Читать книгу The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics - Carol A. Chapelle - Страница 118

Validly assessing second language listening comprehension presents a number of challenges. The process of listening comprehension is not completely understood, and there are currently no methods which allow a view of the listener's brain to see what has been comprehended. Instead the listener must indicate what has been understood. The medium of this indication, along with other factors, has potential for diminishing the validity of listening assessments.

The majority of listening tasks require test takers to select responses from given choices or to use speaking, reading, or writing skills to demonstrate comprehension of the input. For instance, most forms of multiple‐choice, true/false, matching, short‐answer and long‐answer items require test takers to read the questions and make a selection or provide a written response, while other tasks—such as sentence repetition—require oral responses. The need for learners to use other language skills when their listening is assessed can lead to scores that are not representative of their listening abilities in isolation, such as when watching a movie.

Strategies and other abilities not generally defined as part of a listening comprehension construct may also lead test takers to achieve scores that are not representative of their listening abilities. For instance, some learners may be able to eliminate wrong answer options or even select the correct answer by using test‐taking strategies, such as selecting the longest answer to increase their chances of getting an answer to a multiple‐choice item correct. Another problem with sentence repetition and dictation tasks is that people with well‐developed sound recognition skills may be able to repeat the sounds they hear or write letters that correspond to the words they hear without comprehending the information.

Scores on listening assessments are compromised in various ways depending on the tasks that test developers choose to use. Therefore, listening assessment developers and users should take into account the abilities of the test takers and limitations of the tasks used to best ensure that the test provides a valid indication of learners' listening abilities.