TY - BOOK AU - Field,John TI - Rethinking the Second Language Listening Test: From Theory to Practice SN - 9781781797150 (pbk) AV - P53.47 .F55 2019 U1 - 418.0076 23 PY - 2019/// CY - Bristol, CT PB - Equinox Publishing KW - Second language acquisition KW - Ability testing KW - Listening KW - Study and teaching KW - Test-taking skills KW - Language and language KW - Evaluation KW - Language and languages N1 - Includes bibliographical references (pages 142-151) and index; "Rethinking the Second Language Listening Test argues that the key to more valid testing of second language listening lies in a better understanding of the nature of the skill and of the signal that listeners have to decode. Using this information as a point of departure, it takes a critical look at many of the myths and conventions behind listening tests and provides practical suggestions as to the ways in which they might be rethought; The book begins with an account of the various processes that contribute to listening in order to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by second language learners. The information feeds in to a new set of descriptors of listening behaviour across proficiency levels and informs much of the discussion in later chapters. The main body of the book critically examines the various components of a listening test, challenging some of the false assumptions behind them and proposing practical alternatives. The discussion covers: the recording-as-text, the recording-as-speech, conventions of test delivery, standard task formats and item design. Major themes are the critical role played by the recorded material and the degree to which tests impose demands that go beyond those of real-world listening. The following section focuses on two types of listener with different needs from the general candidate: those aiming to demonstrate academic or professional proficiency in English and young language learners, where level of cognitive development is an issue for test design. There is a brief reflection on the extent to which integrated listening tests reflect the reality of listening events. The book concludes with a report of a study into how feasible it is to identify the information load of a listening text, a factor potentially contributing to difficulty." (Book Cover); CONTENTS; Lists of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; A Cognitive Model for Testing Listening; 1. What Does Expert Listening Consist Of? ; The role of cognitive criteria ; A model of expert listening; 2. The Second Language Listener ; Language-related knowledge ; Cultural knowledge; Expertise in handling connected speech ; Strategic competence; 3. Performance at different proficiency levels ; Criteria for listening descriptors ; Towards cognitively based descriptors of L2 listening ; Perceptual processing ; Processing for meaning; RECORDED CONTENT; 4. Recording as Text; Language ; General comments ; Vocabulary ; Grammar ; Conclusions for practice; Length; Topic familiarity; Abstractness; Discourse type; Less cited features ; Length of utterance ; Information density and complexity ; Redundancy, repetition and exemplification; 5. Recording as speech ; Origin of recording ; Visual input ; Monologue vs interaction / presentational vs conversational mode ; Voice ; Speech rate ; Accent ; The role of the recording; TASK CHARACTERISTICS; 6. Listening test conventions ; Modality ; Pre-presentation ; Double play ; Order of presentation ; Rubric ; Computer-based solutions; 7. Task formats ; Conventional formats ; Some thoughts on scoring; 8. Items ; Lexical overlap ; Item length and complexity ; Item targeting ; Item targeting at different proficiency levels ; Are targets necessarily met?; LISTENER ROLES; 9. Special cases; Academic listeners ; What types of listening event? ; What topics and discourse patterns?; What processes should items target? ; What task formats to use? ; Can we replicate the lecture context?; Young Learners ; What makes young listeners cognitively different? ; What recorded content is appropriate? ; What task formats to use? ; What to target?; Further special cases; 10. Listening plus other skills ; Tests of oral communication ; Listening into; POSTSCRIPT; 11. Information load: an investigative study; 12. Final remarks; APPENDICES ; A. Examples of Processes Contributing to Listening ; B. Sample Scripts; End Matter; References; Index UR - https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/rethinking-second-language/ UR - https://ocul-uo.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_UO/1lm0b9c/alma991014504239705161 ER -