Examining the Interaction among Components of English for Specific Purposes Ability in Reading

Name: Examining the Interaction among Components of English for Specific Purposes Ability in Reading
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Author: Yuyang Cai
ISBN: 978-3-0343-2920-0

Cai, Yuyang

Examining the Interaction among Components of English for Specific Purposes Ability in Reading

The Triple-Decker Model

by Yuyang Cai (Author)

Linguistics

Series: Linguistic Insights, Volume 258

Summary

The book presents the Triple-Decker Model that describes the interactive mechanism among key constituents of English for Specific Purposes Ability (ESPA): language knowledge, strategic competence and background knowledge (nursing knowledge).
First, the model reveals that ESPA constituents can be assigned to three groups according to their roles in determining ESPA in reading: automators (language knowledge and background knowledge) that respond most directly, assistants (the cognitive aspect of strategic competence) that come to assist when automators are insufficient or boggle down, and regulators (the metacognitive aspect of strategic competence) that supervise all cognitive activities. Second, the model demonstrates the effect of strategic competence and background knowledge on ESPA fluctuated with the continuous increase of language knowledge.
The book also demonstrates the use of two innovative analytical techniques: composite scores based on bifactor multidimensional item response theory for scoring ESP reading tests and the multi-layered-moderation analysis (MLMA) for detecting linear and nonlinear moderation relations.

Excerpt

Cover
Title
Copyright
About the author
About the book
This eBook can be cited
Acknowledgements
Contents
Glossary of Terminology
Glossary of Acronyms and Labels
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Scope and Context
1.4 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
1.5 Definitions of Key Terms
1.5.1 English for Specific Purposes Ability (ESPA)
1.5.2 Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT)
1.5.3 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
1.5.4 Interaction
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Limitations of the Study
1.8 Chapter Summary
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Overview
2.2 Conceptualizing English for Specific Purposes Ability (ESPA)
2.3 Conceptualizing ESPA Components
2.3.1 Background Knowledge
2.3.2 Grammatical Knowledge
2.3.3 Strategic Competence
2.4 ESP Components and ESP/L2 Reading Comprehension
2.4.1 Background Knowledge and ESP Reading Comprehension
2.4.2 Grammatical Knowledge and L2 Reading Comprehension
2.4.3 Strategic Competence and L2 Reading Comprehension
2.5 Review of Analytical Methods
2.5.1 Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT)
2.5.2 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
2.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 Methodology
3.1 Overview
3.2 Sampling
3.3 Instruments
3.3.1 The Medical and Nursing Knowledge Test (MNKT)
3.3.2 The Grammatical Knowledge Test (GKT)
3.3.3 The Medical and Nursing Reading Test (MNERT)
3.3.4 Strategic Competence Questionnaire (SCQ)
3.4 Data Collection and Preparation
3.4.1 Data Collection
3.4.2 Data Preparation
3.5 Scoring and Analytical Procedures
3.5.1 Computer Program
3.5.2 Analytical Procedures
3.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 4 Preliminary Results
4.1 Overview
4.2 Descriptive and Reliability Statistics
4.2.1 Descriptive and Reliability Statistics for the MNKT
4.2.2 Descriptive and Reliability Statistics for the GKT
4.2.3 Descriptive and Reliability Statistics for the MNRCT
4.2.4 Descriptive and Reliability Statistics for the SCQ
4.3 MIRT Assumptions Evaluation
4.3.1 MIRT Assumptions Evaluation for the MNKT
4.3.1.1 DA for the MNKT
4.3.1.2 LD Detection for the MNKT
4.3.1.3 Model Specification for the MNKT
4.3.2 MIRT Assumptions Evaluation for the GKT
4.3.2.1 DA for the GKT
4.3.2.2 LD Detection for the GKT
4.3.2.3 Model Specification for the GKT
4.3.3 MIRT Assumptions Evaluation for the MNRCT
4.3.3.1 DA for the MNRCT
4.3.3.2 LD Detection for the MNRCT
4.3.3.3 Model Specification for the MNRCT
4.3.4 MIRT Assumptions Evaluation for the SCQ
4.3.4.1 DA for the SCQ
4.3.4.2 LD Detection for the SCQ
4.3.4.3 Model Specification for the SCQ
4.4 Calibrating the Scales
4.4.1 Calibrating the MNKT
4.4.2 Calibrating the GKT
4.4.3 Calibrating the MNRCT
4.4.4 Calibrating the SCQ
4.5 Scoring and Weighing the Factors
4.5.1 Weighting the MNKT Factors
4.5.2 Weighting the GKT Factors
4.5.3 Weighting the MNRCT Factors
4.5.4 Weighting the SCQ Factors
4.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 5 Main Results: Interaction among ESPA Components
5.1 Overview
5.2 The Factorial Structures of Composites
5.2.1 The Factorial Structure of the MNKT Composites
5.2.2 The Factorial Structure of the MNERA Composites
5.2.3 The Factorial Structure of the SCQ Composites
5.2.4 Measurement Validity for the Full Measurement Model
5.3 Interaction among ESPA Components in Affecting ESPAR
5.3.1 Main Effects of ESPA Components
5.3.2 Interaction among ESPA Components
5.4 Interaction among ESPA Components (Zooming into Strategic Processes)
5.4.1 Main Effects of ESPA Components (Zooming into Strategic Processes)
5.4.2 Interaction among ESPA Components (Zooming into Strategic Processes)
5.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 6 Discussion
6.1 Overview
6.2 Factorial Structures of the Four Scales
6.3 Interaction among ESPA Components
6.4 Interaction among ESPA Components (Zooming into Strategic Processes)
6.5 Conceptualization: The Triple-Decker Model
6.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 7 Conclusions
7.1 Overview
7.2 Summary and Conclusions
7.3 Implications
7.3.1 Theoretical Implications
7.3.2 Methodological Implications
7.3.3 Practical Implications
7.4 Limitations and Recommendations
7.5 Concluding Remarks
References
Appendices
Index
Series index

←14 | 15→

Glossary of Terminology

ai	discrimination parameter on the domain factor
Ai	multidimensional discrimination index
ANOVA	Analysis of Variance
ap	discrimination on the primary factor
BAEM	Bock and Aitkin algorithm
Bi	multidimensional difficulty index
CFA	confirmatory factor analysis
CFI	Comparative Fit Index
Chi-square	chi-square index
CTT	classic test theory
DA	dimensionality assessment
df	degree of freedom
d	threshold
EFA	exploratory factor analysis
fi	domain factor
G2	deviation index
GRM	Graded Response Model
(U) IRT	(Unidimensional) Item Response Theory
IRTPRO	Item Response Theory for Patient-Reported Outcomes
LD	local dependence
M1PL	One-Parameter Logistic Multidimensional Item Response Model
M2PL	Two-Parameter Logistic Multidimensional Item Response Model
MDIFF	multidimensional difficulty
MDISC	multidimensional discrimination
MGRM	Multidimensional Graded Response Model←15 \| 16→
MH-RM	Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro algorithm
MIRT	Multidimensional Item Response Theory
p	significance
P	primary factor
R2	R squared
RMSEA	Root Mean Square of Error Approximation
SD	standard deviation
SE	standard error
SEM	structural equation modeling
Sig.	significance
SRMR	Standardized Root Mean Square Residual
TLI	Tucker-Lewis Index
ΔG2	change of deviance
-2LL	-2 times loglikelihood

←16 | 17→

Glossary of Acronyms and Labels

BK	background knowledge
CLA	Communicative Language Ability
CNET	The China Nurse Entry Test
EN	Emergency Nursing
ESP	English for Specific Purposes
ESPA	English for Specific Purposes ability
ESPAR	English for Specific Purposes ability in reading
GF	grammatical forms
GK	grammatical knowledge
GM	grammatical meanings
GKT	The Grammatical Knowledge Test
GN	Gynecology Nursing
IELTS	International English Language Testing Service
L2	second language
METS	The Medical English Test System
MN	Medical Nursing
MNK	Medical and Nursing Knowledge
MNKT	The Medical and Nursing Knowledge Test
PETS	The Public English Test System
PN	Pediatrics Nursing
TOEFL	The Test of English as a Foreign Language
TX1	Text 1
TX2	Text 2
TX3	Text 3
TX4	Text 4

←18 | 19→

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Overview

This chapter provides an overview of the study. It introduces the problem, scope and context, purpose, statistical methods, definitions of terms, significance and limitations of the study. It ends with a summary of the introductory chapter.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

A demanding task for language assessment programs is to identify and define the construct underlying their language tests (Kane, 2013). This endeavor has evolved from the structuralism view of language ability as a list of linguistic components (Carroll, 1968; Lado, 1961), through the pragmatical concern of functional and sociolinguistic knowledge (Canale & Swain, 1980), to the account of communicative language ability (CLA; Bachman & Palmer, 1996, 2010).

This continuous effort can be understood as a history of problematizing variables originally regarded as ‘contextual’ (Bachman, 2007) and recruiting them into the core concept of language ability. With the burgeoning of testing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in the recent decades (Hyland & Hamp-Lyons, 2002), the problematized ‘contextual’ variable has been subject-matter background knowledge¹ ←19 | 20→(e.g., medical and nursing knowledge; Douglas, 2000). In the well-regarded CLA, the status of background knowledge is only vaguely delineated. It is either described to be at the disposal of stakeholders (Bachman, 1990; Bachman & Palmer, 1996) or simply left unaddressed (see, Bachman & Palmer, 2010). Holders of the exclusive view argue that language testing should not include background knowledge, as this would reduce ESP tests to institutional definition of background knowledge (Davies, 2001; Fulcher, 1999). Rather, as Davies (2001) added, it must be about “the ability/abilities to manipulate language functions appropriately in a wide variety of ways” (p.143). Separating background knowledge from general language ability, however, has been so difficult or even unrealistic for language testing practice (Douglas, 2013; Taylor, 2013). Seeing this dilemma, Douglas (2000) argues that language testing in ESP situations should not only account for conventional elements such as language knowledge (i.e., linguistic and pragmatic features) and strategic competence, but also include background knowledge, thereby the need for the theoretical justification of the ESP ability (ESPA). The ESPA emphasizes the role of background knowledge, to various extents it may appear to work, and the interaction among background knowledge and strategic competence in constructing overall ESP language performance. This model is assumed to be valid for all language skills (i.e., listening, reading, speaking and writing) and subject to the same principles of language assessment quality control (Douglas, 2013). Regardless of this development, the plausibility of this model for ESP testing practice and research has yet to be verified and debates over the nature of ESPA are still ongoing.

Details

Pages: 296
Year: 2020
ISBN (PDF): 9783034329187
ISBN (ePUB): 9783034329194
ISBN (MOBI): 9783034329200
ISBN (Hardcover): 9783034329132
DOI: 10.3726/b17063
Language: English
Publication date: 2020 (October)
Keywords: Bifactor Composite scores Cuboid moderation Curvilinear relation Item response theory Linear moderation Multi-layered moderation analysis Strategic competence Medical English
Published: Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2020. 296 pp., 16 fig. b/w, 47 tables.

Biographical notes

Yuyang Cai (Author)

Yuyang Cai is Shanghai Eastern Scholar, Professor of School of Languages, University Leading Scholar, and Founding Director of Centre for Language Education and Assessment Research (CLEAR) in Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. His areas of research include language testing and assessment, educational psychology and quantitative methods.

Examining the Interaction among Components of English for Specific Purposes Ability in Reading

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

Glossary of Terminology

Glossary of Acronyms and Labels

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Overview

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Details

Biographical notes

Key Subject Areas