The influence of rater characteristics and other rater background factors
( Based on a research conducted by Teachers College, Columbia University )
In complement to the studies which looked at how raters differ, studies on the effects of rater background factors attempt to explain why raters differ, with an increasing attention to the effects of rater language background, rater expertise and rater training on raters’ cognitive processes and rating behaviors. Findings from both types of studies can be combined to provide a useful frame of reference for conceptualizing rater cognition in future research.
Rater language background (i.e., native/non-native speaking rater comparisons, matches between rater and examinee language background) has received major attention among researchers in L2 speaking assessment. A representative study that examined the cognitive differences between native and non-native speaking groups of raters was conducted by Zhang &Elder (2011, 2014), who investigated ESL/EFL teachers’ evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency in the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. They found that NS raters attended to a wider range of abilities when judging candidates’ oral test performance than NNS raters. NS raters also tended to emphasize features of interaction while NNS raters were more likely to focus on linguistic resources such as accuracy. Similarly, Gui (2012) investigated whether American and Chinese EFL teachers differed in their evaluations of student oral performance in an undergraduate speech competition in China. He found that the American raters provided more specific and elaborated qualitative comments than the Chinese raters. The raters also differed in their judgment of students’ pronunciation, language usage, and speech delivery. One unique difference was related to raters’ comments on students’ nonverbal communication skills. The Chinese raters provided mostly positive comments about the gestures and other non-verbal demeanors of the students as a group, while the American raters were mostly critical. Both Zhang & Elder’s (2011, 2014) and Gui’s (2012) studies have offered ...
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ACADEMIC LISTENING TEST Tips by Dr.Arian Karimi
The IELTS Academic listening test is one area where teachers cannot help students as much as they can in other areas. The skill of listening is one that is developed by practice and there is not much a teacher can say to improve a student’s ability at it. What we can do is to give you some hints for doing the test and also show you the type of question that you will come up against when you do the test. After that, as much practice as possible is the way to improve. This practice can be doing actual IELTS practice tests or by doing any form of listening in English.
ویدیو نمونه کلاس آیلتس دکتر آرین کریمی و آشنایی با سوالات و فرمت تست آیلتس
The IELTS Academic listening test is approximately 40 minutes in length and there are four sections each with a separate listening passage. In each section there are 10 questions making 40 in all. Sections 1 and 2 are based on social survival in an English speaking country and sections 3 and 4 are based on a more educational and training orientation. The actual tape lasts for about 30 minutes and then you have 10 minutes at the end of the listening in order to transfer your answers to the answer paper.
Section 1 Here you will listen to a conversation between 2 people. The conversation is divided into 2 parts. You have to answer 10 questions based on what you hear. At the start of section 1 you will have an example read out to you and then explained. This is then repeated when the listening starts properly.
Section 2 Here you will hear a ...
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