Читать книгу The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics - Carol A. Chapelle - Страница 119

Developments in computer technology expand the potential for different types of listening input and ways of determining comprehension of input. For instance, technology allows acoustic signals to be easily accompanied by various types of input such as visual stimuli, which can make tasks more realistic.

Computers also increase the potential for using test items that require short constructed responses. Developers create model answers and identify the key words and phrases in them, and then these key words and phrases, along with acceptable synonyms, can be used to create a scoring algorithm. Reponses to items that contain part or all of the targeted information can be given partial or full credit (Carr, 2014).

Computer technology may, however, have a negative effect on the assessment of listening. The tendency to use technology because it is available and attractive may lead to assessments that do not validly measure listening comprehension (Ockey, 2009). For instance, including attractively colored interfaces or interesting sounds, which are not part of the message to be comprehended, may be distracting to some test takers. Such distractions could lead to invalid scores for affected individuals. Moreover, computer scoring systems cannot make human judgments that may be important when assessing language (Condon, 2006). For instance, in a summary task scored by a computer, a test taker who paraphrases may be assigned a low score because the computer does not recognize that the test taker has comprehended the input; the scoring algorithm only assigns points for vocabulary (or common synonyms of the vocabulary) found in the input. It is therefore important that test developers who use computers to assess listening recognize the strengths and limitations of this technology.