurrent, predictive and face validity. Through this research, the author developed an appreciation for the C-Test assessment process particularly with the multiple cognitive and linguistic test-taking strategies required. When digital technologies became accessible, versatile and societally integrated, the author believed the C-Test would function well in this environment. This conviction prompted a series of investigations into the development and assessment of a digital C-Test design to be utilised in multiple linguistic settings. This paper describes the protracted design process, concluding with the publication of mobile apps.Kebble, PG. (2018). Designing and assessing a digital, discipline-specific literacy assessment tool. The EuroCALL Review. 26(1):79-88. doi:10.4995/eurocall.2018.8893SWORD7988261Alderson, J.C. (2002). Testing proficiency and achievement: principles and practice. In James A. Coleman, Rüdiger Grotjahn & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), University language testing and the C-test (pp. 15-30). Bochum: AKS-Verlag.Atai, M. R. & Soleimany, M. (2009). On the effect of text authenticity & genre on EFL learners' performance in C-tests. Pazhuhesh-e Zabanhaye Khareji 49, 109-123. Available from https://jor.ut.ac.ir/m/article_27676_b6d42cffb07714a23474fe66363c8eee.pdf.Babaii, E. & Fatahi-Majd, M. (2014). Failed restorations in the Ctest: Types, sources, and implications for C-test processing. In Rüdiger Grotjahn (Ed.), Der C-Test: Aktuelle Tendenzen/ The C-Test: Current trends (pp. 263-276). Frankfurt am Main: Lang.Blum, J. A. (2003). C-tests: their evolution and future - a way of boosting report cards, including the teacher's? Available from http://www.clozeonline.us/Research/Blum1.htmColeman, J. A. (1994a). Degrees of proficiency: Assessing the progress and achievement of university language learners. French Studies Bulletin, 50, 11-16.Coleman, J. A. (1994b). Profiling the advanced language learner: The C-Test in British further and higher education. In Rüdiger Grotjahn (Ed.), Der CTest. Theoretische Grundlagen und praktische Anwendungen (Vol. 2, pp. 217- 237). Bochum: Brockmeyer. Available from http://www.c-test.de/deutsch/index.php?lang=de&section=originaliaColeman, J. A., Grotjahn, Rüdiger & Raatz, Ulrich. (Eds.). (2002). University language testing and the C-test. Bochum: AKS-Verlag.Grotjahn, R. (1986). Test validation and cognitive psychology: some methodological considerations. Language Testing, 3(2), 159-185.Grotjahn, R. (1987). How to construct and evaluate a C-Test: A discussion of some problems and some statistical analyses. In Rüdiger Grotjahn, Christine Klein-Braley & Douglas K. Stevenson (Eds.), Taking their measure: The validity and validation of language tests (pp. 219-253). Bochum: Brockmeyer. Available from http://www.c-test.de/deutsch/index.php?lang=de&section=originaliaGrotjahn, R. (2014). The C-Test bibliography: version January 2014. In Rüdiger Grotjahn (Ed.), Der C-Test: Aktuelle Tendenzen/The C-Test: Current trends (pp. 325-363). Frankfurt am Main: Lang.Grotjahn, R. & Stemmer, B. (2002). C-Tests and language processing. In James A. Coleman, Rüdiger Grotjahn & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), University language testing and the C-test (pp. 115-130). Bochum: AKS-Verlag. Available from http://www.c-test.de/deutsch/index.php?lang=de&section=originaliaHulstijn, J. H. (2010). Measuring second language proficiency. In Elma Blom & Sharon Unsworth (Eds.), Experimental methods in language acquisition research (pp. 185-199). Amsterdam: Benjamins. [C-Test: 191-193]Jafarpur, A. (1999). What's magical about the rule-of two for constructing C-tests? RELC Journal, 30(2), 86-100.Khodadady, E. (2013). Authenticity and sampling in C-Tests: A schema-based and statistical response to Grotjahn's critique. The International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 2(1), 1-17.Khodadady, E. (2014). Construct validity of C-Tests: A factorial approach. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(6), 1353-1362. Available from http://www.academypublication.com/issues/past/jltr/vol05/06/19.pdfKhodadady, E. & Hashemi, M. (2011). Validity and C-Tests: The role of text authenticity. Iranian Journal of Language Testing, 1(1), 30-41. Available from http://www.ijlt.ir/portal/files/404-2011-01-01.pdfKlein-Braley, C. (1985a). A cloze-up on the C-test: A study in the construct validation of authentic tests. Language Testing, 2(1), 76-104.Klein-Braley, C. (1985b). C-Tests and construct validity. In Christine Klein-Braley & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), Fremdsprachen und Hochschule 13/14: Thematischer Teil: C-Tests in der Praxis (pp. 55-65). Bochum: AKS-Verlag.Klein-Braley, C. (1985c). C-Tests as placement tests for German university students of English. In Christine Klein-Braley & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), Fremdsprachen und Hochschule 13/14: Thematischer Teil: C-Tests in der Praxis (pp. 96-100). Bochum (Ruhr-Universität): AKS-VerlagKlein-Braley, C. (1985d). Reduced redundancy as an approach to language testing. In Christine Klein-Braley & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), Fremdsprachen und Hochschule 13/14: Thematischer Teil: C-Tests in der Praxis (pp. 1-13). Bochum (Ruhr-Universität): AKS-Verlag.Klein-Braley, C. (1985e). Tests of reduced redundancy - theory. In Viljo Kohonen & Antti J. Pitkänen (Eds.), Language testing in school. AFinLA Yearbook 1985 (pp. 33-48). Tampere: AFinLA.Klein-Braley, C. (1996). Towards a theory of C-Test processing. In Rüdiger Grotjahn (Ed.), Der C-Test. Theoretische Grundlagen und praktische Anwendungen (Vol. 3, pp. 23-94). Bochum: Brockmeyer. Available from http://www.c-test.de/deutsch/index.php?lang=de&section=originaliaKlein-Braley, C. (1997). C-Tests in the context of reduced redundancy testing: An appraisal. Language Testing, 14(1), 47-84.Klein-Braley, C. & Raatz, U. (1984). A survey of research on the C-Test. Language Testing, 1(2), 134-146.Mochizuki, A. (1994). C-Tests: Four kinds of texts, their reliability and validity. JALT Journal, 16(1), 41-54.Oscarson, M. (1991). Item response theory and reduced redundancy techniques: Some notes on recent developments in language testing. In Kees de Bot, Ralph B. Ginsberg & Claire Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 95-111). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: Benjamins [C-Test: pp. 106-107].Raatz, U. (1985a). Better theory for better tests? Language Testing, 2, 60- 75.Raatz, U. (1985b). Tests of reduced redundancy - the C-test, a practical example. In Viljo Kohonen & Antti J. Pitkänen (Eds.), Language testing in school. AFinLA Yearbook 1985 , No. 41 (pp. 49-62). Tampere: Association Finlandaise de Linguistique Appliquée. [long version of Raatz, 1985e]Raatz, U. (1985c). Tests of reduced redundancy - the C-Test, a practical example. In Christine Klein-Braley & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), Fremdsprachen und Hochschule, 13/14: Thematischer Teil: C-Tests in der Praxis (pp. 14-19). Bochum: AKS-VerlagRaatz, U. (1987). C-Tests: What do they measure, how do they measure it and what can they be used for? In Christine Schwarzer & Bettina Seipp (Eds.), Trends in European educational research (pp. 38-44). Braunschweig: UniversitätRaatz, U. & Klein-Braley, C. (1985). How to develop a C-Test. In Christine Klein-Braley & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), Fremdsprachen und Hochschule, 13/14: Thematischer Teil: C-Tests in der Praxis (pp. 20-22). Bochum: AKSVerlag.Raatz, U. & Klein-Braley, C. (2002). Introduction to language testing and to C-Tests. In James A. Coleman, Rüdiger Grotjahn & Ulrich Raatz (Eds.), University language testing and the C-test (pp. 75-91). Bochum: AKS-Verlag. Available from http://www.c-test.de/deutsch/index.php?lang=de&section=originaliaRouhani, M. (2008). Another look at the C-Test: A validation study with Iranian EFL learners. The Asian EFL Journal, 10(1), 154-180. Available from [http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_2008_EBook.pdfWedell, M. (1987). The C-test - current relevance, text difficulty and student strategies. Language Testing Update, 4, 23. [summary of Wedell, 1985]

Ella Braley to Dear Sir (10 October 1962)

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A University Student’s Perspective on Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is one of the most important, if not the most important topic students need to prepare them for their future. This should be obvious, yet it still does not have a permanent place in the curriculum. Many financial literacy organizations, such as the Council for Economic Education, National Jump$tart Coalition, and Next Gen Personal Finance, are making great progress to get financial education in schools throughout the United States. However, there are many young adults that have missed the window of opportunity to obtain financial education in school. The beginning of this paper will address the current state of financial education and evaluate the progress of getting personal finance into the curriculum. The remainder of the paper will provide an overview on the basics of financial literacy from a college student’s perspective. My goal is that the information provided can be used by young adults like myself who might have missed out on a quality education in personal finance in order to build a more financially secure life

Beliefs about Childhood Obesity

Currently in the United States, it is estimated that 25% of American children are obese. Several factors that may contribute to childhood obesity are environment, eating habits, underlying health conditions, and psychological influences. I plan on becoming an elementary teacher and I was shocked to find out that elementary schools are now cutting physical education classes to as little as thirty minutes and only every other week in some districts. While at the same time increasing the total amount of time students are using computers. I believe it is important that structural issues such as the decrease in physical education are acknowledged as a contributing factor for the increase in childhood obesity. I wanted to find what the average person believes are contributing factors for the increase of childhood obesity and if these factors are based on structural issues or an individual’s behavior. For instance, do people believe that childhood obesity has increased due to the increased due to children being lazy and only playing video games or do they believe it is due to the decrease in physical education? To understand people’s thoughts on childhood obesity, I used two different but connected methodologies: content analysis and interviews of parents and professionals who work with minor children. For my content analysis, I searched for articles on childhood obesity, coding commenters’ opinions about factors contributing to childhood obesity. I interviewed parents and professionals who work with children to find out what they think about childhood obesity and, specifically, how they feel about physical education in their children’s schools. By performing both content data analysis and interviews with parents and professional who work closely with children I was able to find out what some people believe are the main contributing factors to increasing childhood obesity, and what people are saying, overall, about childhood obesity

Parent-Teacher Partnerships in Special Education

There is an old African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child (Buzzell, 1996, p.1).” In today’s society, this saying is applicable to the idea of parent-teacher partnerships in education. The underlying assumption of such partnerships is that everyone who has a stake in a child’s life, including the parents, teachers, and community, should work together to give that child the best education possible. In reality, however, key stakeholders in a child’s life may have many different ideas and beliefs, and, as a result, a disconnect in communication and relationships among them can arise. In such situations, fluid partnerships between these stakeholders can be challenged and resulting tensions can emerge which, in turn, can affect a child’s educational experience (Staples & Dilberto, 2010)

The perceptions of personality as a function of speaking rate

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this study was to determine how listeners judge various attributes of a speaker based upon their perception of the speaker's speaking rate. The characteristics of interest included: intelligence, competence, physical relaxation, emotional relaxation, and employability. Speech samples were recorded for four student volunteers while describing five different pictures using a fast speaking rate, typical speaking rate, and slow speaking rate. The subjects participating in this study were from a large undergraduate class. The recorded audio samples were played to the subjects, and after each recording the subjects answered five questions using a standard scantron. Results indicated that as speaking rate increased the reported positive results for all five attributes generally increased. Findings ofthis study suggested a potential clinical application for various individuals with communicative disorders who are taught to modify their speaking to improve their ability to communicate (e.g. persons who stutter).B.S. (Bachelor of Science

An Investigation into the Limits of Registration Error in Tri-Color Continuous Tone Images

A study has been completed which quantifies the amount of misregistration allowable on a continuous tone multi-color image. By the use of color separation filters and a misregistration device, the actual threshold limits of registration have been derived for each individual color. The correlation between the subjective, visual impression, and the actual numerical quantity have been examined. As a result the specific threshold limits have been determined and can be used for any continuous tone imaging application

Ye Natural Resource Managers: Repent or Perish!

Bitterroot, Monongahela, Mineral King, Sylvania, Magruder Corridor, French Pete, East Meadow Creek, Bridger, Lincoln Backcountry, White Cloud Peaks, Sawtooth. North Cascades, Blue Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Joyce Kilmer Forest, Kabetogama Penninsula . . . these widely-scattered places in the United States have one thing in common. Every place has been the scene of a recent controversy, elevated to national proportions, over the management of the natural resources in a forest environment

Summer on the Siskiyou

Gold Beach, Oregon, located on the southwest coast of the state, is a district headquarters of the Siskiyou National Forest. During the summer of 1970 it became my temporary home while I worked in the reforestation section of timber management