Performance in Multimodal Speaking Tests

Focusing on Strategic Competence and Task Complexity
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-981-957444-5
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 213 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 516 g

This book explores the complex interplay between test-takers’ strategic competence, task complexity, and performance, focusing on Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL).  It introduces and empirically validates the Strategic Competence Model of L2 Speaking (SCMLS), the first framework in second language research to clearly conceptualise strategic competence in speaking, designed primarily for Chinese EFL learners. It also provides a feasible solution to the long-standing challenge of designing and assessing task complexity and multimodality in L2 testing by using Robinson’s (2015) Triadic Componential Framework. Methodologically, the employment of quantitative hierarchical linear modelling and qualitative, ChatGPT-assisted coding to investigate these relationships offers rigorous and efficient approaches to data analysis for future studies. The book provides pedagogical implications for metacognitive scaffolding and task development for EFL speaking instruction. This book serves as a useful reference for language assessment researchers, applied linguists, teacher educators, test developers, and graduate students interested in second language speaking performance and strategy use in assessment contexts.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zhang, Weiwei

Zhang, Lawrence Jun

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Bildungssystem Prüfungen und Beurteilungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Allgemeine Didaktik Literatur, Deutsch, Fremdsprachen (Unterricht & Didaktik)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction.- Language ability in language testing.- Strategic competence task complexity and multimodal speaking test tasks.- Research methodology.- Understanding the complex relationships.- Perceptions of learners and teachers.- Linking strategic competence and task complexity and speaking test performance.- Conclusions and implications for l2 pedagogy and assessment.

Über Autor(innen)

Weiwei (Vivien) Zhang has studied and earned her Ph.D. in Education (Applied Linguistics) in the Faculty of Arts and Education (formerly the Faculty of Education and Social Work), University of Auckland, New Zealand. Currently, she is a full professor of applied linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Quzhou University, China. She also works as  a co-supervisor of the Doctor of Philosophy programme in the Department of Language Education, School of Education, Kathmandu University, Nepal. Vivien’s research and writings mainly focus on psycholinguistics, language assessment, and pedagogical instruction, with a focus on second language (L2) speaking. Her publications have appeared in Social Science Citation Indexed (SSCI) journals, including among others.

Lawrence Jun Zhang, Ph.D., is a professor of Applied Linguistics and Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand. His major interests and over 200 publications are on the psychology of language learning and teaching, especially learner metacognition, second language (L2) reading-writing development, teacher assessment and AI literacy. His publications have appeared in top journals such as among others. In the Elsevier-Stanford Rankings of scholars’ academic impact, he has been consecutively listed in the top 2% mostcited linguists in the World.