Comments on “Evaluation of the Usefulness of the<i>Versant for English</i>Test: A Response”: The Author Responds

Chun, Christian W.

doi:10.1080/15434300801934751

Cited by 12 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…The necessity of soliciting stakeholders' views in test development and validation has been widely recognized and explicitly articulated by a number of language testing researchers in recent years (e.g., AERA et al, 1999;Alderson, et al, 1995;Chun, 2008;Messick, 1989). Shohamy (2001), for example, believes that stakeholder involvement can help to democratize language testing practices and accomplish the goal of powersharing in language testing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, as Leung and Lewkowicz (2006, p. 213) remarked, 'the debate over the past 15 years that is more relevant to ELT pedagogy and curriculum concerns test authenticity'. For the provider of automated spoken English tests like the VET, how to improve the authenticity in test design without sacrificing the scientific rigor in the scoring algorithm remains a grave challenge to address in the future (see also Chun, 2006Chun, , 2008.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test: a mixed-methods approach

Fan

2014

Language Testing in Asia

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This study investigated Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test (VET), an automated spoken English test developed by Pearson Knowledge Technologies. Based on previous attitudinal studies, 'attitude' in this study was conceptualized as a hypothetical psychological construct which consisted of three components: beliefs, opinions, and emotions. In data collection and analysis, this study adopted the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire while qualitative data were collected through follow-up semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions. The findings of this study indicate that test takers had overall positive attitudes towards the VET, believing that the VET largely reflected their spoken English ability. Test takers' gender and background had no significant relationship with their reported attitude. Despite the satisfactory face validity of the VET, this study also found that test takers still preferred the more traditional speaking tests (e.g., the IELTS-style live interviews) because these tests were believed to be more authentic and tap into a wider range of English speaking competencies. The findings of this study have implications for the VET provider in light of the further improvement and promotion of the test. Meanwhile, the findings are also meaningful to other providers of spoken English tests of a similar nature.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test: a mixed-methods approach

Fan

2014

Language Testing in Asia

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“…Concerns within the assessment community have been raised about automated assessments of speech due to the machine scoring system's ability, as yet, only to cope with highly predictable L2 speaking tasks (e.g. Chun, 2008), as opposed to discourse-level extemporaneous speaking tasks that elicit more varied interactional patterns (see Isaacs, 2016). Technology is rapidly improving.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the Pearson Test of English Academic for university entrance purposes) fed into a rigorous field-wide debate on machine-mediated automated scoring in the first decade of the 21st century (e.g. Chun, 2006Chun, , 2008 Downey et al, 2008), which has arguably evolved into more pragmatic acceptance of the inevitability of the use of automated speech recognition technology during the second decade (e.g. Isaacs, 2016; Xi, 2010Xi, , 2012.…”

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confidence: 99%

Second Language Pronunciation Assessment

Fulcher¹,

Browne²

2016

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of language acquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than the native language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadest possible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, on the one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical findings and, on the other, some degree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoretical stance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective -sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. -deemed out of place. The intended readership of the series includes final-year undergraduates working on second language acquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisition research, and researchers, teachers and policy-makers in general whose interests include a second language acquisition component. Second Language Pronunciation Assessment SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONFull details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: 107 Second Language Pronunciation AssessmentInterdisciplinary Perspectives All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Edited by Talia Isaacs and Pavel Trofi movich MULTILINGUAL MATTERSThe policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru and Chennai, India. Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group Ltd. Printed and bound in the US by Edwards Brothers Malloy, Inc. In Memory of Alan Davies and Danielle Guénette AcknowledgementsThis edited volume, which brings together different but complementary research perspectives to establish a common platform in which to discuss issues relevant to assessing second language (L2) pronunciation, would not have been possible without the contributions and commitment of the authors, who explore key issues through different disciplinary lenses in the chapters that make up this volume. The vision for the book arose during a cold Canadian winter at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, when a sense of momentum for i...

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“…call for the consideration of "the test takers" say in … this" [4]. Consequently, this paper presents a survey in which the test takers" reactions have been solicited immediately following their exposure to Versant.…”

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confidence: 99%

Speech Recognition Technology in Second Language Assessment: Social Group Preference

Dodigovic¹

2012

IJIET

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This article follows an attempt to answer the question of how test takers of different social and cultural groups might view speech recognition technology, when applied in second language assessment. The Versant test of English is an application of this technology and is used in a survey-design study to elicit the test taker response. Based on the answers, the author is trying to predict the success of this innovation in light of the diffusion theory. It seems that language teachers of a certain age and residing in South Korea are the most skeptical group in regard to Versant. 1

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Comments on “Evaluation of the Usefulness of theVersant for EnglishTest: A Response”: The Author Responds

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test: a mixed-methods approach

Chinese test takers' attitudes towards the Versant English Test: a mixed-methods approach

Second Language Pronunciation Assessment

Speech Recognition Technology in Second Language Assessment: Social Group Preference

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