Development of an item bank for assessing generic competences in a higher-education institute: a Rasch modelling approach

This paper describes the development and validation of an item bank designed for students to assess their own achievements across an undergraduate-degree programme in seven generic competences (i.e., problem-solving skills, critical-thinking skills, creative-thinking skills, ethical decision-making skills, effective communication skills, social interaction skills and global perspective). The Rasch modelling approach was adopted for instrument development and validation. A total of 425 items were developed. The content validity of these items was examined via six focus group interviews with target students, and the construct validity was verified against data collected from a large student sample (N?=?1151). A matrix design was adopted to assemble the items in 26 test forms, which were distributed at random in each administration session. The results demonstrated that the item bank had high reliability and good construct validity. Cross-sectional comparisons of Years 1–4 students revealed patterns of changes over the years. Correlation analyses shed light on the relationships between the constructs. Implications are drawn to inform future efforts to develop the instrument, and suggestions are made regarding ways to use the instrument to enhance the teaching and learning of generic skills.     

Shared book reading behaviours of children with Down Syndrome before and after participation in the MultiLit reading tutor program: an exploratory study

This exploratory study compares the shared book reading behaviours of five school aged children with DS (aged 11 years 6 months to 15 years 6 months) before and after participation in an intervention which included selected components of the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program. The program was delivered 1:1 to participants each week over a 12 week period. Analysis of the average performance across the group revealed that the proportion of reading errors relative to the number of words read from preintervention to postintervention were significantly reduced. Significant improvement was also seen in shared book reading fluency following intervention. Individual case study data is also presented. Postintervention, reading errors per minute were reduced for two participants (P4 and P5). Reading dysfluencies per minute decreased for two participants (P1 and P5) while all participants improved in shared book reading fluency. Preliminary results suggest that children with DS can generalise skills taught in the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program to shared book reading, although variability regarding changes in literacy abilities postintervention was observed.     

The moderating effect of experience on the intention to adopt mobile social network sites for pedagogical purposes: An extension of the technology acceptance model

With numerous benefits of utilising mobile social network sites (SNSs) for learning purposes, limited studies have been conducted to determine the factors that influence the adoption of mobile SNSs in facilitating learning. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of students’ behavioural intention to use mobile SNSs for their pedagogical purposes by utilising an extended version of Technology Acceptance Model. Furthermore, the moderating effect of users’ experience on their behavioural intention was investigated. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 600 students from top-five public universities of Malaysia. The results revealed perceived task-technology fit as the great predictor of users’ intention and perceived usefulness. Although the moderating impact of students’ experience on the model found to be positive, it was not supported in this study. The contributions of this study both to the literature and practice are discussed.     

Morphological awareness and bilingual word learning: a longitudinal structural equation modeling study

This longitudinal study examined the contribution of morphological awareness to bilingual word learning of Malay–English bilingual children in Singapore where English is the medium of instruction. Participants took morphological awareness and lexical inference tasks in both English and Malay twice with an interval of about half a year, the first time at the end of Grade 3 (Time 1) and the second time at the end of the first semester of Grade 4 (Time 2). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that within both languages, morphological awareness significantly predicted lexical inference at Time 1 as well as Time 2, and the contribution also became strengthened over time. Cross-linguistic SEM analyses showed that concurrently at both Time 1 and Time 2, English morphological awareness only had a significant indirect effect on Malay lexical inference. The exact indirect relationships, however, varied between Time 1 and Time 2. In addition, an indirect effect of Time 1 English morphological awareness on Time 2 Malay lexical inference also surfaced. These findings suggest concurrent as well as longitudinal cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from English to Malay.     

Developments in the English Language Syllabuses in Singapore

This paper traces developments in English Language syllabuses in Singapore from 1959 to 2001. It discusses the features and emphases of these syllabuses and the place of grammar in English language teaching. It also presents the main features of the English Language Syllabus 2001 and the teaching of grammar at the word, sentence and text levels.

     

Learning environments research in English classrooms

Although learning environments research has thrived for decades in many countries and school subjects, English classroom environment research is still in its infancy. This article paves the way for expanding research on English classroom environments by (1) reviewing the limited past research in English classrooms and (2) reporting the first study of English learning environments in Singaporean primary schools. For a sample of 441 grade 6 students, past research in other subjects was replicated in that a modified version of the What Is Happening In this Class? questionnaire was cross-validated, classroom environment was found to vary with the determinants of student sex and ethnicity, and associations emerged between students’ attitudes and the nature of the classroom environment.     

Children’s concepts of language in learning to read

Conclusion To summarize, acceptance of reading as secondary to, and dependent on, the primary activities of speaking and listening does not mean that reading is simply speech in print, albeit reading is a language-based activity. Listening and speaking seem to proceed from the meaning of the discourse to analysis; whereas written language comprehension proceeds from analysis to meaning, at least for some beginning readers and some poor readers. Analysis of speech takes place at the unconscious or tacit level; conscious analysis of segments of print (sentences, phrases, words, syllables and phonemes) is often required in reading, especially at the initial stage. Good readers pass this decoding stage relatively effortlessly; poor readers may still need to deal with the mechanics of reading before these become automatic. Thus, while children should be introduced to reading through a variety of rich language experiences, there should be a parallel process of the development of subskills. This paper was presented at the 29th Annual Conference of The Orton Society in Minneapolis, November 1978.     

Productive knowledge of derivational rules in poor readers

The present report with two complementary experiments examined the productive knowledge of derivational morphology in 75 grade 4, 5, and 6 “poor” readers further divided into those performing better, or worse, inboth reading and spelling ((R + S +) or R − S −)), or better in the one or the other (mixed) subgroups. Experiment 1 required individual subjects to vocalize rapidly the derived forms of words when primed with 40 target base words in four derivational conditions or levels embedded in sentence frames shown on the computer screen. Experiment 2 required the reverse process of vocalizing the base forms of words when primed with 40, complex derived forms in the same four morphology conditions embedded in sentence frames shown on the computer screen. Results of the analysis of the reaction times show a developmental trend and that the subgroups of poor readers used different mechanisms in producing derived or base forms of words according to the complexity of the orthographic and/or phonological changes needed in the derivational process. The important role of morphemic structure and origin of words in instruction is emphasized.