Quantitative and qualitative effects of dictionary use on written examination scores

Hurman, John; Tall, Graham

doi:10.1080/09571730285200061

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…These results are not entirely unexpected when looking outside the context of OT. While Hurman and Tall (2002) found that participants did not use dictionaries to check for spelling, Myers (2000) found that the spelling of students who used a pocket electronic dictionary improved. Additionally, while no examination was found of orthographical or diacritical errors made by online translators, one might expect that online translators, if programmed correctly, would not make spelling or accent mistakes, unlike FL learners.…”

Section: Component Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Impact of Online Translation on FL Writing Scores

O'Neill

2016

IALLT Journal

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Online translation (OT) sites, which automatically convert text from one language to another, have been around for nearly 20 years. While foreign language students and teachers have long been aware of their existence, and debates about the accuracy and usefulness of OT are well known, surprisingly little research has been done to analyze the actual effects of online translator usage on student writing. The current study compares the scores of two composition tasks by third- and fourth-semester university students of French who used an online translator, with or without prior training, to the scores of students who did not use OT. Students using an online translator did not perform significantly worse those not using the translator on either task. In fact, students who received prior training in OT outscored the control group overall on the second writing task. Additionally, students using the online translator received higher subscores on one or both writing tasks for features such as comprehensibility, spelling, content, and grammar. The results of the current study are discussed in detail; implications for the foreign language classroom are presented; and avenues for future research are proposed.

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Section: Component Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Impact of Online Translation on FL Writing Scores

O'Neill

2016

IALLT Journal

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“…This reflected an early expectation of the National Curriculum that students' independent learning should be developed through the effective use of reference materials including dictionaries (DES, 1990). At the same time, the QCA commissioned a study to investigate the difference that dictionaries might be making in the tests (Hurman & Tall, 1998). This substantial study (n ϭ 1330) used a comparative within-subjects design whereby participants were asked to take two writing tests in French, designed to be as similar as possible, one with and one without a bilingual dictionary.…”

Section: Hurman and Tall's Study Into Dictionaries In Writing Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One significant example of these debates has been a recent ban on the use of bilingual dictionaries in highstakes L2 examinations in the United Kingdom, which reversed an earlier decision to allow dictionaries. The ban followed research into the impact of bilingual dictionaries on beginner and pre-intermediate writing in French (Hurman & Tall, 1998), which concluded that scores improve in 'with dictionary' tests, raising questions about the validity of tests that allow their use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Opinions differ according to how the test construct is understood and whether the underlying value system favours process-orientated assessment for learning, with its concern to elicit the test takers' best performance, or product-focused assessment of learning, with its emphasis on the discriminatory power of the test. One key study into bilingual dictionaries and writing tests (Hurman & Tall, 1998) concluded that dictionary use improves test scores. This study was influential in a recent decision to ban dictionaries in several high-stakes L2 examinations in the UK.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Bilingual dictionaries in tests of L2 writing proficiency: do they make a difference?

East

2007

Language Testing

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Whether test takers should be allowed access to dictionaries when taking L2 tests has been the subject of debate for a good number of years. Opinions differ according to how the test construct is understood and whether the underlying value system favours process-orientated assessment for learning, with its concern to elicit the test takers' best performance, or product-focused assessment of learning, with its emphasis on the discriminatory power of the test. One key study into bilingual dictionaries and writing tests (Hurman & Tall, 1998) concluded that dictionary use improves test scores. This study was influential in a recent decision to ban dictionaries in several high-stakes L2 examinations in the UK. Research into dictionary use in reading tests has suggested, however, that dictionary availability makes no statistically significant difference to test scores. This article presents the findings of a further study into bilingual dictionary use in writing tests that also indicated no significant difference to scores. Considering this finding alongside those of studies other than Hurman and Tall's casts some doubt on whether the UK ban was fully justified.

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“…The traditional support-tool for L2 reading has been the dictionary, yet despite the wealth of L2 reading research comparatively little of this focuses on dictionary-use. A useful contribution to this neglected area is made by Hurman & Tall (2002) in their quantitative and qualitative account of students aged 16 in England, based on a simulated version of the national GCSE examination. They found that the availability of a dictionary increased the mean scores of candidates at different levels, but that the type of dictionary was particularly important for higher-level candidates and that far more training in dictionaryuse would be beneficial.…”

Section: Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual review of research

Johnstone

2003

Lang. Teach.

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The present review refers to studies published in 2002 in leading research journals. It focuses in particular on learning, teaching and policy in respect of second, modern foreign or additional languages. The comments offered about particular studies are not intended to summarise them (for that, it is best to refer to the actual abstracts which the present journal publishes). What is on offer is a personal selection made because some aspect of a particular article seemed to be of particular interest or to reflect an important trend, and I have attempted to link such elements together to form a narrative. Compared with previous years, two important themes seemed to gather particular momentum in 2002: first, the role of ‘frequency’ in acquisition; and second, the impact of complex and contradictory global factors on everyday pedagogical practice, thinking and attitudes. As in previous years reference is made to the abstracts. Thus, Tarone (2002: 03-158) refers to an article by Tarone published in 2002 and reflected in the 2003 series of this journal as abstract 158. In previous years I have discussed ICT (information and communications technology) in a separate section of its own but this has now been integrated into other sections, reflecting a process of ‘normalisation’.

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Quantitative and qualitative effects of dictionary use on written examination scores

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Measuring the Impact of Online Translation on FL Writing Scores

Measuring the Impact of Online Translation on FL Writing Scores

Bilingual dictionaries in tests of L2 writing proficiency: do they make a difference?

Annual review of research

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