View Content #21924

By Linda Forrest, CASLS Research Director

Second language study represents a large investment of institutional resources, student time, and tuition dollars, yet large-scale, program-wide standardized assessment is almost non-existent in post-secondary institutions. With no clear evidence of program effectiveness or student outcomes, and in the face of dwindling campus resources, both administrators and students question with increasing frequency the validity of the enterprise.

One critical component to achieving successful student learning outcomes is adequate articulation between course levels. First year outcomes should provide sufficient preparation for second year course work, and so on. Program-wide assessment provides the means to determine whether this is the case.

Recently, CASLS worked with the Romance Languages Department at the University of Oregon to administer the Computerized Assessment of Proficiency (CAP) to all students enrolled in first- or second-year Spanish or French courses, approximately 1,000 students. CAP includes computer-scored reading and listening components and human-rated speaking and writing components. Results provide evidence of student proficiency with levels similar to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

Our research questions were these:

• Within our university program, does each level of our program offer sufficient preparation for successful vertical articulation?
• How can proficiency data inform programmatic changes across levels?

In summary, our findings are these:

• Reading: About 40% of 1^st-year and 60% of 2^nd-year students reach Expanding (similar to ACTFL Advanced) levels;
• Listening: About 30% of 1^st-year and 50% of 2^nd-year students reach Transitioning (similar to ACTFL Intermediate levels; few reach Expanding;
• Writing and speaking: About 50% of 1^st-year and 75% of 2^nd-year students reach Transitioning (similar to ACTFL Intermediate levels; few reach Expanding.

Based on these results, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) Student proficiency for all skills increases year to year. (2) Reading is the strongest skill, and by the end of second year, many students are able to read Advanced level materials. Thus, third-year courses can use materials at Advanced levels to strengthen and increase students' abilities. (3) Listening is the weakest skill, and few students are able to perform at the Expanding level. It may be useful to consider curricular changes that build higher level listening skills. (4) Both writing and speaking lag behind reading. Here, the program administrators may want to compare the students’ speaking and writing samples on the test with those observed in the class room. It is possible that the assessment environment does not provide the best venue for producing Advanced level writing.

Reflecting on the test results and student behaviors in the classroom can offer insights as to how to focus the program and improve skills to satisfy both program and student goals.