Volume 25 Number 1, February 2021 Special Issue: Big Data in Language Education & Research
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
1 - 10 of 12
-
ItemAnnouncements and news from our sponsors(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemItem-level learning analytics: Ensuring quality in an online French course(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)Learning analytics (LA) offer benefits and challenges for online learning, but prior to collecting data on high-stakes summative assessments as proof of student learning, LA researchers should engage instructors as partners to ensure the quality of course materials through the formative evaluation of individual items (Bienkowski et al., 2012; Dyckhoff et al., 2013; Mantra, 2019; van Leeuwen, 2015). This exploratory study describes a visualization tool that provides actionable data for early intervention with students, and actionable data highlighting odd patterns in student responses (Chatti et al., 2012; Gibson & de Freitas, 2016; Morgenthaler, 2009; Pei et al., 2017), thus allowing instructors to make full use of their teaching skillset in the online environment as they would in a traditional classroom (Davis & Varma, 2008; Dunbar, et al., 2014; Grossman & Thompson, 2008; Lockyer et al., 2013). To answer research questions related to the value of learning analytics and their use in making informed decisions about student learning, a visualization tool was developed for and piloted in an online French course. The findings suggest that using this tool can lead not only to intervention with low- achieving students but can also determine if students struggle due to poor course materials.
-
ItemLexical complexity, writing proficiency and task effects in Spanish Dual Language Immersion(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)Using the 2.4-million-word written Spanish subsection of the Corpus of Utah Dual Language Immersion, collected from a large-scale standardized writing assessment of K-12 Spanish second language (L2) students, this study focuses on lexical complexity as operationalized by three measures: lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication. The study goes beyond most previous work on lexical complexity by investigating the effect of task type on all three measures of lexical complexity. Patterns in variation are identified across proficiency levels and between task types. Results show that all three measures increase at each proficiency score between Novice High and Advanced, except at Intermediate Mid where scores dip or flatten. Diversity and sophistication are both shown to increase rapidly after this mid-point, indicating that a broad and deep lexical repertoire is a key feature of more advanced proficiency levels. Results for the effect of task indicate that text genre impacts learners’ lexical density, while tasks that are more complex elicit higher lexical sophistication.
-
ItemReview of Understanding attitude in intercultural virtual communication(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemReview of Automated speaking assessment: Using language technologies to score spontaneous speech(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemReview of Disruptive technologies and the language classroom: A complex systems theory approach(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemReview of Technology and the psychology of second language learners and users(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemCall for Papers on Language teacher education & technology(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemCall for papers for a special issue on Semiotics in CALL: Signs, meanings and multimodality in digital spaces(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)
-
ItemAssociation between allophonic transcription tool use and phonological awareness level(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2021-02-12)This is the first paper that provides correlational evidence about how interacting with an online allophonic transcription tool helps learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) to improve their phonological awareness. The study investigates 55 advanced ESL learners at a Polish university enrolled in a course in English phonetics and phonology. The course placed heavy emphasis on reading and writing allophonic transcription based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. Apart from obligatory practice with traditional pen and paper worksheets, learners could also practise with a supplementary custom-designed web application that allowed them to enter the phonemic transcription of any word in order to receive its allophonic transcription. The results show that using this tool at least once during the course is associated with an expected increase in midterm test score of 5.03 percentage points, 95% CI [-10.61, 20.67]. The estimated benefit is higher for learners who space their usage of the tool; each additional distinct day of usage is associated with an additional increase in the expected midtermtest score of 2.62 percentage points, 95% CI [-3.25, 8.49]. Additionally, some learners practised transcription on non-words, and these learners were observed to perform better on phonotactics-related assessment.