Research Insights - Interactive Workshop

Research Study I: Development of speaking skills: Insights from EFL learners’ performances in a picture narration task

Veronika Timpe-Laughlin and Jeremy Lee

Although speaking skills are essential in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in primary and secondary schools, we only have limited insights into how young learners’ (YLs) speaking abilities in EFL develop over time. In this presentation, we will share findings from a study that examined oral responses to a picture narration task provided by approximately 500 YLs who learn EFL in primary and secondary-level schools in the Netherlands, Finland. and Denmark. We analyzed the responses for fluency and vocabulary across proficiency and grade levels. Findings showed that with increasing proficiency, YLs’ performances showed a higher degree of fluency and a wider range of vocabulary. However, the data also showed considerable variability at the class level and a backward trend in speaking development at the beginning of secondary-level education. We will discuss the implications for EFL instruction.

Research Study II: Primary to secondary school transition: Views and voices from English teachers across three European contexts

Veronika Timpe-Laughlin and Shinhye Lee

Transitioning from primary to secondary schools is a recurring challenge across Europe (Nikolov, 2009). However, how teachers support the transition of young language learners has received limited consideration in research. In this presentation, we report how English teachers in the Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark perceive the transition and deal with newly arriving learners in 7^th grade (the first grade in secondary education). We gathered eight English teachers’ views about transition-related issues specific to their local contexts. Findings indicate that teachers struggle with similar challenges in their 7^th grade classrooms; namely, students’ diverse English proficiency and varying levels of confidence in learning English. In tackling the diversity, teachers shared varied approaches to creating a unified, motivated group of learners. We conclude the presentation with a discussion of their practices.

Speakers

Ching-Ni Hsieh
Ching-Ni Hsieh (Ph.D., Michigan State University, USA) is a Research Scientist in the Center for Language Education and Assessment Research at Educational Testing Service (ETS). Her research focuses on assessing young language learners, speaking assessment, score mapping and standard-setting, test use and interpretation, and automated speech scoring and feedback. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Language Testing, Language Assessment Quarterly, Language, Culture and Curriculum, CALICO Journal, and Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation.

LinkedIn

Veronika Timpe-Laughlin
Veronika Timpe-Laughlin (Ph.D., TU Dortmund University, Germany) is a Senior Research Scientist in the Center for Language Education and Assessment Research at Educational Testing Service (ETS). At ETS, she has been coordinating the research around the TOEFL® Young Student Series. Her research interests include pragmatics and interaction, task-based language teaching, and technology in L2 instruction and assessment for both young and adult learners. Veronika’s work was recently published in Language Teaching, Journal of Pragmatics, and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and she is the editor of the 2021 Special Issue in Language Testing on Assessing Young Foreign Language Learners.

Jeremy Lee
Jeremy Lee is a Research Project Manager in the Center for Language Education and Assessment Research at Educational Testing Service (ETS). He has worked on projects involved in test validation, teacher training courses, test washback, learning platforms for formative assessment, efficient assessments, and assessment literacy. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Learning Science at Rutgers University, and his research interests include formative assessment, assessing multilingual learners in STEM, scaffolding and accommodations, and logfile analyses in educational environments.

Shinhye Lee
Shinhye Lee is an Associate Research Scientist in the Center for Language Education and Assessment Research at Educational Testing Service (ETS). Her work at ETS spans from supporting ETS’s flagship assessments (e.g., TOEFL, TOEIC family of assessments) to conducting foundational research on innovative task design and delivery. Her specific research interests include speaking assessment, test-taker cognition and response processes, and young language learners. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Language Testing, TESOL Quarterly, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, and Computer Assisted Language Learning.