What are we testing when we think we are testing listening?

What are we testingwhen we think we are testing listening?John FieldUniversities of Bedfordshire and Cambridge

ISLI, University of Reading12th November, 2013 With thanks to Cambridge English language assessment and the ISLC, University of Reading, for their support for the research cited hereA theme of the talkTeachers and EFL materials writers tend to favour standard test formats: partly to prepare learners for international tests and partly through lack of alternativesBut the needs of teachers and the designers of international high stakes tests are clearly very differentTesters aim for: Reliability (avoiding subjective judgement)Ease of markingTeachers / local testers need:In depth information about the listening skills of individual learners so that testing can lead into instruction.

What do we think we test?Comprehension.So what do we mean by comprehension?Understanding Understanding what?Giving correct answers to comprehension questionsWhat do we think we test? 2 Listening for gistListening for informationListening for main ideaLocal listeningGlobal listening

What do we think we test? 3 [CEFR B2 goals]Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influence the ability to understandCan understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation Can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provide the topic is familiar and the direction of the talk is signposted by explicit markers..

OK, soThat tells me what L2 listeners should aim for under my teaching/ testingBut how are they supposed to get there? These descriptors define the input or output in listening, but say nothing about the process we are trying to test. They cannot be said to support assessment for learning.

A cognitive accountThe need for a cognitive approachThere is a new interest among testers in what goes on in the mind of the test taker.We need to know whether high-stakes test actually test what they claim to test. Can a listening test, for example, accurately predict the ability of a test taker to study at an English medium university?At local level, we need to use tests to diagnose learner problems so that the tests can feed into learning. This is especially true of listening.

Cognitive validity asksDoes a test elicit from test takers the kind of process that they would use in a real-world context? In the case of listening, are we testing the kinds of process that listeners would actually use ? Or do the recordings and formats that we use lead test takers to behave differently from the way they would in real life?Two possible approachesA. Ask learners to report on the processes they adopted when taking a test (e.g. by explaining how they got their answers)B. Use a model of listening that is supported by evidence from psychology. Match the processes produced by a test against the model. Listening to learnersLearner report 1: LocationItem: A demand for golf courses attracted the interest of both and businessmen.Key: There was enormous interest amongst landowners not to mention businessmen

S: I think I um + I the key words. I think most + most useful for me is the businessmenR: rightS: because when I heard this before + I heard I heard landowners and businessmenR: so you you recognised the the word landownersS: oh yeahR and [it was] close to the word businessmenS: yeah this is ever close so I think maybe

ConclusionTest takers listen out for words from the (written) items in order to locate where the answer is likely to be.Learner Report 2: orderProfessional Development for IATEFL 201315 R: is there anything that you heard that helped you?S: I have the problem about that because I am concentrate on the two of the questions so I didnt realiseR: soS: his his + hes already go to the 9R: right ok so you were still listening out for number 8S: yeah and number 7

ConclusionsProfessional Development for IATEFL 201316 Learners recognise and exploit the convention that questions are asked in the same order as the recording.This provides them with a rough sequential outline of the recording before they even begin to listen.If a listener fails to find the answer to one question, he/she may go on to miss the answer to the next one as well..17What a written set of items providesThe items in (e.g.) a gap-filling task potentially provide a candidate with:An outline of what the recording coversA set of gapped sentences that follow the sequence of the recordingKey words with which to locate informationSequences which may echo the wording of the recording or the order of words

17Learner report 3: prominent words Professional Development for IATEFL 201318Correct answer: Tom suggests that golf courses could also be used as NATURE RESERVES S: number 13 is Im not sure but um + he said crackR: you heard the word crack?S: crack but I dont know the meaning of crackR: er you know it seemed to be an important wordS: yes I think soR: ok + how did you spell crack if if you dont know the S: c-r-a-c-kR: right so you guessed the spelling did you?S: I guess yes

Most importantly, courses should be designed to attract rather than drive away wildlife.

ConclusionProfessional Development for IATEFL 201319 Learners sometimes simply listen out for prominent words even if they do not understand them.This is partly a reflection of their level. At level B1 and below, listeners are very dependent upon picking up salient words rather than chunks or whole utterances.This tendency is increased by the use of gap filling tasks, which focus attention at word level.General conclusionsa. Conventional test formats provide much more information than is available in real-world contexts (and do so in a written form) BUTb. Conventional test formats may also be more demanding than real-life listening because of divided attention effects, where the learner has to read and listen or read, write and listen.

RecordingsDoes the input impose similar listening demands to those of a real-world speaker? Natural speech ( Recording Level B2)To what extent do these recordings resemble authentic everyday speech?

Recording originAuthenticScriptedSemi-scripted / re-recordedImprovised

All tests are based on authentic situations Cambridge ESOL PET Handbook

Why re-recorded material?Exam Boards prefer this type because it enables them to Reduce noise Control speech rate Simplify vocabulary and grammar if necessary Introduce distractors Eliminate redundancy (or add it with single-play tasks)

Some conclusions on studio recordingsActors adapt their delivery to fit punctuation. They pause regularly at the ends of clauses There are few hesitation pauses. No overlap between speakersSpeaker variablesAccent Speech rate: speed and consistency PausingLevel and placing of focal stressNumber of speakersPitch of voice; familiarity of voicePrecision of articulation

Normalisation and testing L2 listeningTest takers need time to adjust (normalise) to the voice of an unfamiliar speaker. Best not to focus questions on the opening 10 seconds of a longer recording.

Because of the need to normalise, it is best not to have too many speakers in a test recording. Listening difficulty increases as the number of voices increases beyond one M and one F (Brown & Yule, 1983).

Adapting to voices is cognitively demanding. Testers must bear in mind the cognitive demands of normalising to speech rate and voice pitch . Is it fair to add to those demands by featuring a variety of accents?

TasksDoes the task elicit processes which resemble those that a listener would use in a real-world listening event?Task types in international testsMultiple-choiceGap fillingTrue/False/Dont knowMultiple matching: Identify which of the five speakers is a lorry driver / a politician / a musicianVisual multiple choiceExamination boards recognise that all of these have their drawbacks - which is why they argue for a mixture of tasksMultiple choice questions You hear an explorer talking about a journey hes making. How will he travel once he is across the river? A. by motor vehicle B. on horseback C. on foot

(FCE Handbook, 2008: 60)

Recording 1 (FCE Sample Test 1:1)The engines full of water at the moment, its very doubtful if any of the trucks can get across the river in this weather. The alternative is to carry all the stuff across using the old footbridge, which is perfectly possible and then use horses rather than trucks for the rest of the trip all the way instead of just the last 10 or 15 kilometres as was our original intention. We can always pick up the vehicles again on the way down

Recording 1 (FCE Sample Test 1:1)The engines full of water at the moment, its very doubtful if any of the trucks can get across the river in this weather. The alternative is to carry all the stuff across using the old footbridge, which is perfectly possible and then use horses rather than trucks for the rest of the trip all the way instead of just the last 10 or 15 kilometres as was our original intention. We can always pick up the vehicles again on the way down

ConclusionConventional formats require the listener to:Map from written information to spokenEliminate negative possibilities as well as identify positive ones (esp with MCQ and T/F)Read and write as well as listen (esp gap filling)Engage in complex tasks which take us well beyond listening (esp. multiple matching)

The task: solutionsfor the teacher / local tester

Suggestions for using conventional tasksProvide items after a first playing of the recording and before a second. This ensures more natural listening, without preconceptions or advance information other than general context.Keep items short. Loading difficulty on to items (especially MCQ ones) just biases the test in favour of reading rather than listening.Items should avoid echoing words in the recordingFavour tasks (e.g. multiple matching) that allow items to ignore the order of the recording and to focus on global meaning rather than local detail.More natural tasksIgnore the questions in the coursebook or present them orally.Ask questions and get answers in the first languageUse whole class oral summary (What have you understood so far?), then replay the recordingAt lower levels of English, ask learners to transcribe small parts of a recordingAt higher levels, use note-taking and reporting backGet learners to work in pairs and compare notes

Items:What to target in a listening test?

Five phases of listening (Field 2008)Speech signal

Words

Meaning

38DecodingWord searchParsingMeaning construction Discourse constructionTargetsAn item in a test can target any of these levels:Decoding: She caught the (a) 9.15 (b) 9.50 (c) 5.15 (d) 5.50 train.Lexical search: She went to London by .Factual information: Where did she go and how?Meaning construction: Was she keen on going by train?Discourse construction. What was the main point made by the speaker?Targeting levels of listeningIn theory, a good test should target all levels of listening in order to provide a complete picture of the test takers command of all the relevant processes.In practice, higher levels may be too demanding in the early stages of L2 listening. Novice listeners focus quite heavily on word-level decoding, which does not leave them enough spare attention to give to wider meaning.In addition, certain test formats may tap almost exclusively into one level. Gap-filling is a good example

Higher-level listeningHigher processes (Field 2008) PROPOSITIONMEANING REPRESENTATIONENRICH MEANINGHANDLE INFODISCOURSE REPRESENTATIONImplications for testingQuestions may and should be asked at three levels:Factual: local informationMeaning in context: requiring the listener to relate what the speaker says to the context or to draw conclusions which are not expressed by the speakerDiscourse: showing a global understanding of what was said (including speaker intentions etc.)

Meaning representationThe listener has to: Relate what was said to its context Enrich the meaning (drawing upon world knowledge) Make inferences Resolve reference (she, it, this, did so) Interpret the speakers intentions

All of these indicate possible question types

Discourse building / handling informationChoose

Connect

Compare

Construct

Is it important? Is it relevant?How is it linked to the last utterance? Is what I think I heard consistent with what was said so far?What is the overall line of argument?Spread of targets

Why is information handling omitted in present test design?Choose: the tester chooses which information points to focus on sometimes choosing points that are not central to the recordingConnect: Much testing focuses on single points, with no connection to those before and afterCompare: Tests rarely ask learners to check information (for example, comparing two accounts of an accident)Construct. Tests rarely seek for evidence that learners can construct an outline based upon macro-and micro points / headings and subheadings

Solutions for local testersAsk questions at discourse level:What is the main point of the recording? / Give three main points.What is the connection between Point A and Point B?Complete a skeleton summary of the text with main points and sub-pointsAsk learners to compare two recordings for similarities and differencesAsk learners to summarise a recording orally or in the form of notes (in L1 or L2) Some thoughts on teacher testing of listening and its impact on teachingThe inflexibility of high stakes testsLarge scale high-stakes tests have major constraints which prevent them from testing listening in a way that fully represents the skill.Reliability and ease of markingHighly controlled test methods, using traditional formats that the candidate knowsLittle attention possible to individual variation or alternative answers

Advantages of more local tests and tasksLocal smaller-scale tests afford the possibility of testing a wider rage of listening processes with:More open ended questionsMore scope for testing information handlingMarking on an individual basisPossible acceptance of alternative answers

Progress testing / diagnostic teachingProperly designed, progress tests might enable the tester to diagnose specific listening problems.In a follow up (ideally soon after), the teacher/tester can ask: Why did you give that answer? What do you think you heard?In this way, a test can help to determine which aspects of listening should be focused on in later small-scale practice exercises.In other words, this kind of test can be formative rather than just judgemental.

ReferencesField, J. (2008) Listening in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUPField, J. (2009). The cognitive validity of the lecture listening section of the IELTS listening paper. IELTS Research Reports 9, CambridgeField, J. (2013) Cognitive validity. In Geranpayeh, A. & Taylor, L. (eds.) Examining Listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Thanks for listening!

jcf1000@dircon.co.ukWhat makes listening a special case?Transitory: no long-term record to refer toHappens in real timeNeed to store while analysingNeed to carry forward information in the mindSpeech rate is not under listener's controlFew word boundary markersThe speech signal is highly variable as compared to spelling / fonts.Two consequences of high variabilityKnowledge of a word recognition of the word in connected speechMany high level errors of comprehension have their origins in low-level errors of word recognition