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Article type: Cover
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Index
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Yuji Nakamura, Hiroshi Tobiwatari
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
1-12
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Kazuo AMMA
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
13-29
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Hidetoshi Saito
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
30-39
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This paper overviews an intersecting point between language testing and SLA research, focusing on some recent studies concerning task difficulty. A review of the studies from both fields reveals at least three issues that may possibly cause conflicting results in these studies. To foster further collaboration and discussion in the two fields, this paper examines the three debatable issues: congruence between theory and assessment, relationships between construct and measures, and weighting among theoretical, statistical, and practical significance.
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
40-55
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The aim of this study was to find out how much listening sections in Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) reflect real Japanese language use context. For this purpose, this study set up 5 analysis points; 1)setting, 2)role, 3)function, 4)topic, 5)text type and analyzed the listening sections of all levels of the JLPT administered from 1999 to 2000. There were four main findings; 1) setting and role were well-balanced and did not focus on a particular setting or role. But in lower levels, unclear setting and role were problematic. 2) In function, ideational functions (function for information and function for expression) covered 80% of all listening texts. 3) In text type, 70% of listening texts were conversation type text. 4) Various topics were used.
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Tomoko WADA
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
56-75
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Kazuhiko KATAGIRI
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
76-91
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The purposes of this study are (1) to examine whether vocabulary knowledge highly correlates with general English ability among Japanese third-year junior high school students, who have learned English only for two years or so, and if so, (2) to look into the inner side or mechanism of the phenomenon that vocabulary knowledge highly correlates with general English ability among junior high school students. As for the second purpose, the author attempts, first, to look into general English ability through STEP 3rd grade test, and, next, to dissolve the general English ability into some partial factors, and, finally, to find whether the biggest factor is similar to or related with vocabulary knowledge. One hundred forty-nine students took Mochizuki's (1998) Vocabulary Size Test ver. 2 and the past STEP 3rd grade test, which had seven sections. The correlation coefficient was calculated. Then, factor analysis was conducted for their total eight variables, and two factors were extracted. The primary factor had middle-high factor loading with vocabulary knowledge. It was found that (1) vocabulary knowledge highly correlated with general English ability among Japanese third-year junior high school students and that (2) the principle factor might be similar to or related to vocabulary knowledge and that that might be why superficially the amount of vocabulary knowledge highly correlated with general English ability.
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
92-107
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Saida (2002) validated four Ibaraki Prefectural English Tests for high school students (IPET) administered in 1999 and 2000 using classical item analysis and factor analysis. This study explores the factor structures of the tests in detail. Sixteen English tests administered from 1995 to 2002 for first-year and second and third-year high school students were factor-analyzed and the dimensionality (the number of factors) of the tests was examined. The results showed the tests measured a single dominant ability. As a result of examining the factor structures in detail, however, items which were related to knowledge of English, such as grammar, vocabulary and so on, were clustered as a first factor and items which were related to an ability to infer from context were clustered as a second factor. Ways to improve the quality of the tests and the possibility of the application of item response theory to the tests are discussed.
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Tetsuhito Shizuka
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
108-127
Published: August 30, 2004
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The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of 'invisible-gap filling' items primarily as an in-house achievement measure of reading-oriented courses and secondarily as a more general overall-ability measure. More specifically, it compared multiple-matching 'invisible-gap filling' items and their 'visible' counterparts in terms of item facility, item discrimination, test reliability, and test validity. Eighty-eight Japanese university 1st year students took a 25-item invisible-gap filling test and its visible counterpart, along with two 25-item c-tests, the combination of which constituted a semester-end examination of a reading-oriented course. The invisible and visible gap filling tests were based on the same passage covered in the course. Target words (i.e., words to fill the gaps) were also the same between the versions, making the salience of the gaps the only difference between the two. Hence, psychometric property differences between these two versions, if any, should be attributed to the gap visibility condition difference. One c-test was created from a passage already covered in class and the other from a new passage. The former served as an achievement criterion while the latter was considered a proficiency criterion. Results indicated that the invisible-gap filling items had (1) lower facility values, (2) higher discriminations, (3) higher reliability, (4) higher validity as an achievement measure, and (5) higher validity as a proficiency measure, than its visible counterpart. Based on these findings, it is contended that invisible gap filling is a technique that can be used to produce reliable and valid achievement tests with relative ease. After discussing possible limitations of the format, two possible modifications are proposed.
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[in Japanese], [in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
128-139
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The purpose of this study was to examine the construct of amotivation. When amotivation is measured, negative items in a questionnaire cause attenuation of correlation, and as a result, it would give bias to the construct of amotivation. A questionnaire was made on the basis on Noels, Pelletier, Clement, and Vallerand (2000), and it included both positive items (P-type) and negative items of amotivation (N-type). By analyzing the data from the questionnaire using Confirmatory Factor Analysis to correct attenuation, we examined a systematic error caused by negative items. The result showed that (1) an artificial factor was identified when positive and negative items of amotivation were analyzed by Exploratory Factor Analysis; (2) the construct of amotivation was supported when 7-factor model of motivation was examined by conducting Confirmatory Factor Analysis to P-type questionnaire; and (3) P-type questionnaire was more appropriate than N-type questionnaire as a measure of amotivation, because bipolarity between amotivation and self-determined forms of motivation was clearly identified in P-type questionnaire.
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2004 Volume 6 Pages
140-147
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This paper presents 1) what limitations causal analyses have, 2) how causal analyses are conducted in English language education research in Japan, 3) what problems are seen in those causal analyses, then, 4) how the problems can be improved for further research. A causal analysis, especially an analysis according to Multiple Regression Model, is originally a powerful tool for predicting a dependent variable by some independent variables. However, when the degree of causal effect by each independent variable is focused, the problem of multi-collinearity, which is provided by correlations among dependent variables, arises. On the other hand, when stepwise method is adopted in deciding which dependent variables should be included, the problem of multi-collinearity may cause again by deleting the dependent variables which reasonably seem to contribute to independent variables. After reviewing those limitations of Multiple Regression Models, eleven articles in English language education research in Japan were reinvestigated in terms of those problems. Then, some suggestions, such as using a correlation analysis, are presented instead of regression models.
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
152-153
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2004 Volume 6 Pages
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2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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2004 Volume 6 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2004 Volume 6 Pages
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