Lee Paul Gunderson

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) continues to expand across post-secondary education settings. In EAP programs, assessment practices play a key role in achieving learning goals and integrating students into relevant academic communities. Research on this critical area, especially in Canada, has been limited. For the most part, neither teacher education nor professional development activities have fully addressed the specialized and interdisciplinary nature of EAP assessment. The present study was designed to explore the issue of the assessment literacy (AL) of EAP practitioners from public and private post-secondary institutions in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. The study investigated the acquisition and development of practitioners’ AL, their self-assessed competence in assessment, engagement in various assessment practices, and assessment practices as members of a peer community in the teaching context. This study was grounded in a theory of learning ecology, which views learning as a socially mediated activity. Participants were EAP practitioners (n=57) representing the diverse population of EAP educators at post-secondary institutions in the region. The study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, and the data were analyzed to document participants’ roles as assessors and to identify the factors that mediated the development of their AL as well as assessment practices. Findings of the study contribute to the understanding of instructor-oriented EAP assessment in a Canadian context.

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This study was designed to determine whether a computer-based version of a standardized cloze reading test for second language learners is comparable to its traditional paper-based counterpart and to identify how test takers’ computer familiarity and perceptions of paper and computer-based tests related to their performance across testing modes.Previous comparability research for second language speakers revealed that some studiesfound that the two forms are comparable while others found they are not. Findings on theconnection between computer attitudes and computer test performance were also mixed.One hundred and twenty high school ELL students were recruited for the study. The research instruments included both paper and computer-based versions of a locally developed reading assessment. The two tests are the same in terms of content, questions,pagination and layout. The design was a Latin squares so that two groups of learners took the tests in the opposite order and their scores were compared. Participants were also asked tocomplete questionnaires about their familiarity with computers and their perceptions of eachof the two testing modes.Results indicate that the paper and computer-based versions of the test are comparable. A regression analysis showed that there is a relationship between computer familiarity and computer-based LOMERA performance. Mode preference survey datapointed to differences in preferences depending on each unique test feature. These results help validate the cross-mode comparability of assessments outside of the traditional discrete point multiple choice tests which tends to predominate in current research.

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This study explored the nature of and extent to which Canadian children's authorswere inviting school-age students into literacy. The most common forms of interactionbetween authors and readers were identified.While essentially exploratory in nature this investigation provided somedescriptive research to help uncover the parameters of the phenomenon of authorsinteracting with readers at literacy events.A pilot study was conducted in 2004 to help inform the national survey given in2007. Seventy-three Canadian children's authors participated in the national survey. Theemail survey consisted of 15 items and asked a variety of questions ranging from howauthors shared their craft with students to how beneficial authors found websites as ameans of communicating with their readership.From the 125 pages of transcription of responses the following general themesarose: authors in school environments, correspondence, websites, author roles, authors asliteracy resources, engaging in the literacy process, and facilitating events and people.Two main research tools were used in this study. Atlas.ti was used to generate keycategories from the authors' comments. SPSS was used to generate frequencies.Findings from this study suggested that authors were highly engaged in invitingstudents further into literacy by meeting and corresponding with readers. Authorsidentified elements of fiction, researching, reading, developing style, and generating ideasas central components of their dialogues and mentoring of school-aged children.Authors also said that websites were significant for maintaining contact with theirreadership. Based on the findings of this research, a theoretical model was developed.The Reader/Author Reciprocal Mediation Model considers how students' literacy canimprove when authors and readers of texts interact with a storyworld. This study providesa framework for understanding how authors are impacting student literacy.

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