The Effects of Different Levels of Performance Feedback on TOEFL iBT^® Reading Practice Test Performance

Abstract

College Board is composed of schools, colleges, school systems, and educational associations; GRE Board members are associated with graduate education. The test is now wholly owned and operated by ETS.ETS administers the TOEFL program under the general direction of a policy board that was established by, and is affiliated with, the sponsoring organizations. Members of the TOEFL Board (previously the Policy Council) represent the College Board, the GRE Board, and such institutions and agencies as graduate schools of business, 2-year colleges, and nonprofit educational exchange agencies.Since its inception in 1963, the TOEFL has evolved from a paper-based test to a computer-based test and, in 2005, to an Internet-based test, the TOEFL iBT ® test. One constant throughout this evolution has been a continuing program of research related to the TOEFL test. From 1977 to 2005, nearly 100 research reports on the early versions of TOEFL were published. In 1997, a monograph series that laid the groundwork for the development of TOEFL iBT was launched. With the release of TOEFL iBT, a TOEFL iBT report series has been introduced.Currently this research is carried out in consultation with the TOEFL Committee of Examiners (COE). Its members include representatives of the TOEFL Board and distinguished English as a second language specialists from academia. The committee advises the TOEFL program about research needs and, through the research subcommittee, solicits, reviews, and approves proposals for funding and reports for publication. Members of the TOEFL COE serve 4-year terms at the invitation of the Board; the chair of the committee serves on the Board.Current (2016-2017) As part of its educational and social mission and in fulfilling the organization's nonprofit Charter and Bylaws, ETS has and continues to learn from and to lead research that furthers educational and measurement research to advance quality and equity in education and assessment for all users of the organization's products and services.

Using Adaptive Feedback in an ESP Course for Developing University Students’ EFL Listening and Reading Comprehension Skills

“…Ellis argues that using focused tasks goes hand in hand with intensive feedback in developing a specified set of language features and skills. The findings also echo those by Sawaki (2017), who found that the provision of feedback affected the degree to which the participants perceived the benefits of the study materials to understanding different item types and developing strategies for mastering the sub-skills within a short time. Similar to the guidelines set by Sawaki, three levels of verified and elaborated feedback were provided to the participants upon completion of the listening and reading exercises: (a) feedback on the correctness of learner response (knowledge of the correct answers), (b) feedback and rationales for correct/incorrect answers were discussed during the training sessions, and (c) feedback and the rationales of listening and reading activities covering the sub-skills tested with on-demand video lectures on the skills that needed focused attention and effort.…”

“…Inadequate language learning and teaching activities are partly responsible for students' lack of language ability, as research in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) suggests. For instance, while answering reading comprehension questions, Sawaki (2017) found that when students spent too much time on the initial text reading, they had a fragmented understanding of the global text structure. Therefore, they found it difficult to quickly locate specific information or identify main ideas and essential details.…”

“…The results of the study by Horký (2014), as cited in Šarmanová and Kostolányová (2015), confirmed that the students who are taught a foreign language in the adaptive system are statistically more successful in mastering it than the students who are taught a foreign language in a non-adaptive system. Similarly, Sawaki (2017), who investigated the effects of different levels of performance feedback on improving reading test performance, found that receiving videobased instruction provided with the correctness of learner responses and rationales for correct/incorrect answers enhanced learners' understanding of the TOEFL item types. It was suggested that the enhancement was due to the provision of on-demand videos followed by an explanation of effective ways to answer test items grouped according to the sub-skills to which they relate.…”

“…Feedback is the information intended to help the learner and is given continuously during the learning process (Lee, 2017). Sawaki (2017) defines adaptive feedback as personalized diagnostic information to individual learners. Specifically, in the current study, adaptive feedback is meant to focus on personalized diagnostic information represented in the knowledge of correct and incorrect responses, the rationales of these responses, and adaptive material provided to first- year EFL university students on their performance while carrying out listening and reading comprehension activities.…”

“…The online feedback included model answers to the assigned work, the exercises completed in class, and video lectures explaining the listening and reading sub-skills the participants needed to develop. (Sawaki, 2017). Leighton and Gierl (2007) point out that students need to know how to study the materials effectively, the skills measured by different items, and the strategies for responding to individual items.…”