Lin Rongchan

Assessment for learning (AfL) is of critical importance in developing innovative educational engagements and learner capacity. Impact of AfL may be exhibited in a number of ways. These include promoting learning, developing students' capacity for accurate self-assessment and facilitating adjustment of instruction for enhanced outcome achievement (Black et. al., 2004). Research demonstrating the merits of AfL has led to enthusiastic promotion and adoption of AfL-informed policies, worldwide and in Singapore. AfL significantly influences current Singapore educational policy and planning initiatives. At the primary level, a Holistic Assessment approach calling for assessment to support students' learning is being progressively introduced in all primary-school classrooms (PERI, 2009). At secondary level, considerably less empirical research has been conducted. However, the recommendations of the Assessment Review Corporate Planning Team (ARCPT) call for increasing the presence of AfL to produce balanced assessment, in which Assessment for and of Learning (AfL/AoL) function sympathetically (Leong & Tan, 2014). Additionally, AfL is being promoted at the secondary level through professional development targeted at relevant assessment practices (Leong & Tan, 2014). Adoption and practices of AfL, however may vary significantly from intentions expressed through policy and promotion. One factor is the complex dynamic that assessment change, policy, development and practice exist in (Deneen & Boud, 2014; MacDonald & Joughin, 2009). There is also significant variation in understanding what, precisely constitutes AfL (Taras, 2010). There is corresponding variation in how different stakeholders perceive AfL and how they generally conceptualize the purposes and merits of assessment (Brown, 2011; Deneen & Brown, 2011; Fulmer, 2013). These factors all exist in relationship to particular contexts. In Singapore, the context of high-stakes testing and assessment-driven meritocracy impact how people perceive, interact with and practice assessment (Tan, 2011; Tan & Deneen, forthcoming). Therefore, understanding how intentions and perceptions of AfL relate to practices requires accounting for a complex set of factors and their inter-relationships. As Singapore moves forward with AfL changes, it is imperative that research be conducted towards achieving these understandings, especially at the secondary level. The aim of the proposed study is to establish a systematic understanding of AfL in the Singapore secondary context that may inform research, policy, practice and development. This will be accomplished through meeting the following objectives: - Explain relationships among AfL policies, perceptions, practices and contexts. - Develop and validate a model that accounts for these factors and relationships. - Present analytical findings that may inform theoretical and practical understandings of AfL in the Singapore secondary and global contexts. A complementary (qualitative and quantitative) methodology will be used. Data collection will be carried out in two phases. Means of data collection will consist of large-scale survey distribution, stakeholder focus groups/interviews, and classroom observations. Factor analysis, ANOVA and MANOVA will be applied to survey data. Qualitative data will undergo inductive, iterative coding (Miles & Huberman, 1999). Initial and full results will be shared via two sharing seminars for MOE, NIE and schools. Results will be framed several ways, including: - A theoretical model of AfL in the Singapore context. - School-based case studies. - A comparative analysis of participating schools. - A policy-practice relationship analysis. Research results shall inform several specific outputs, including several tier-one journal articles, a policy recommendation document for Singapore MOE, two sharing seminars and participation in international conferences by the investigatory team.

本论文从交际视角探讨汉语作为第二语言的说话技能测试问题，全文分为六章。

第一章结合汉语作为第二语言学习者的地域分布，描述学习者背景的复杂性，进而阐明本论文的研究问题、设计、方法和意义，并界定相关概念。第二章总结了说话技能的特点，并描述第二语言学习者在说话时所面对的问题。同时，笔者也分析了五种第二语言说话考试的内容，综述其优缺点，从而强调第二语言说话技能测试演变的必要。第三章则探讨交际法语言测试的本质，即阐述所包含的关键概念，以此作为本文的理论基础。笔者在第四章阐明测试目的、对象与说话构念，并为不同程度（初、中、高）的学习者建构说话技能测试框架，具体说明相关测试任务。第五章描述了测试框架的评估事宜，包括评改程序、评估量表和成绩单的设计。最后一章除了突出说话技能框架的创新之处，也分析了其局限和指出未来的研究方向，以期为日后有关第二语言说话技能测试的研究提供新的思路。

Communication in the real world often entails the interpretation, evaluation, and integration of content from different sources. However, it appears that the ability to integrate content into discourse has not been explicitly scored for in existing studies. This study operationalizes content integration in the analytic scoring of a listening-speaking test in Chinese. International students who were non-native speakers of Chinese took the test that comprised two retell tasks and an oral presentation linked by an academic scenario. They were scored for content integration, organization, delivery, and language control for all three tasks. Multivariate generalizability theory (G-theory) was used to investigate the functioning of content integration in the analytic rubric of the retell tasks and oral presentation respectively. Overall, this study aimed to illuminate issues on dependability and construct validity for the two task types, focusing on content integration particularly. The findings suggested that content integration functioned differently to some extent when compared with the other dimensions studied.

This chapter focuses on the concepts of reliability and validity in the context of rubric design and use. It comprises four sections. This first section explains the concept of reliability and emphasizes its role in quality scoring. The second section discusses the notion of validity and foregrounds the importance of appropriate test-score interpretations and responsible decision-making. The third section explores the relationship between reliability, validity and other assessment qualities (i.e., fairness and practically). The last section introduces qualitative and quantitative methods commonly used to examine the functioning of rubrics. Through explication of the relevant concepts, it is hoped that this chapter is useful to the relevant stakeholders (e.g., test developers, test users and decision makers) in their implementation and investigation of rubric-based assessments.