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REVISITING THE SPANISH ELICITED IMITATION TASK

A TOOL FOR ASSESSING ADVANCED LANGUAGE LEARNERS?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2019

Megan Solon ,
Hae In Park ,
Carly Henderson  and
Marzieh Dehghan-Chaleshtori
Megan Solon*
Affiliation:
University at Albany, SUNY
Hae In Park
Affiliation:
University at Albany, SUNY
Carly Henderson
Affiliation:
Augusta University
Marzieh Dehghan-Chaleshtori
Affiliation:
University at Albany, SUNY
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Megan Solon, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Humanities 235, University at Albany, SUNY, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: msolon@albany.edu
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Abstract

Elicited imitation tasks (EITs) have been shown to be a valid, reliable, and practical method for establishing second-language (L2) oral proficiency across a variety of languages. Nevertheless, research that has validated existing EITs has most often explored a narrow range of learner proficiencies or has examined how well the EIT distinguishes between low- and high-level learners. Bowden’s (2016) validation study of the Spanish EIT was the first to expand the range of learner proficiencies by including low, advanced, and very advanced L2 learners; her results suggested that, in its current state, the EIT may not be equipped to distinguish finer-grained levels of proficiency, especially at more advanced levels. The present study revisits the Spanish EIT to examine (a) its ability to distinguish between higher level learners and (b) whether including additional, more challenging EIT items allows for finer-grained distinctions at higher levels. Results suggest that the addition of longer, more challenging EIT items can improve the discriminability of the test among more advanced L2 learners.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 41 , Issue 5 , December 2019 , pp. 1027 - 1053
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

We would like to thank Cecily Corbett, Pamela Alvarado-McNamara, and Ángel Milla Muñoz for their invaluable assistance in the creation and piloting of the revised EIT instrument. This project benefitted enormously from the feedback provided by attendees to the Evolving Perspectives on Advancedness: A Symposium on Second Language Spanish organized by Mandy Menke and Paul Malovrh in February 2018. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the SSLA editorial team for their comments, suggestions, and critiques. All remaining errors are our own.

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