Chapter 2 question sheet

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Jan 9, 2024

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Valerie Lopez LING 147 Chapter 2: The Measurement of Bilingualism Chapter 2 examines several measurements for bilingual proficiency for different purposes. Explain the following measures, their purposes, and include examples. 1. Summative and Formative assessments (provide examples) The purpose of summative assessments is to measure the speaker’s total understanding of a language and these assessments measure the basic language skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking). An example of a summative assessment is an End-of-the-year test or final. Formative tests, on the other hand, measure the strengths of the student speaker. The purpose of formative assessments is to provide feedback and find where the student speaker still needs improvement. A couple of examples of formative assessments are presentations and writing projects in the language. 2. Criterion referenced and Norm referenced tests (provide examples) Both of these tests measure the mastery level of the speakers. Norm referenced tests compare the individual speaker to the level of other speakers; these tests tend to measure bilingual speakers against the skills of monolingual speakers. Examples of norm referenced tests are IQ tests, the college SAT, or tests that measure based on a collected average. Criterion referenced tests measures the skills of the speaker and doesn’t compare; their purpose is to measure the areas that the student did well in. Examples of criterion referenced tests are tests the score the percentage of mastery. 3. Communicative Language Testing (provide an example) Communicative language testing measures a student’s skill in an unplanned conversation test to see how well a speaker can utilize their skills in an organic setting. Some examples mentioned in the textbook were the CEFR and TOEFL, or any tests where the student speaker is tested in a conversation with a native speaker. 4. Language Balance and Dominance Measures Language balance aims to measure the balance of knowledge in both of the bilingual speaker’s languages. Dominance measures aim to find whether the bilingual speaker uses and is more skillful in one language over the other. Language balance and dominance can be tested through vocabulary tests, word association tests, and by measuring the student’s time taken to read in the specified languages. 5. Language Background Scales Language background (functional bilingualism) scales are self-rated measurements of a speaker’s usage of the language rather than the proficiency. An example would be a survey that seeks to measure the frequency of the speaker’s usage in the language. 6. Why are bilinguals measured for both their proficiency and the use of their languages? Bilinguals are measured in proficiency to determine their performance in the languages, and their usage of the languages is measure to determine their competency of the language.
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