Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/193285

Title

Assessor decision making while marking a note-taking listening test: the case of the OET

Author(s)

Harding, Luke;  Pill, John;  Ryan, Kerry

Abstract

This article investigates assessor decision making when using and applying a marking guide for a note-taking task in a specific purpose English language listening test. In contexts where note-taking items are used, a marking guide is intended to stipulate what kind of response should be accepted as evidence of the ability under test. However, there remains some scope for assessors to apply their own interpretations of the construct in judging responses that fall outside the information provided in a marking guide. From a content analysis of data collected in a stimulated recall group discussion, a taxonomy of the types of decisions made by assessors is derived and the bases on which assessors make such decisions are discussed. The present study is therefore a departure point for further investigations into how assessor decision-making processes while marking open-ended items might be improved.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. Institute for Social Research

Source

Language Assessment Quarterly, Vol. 8, no. 2 (2011), pp. 108-126

Publication year

2011

FOR Code(s)

2004 Linguistics;  130209 Medicine, Nursing and Health Curriculum and Pedagogy;  130213 Vocational Education and Training Curriculum and Pedagogy;  200401 Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics

Keyword(s)

Assessment processes;  Decision making processes;  Language testing;  Listening tests;  Marking guides;  Marking process;  Note-taking;  Occupational English Test

Publisher

Routledge

ISSN

1543-4303

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2011.556770

Copyright

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Peer reviewed