Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:39:03.138Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Using Images to Facilitate Writing for Skills Assessment: A Visual PELA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2017

Craig Baird*
Affiliation:
Research and Development, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia
Patricia Dooey
Affiliation:
Faculties of Humanities, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Craig Baird, Research and Development, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Determining the writing skill level of students commencing tertiary education is a key element in predicting their likely study success and in providing appropriate writing development opportunities. Writing tests constructed around written instructions often assume high levels of reading and comprehension skills, which in some instances impose difficulties for students who have varying levels of comprehension and writing skills as shaped by their cultural and ethnic, learning journey experiences and previous formal English language instruction. Many universities have now established Post-Entry Language Assessment (PELA) tools as a means to determining student language skills at the commencement of their studies. Discussed here is a Visual PELA (VP) intended to stimulate student writing of a small passage of text for the purpose noted above. The visual nature of this instrument is intended to provide an alternative approach for visual learners, or those for whom written instructions pose difficulties, to demonstrate their literacy skills. This paper describes the development and initial testing of a VP with a view to it becoming an additional tool for determining writing skills levels for commencing students. A trial of this VP took place with a cohort of mostly international students having English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) undertaking higher degree by research studies in an Australian university. The VP used here was founded on the idea of using images to stimulate the writing of a short passage of text where students can find their own context and ideas to write in an imaginative way and thus demonstrate their writing skill on entry to their tertiary studies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arkoudis, S., Baik, C., & Richardson, S. (2012). English language standards in higher education: From entry to exit. Melbourne: ACER Press.Google Scholar
Bachman, L.F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bangert-Drowns, R.L., Hurley, M.M., & Wilkinson, B. (2004). The effects of school-based writing-to-learn interventions on academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 74 (1), 2958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, G.M., Marton, F., Lewis, D.C., & Wilss, L.A. (2004). A longitudinal study of learning for a group of Indigenous Australian university students: Dissonant conceptions and strategies. Higher Education, 47 (1), 91111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caughlan, S. (2008). Advocating for the arts in an age of multiliteracies. Language Arts, 86 (2), 120126.Google Scholar
Coley, M. (1999). The English language entry requirements of Australian universities for students of non‐English speaking background. Higher Education Research & Development, 18 (1), 717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, G. (1993). Meeting the needs of Aboriginal students. The Aboriginal Child at School, 21 (02), 317.Google Scholar
Cools, E., Evans, C., & Redmond, J.A. (2009). Using styles for more effective learning in multicultural and e‐learning environments. Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, 3 (1), 516. Retrieved March 4, 2016 from doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/17504970910951110.Google Scholar
Coombe, C. (2010). Assessing foreign/second language writing ability. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 3 (3), 178187. Retrieved March 4, 2016 from doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981011070091.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunworth, K. (2009). An investigation into post-entry English language assessment in Australian universities. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 3 (1), A1–A13.Google Scholar
Frigo, T. (1999). Resources and teaching strategies to support Aboriginal children's numeracy learning: A review of the literature. Board of Studies New South Wales, Government New South Wales, Australia.Google Scholar
Hibbing, A.N., & Rankin-Erickson, J. L. (2003). A picture is worth a thousand words: Using visual images to improve comprehension for middle school struggling readers. The Reading Teacher, 56 (8), 758770.Google Scholar
Hughes, P. (2004). Aboriginal ways of learning. Adelaide, South Australia: Flinders University of South Australia.Google Scholar
Hughes, P., & More, A.J. (1997). Aboriginal ways of learning and learning styles. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Brisbane. Retrieved June 6, 2016 from https://www.aare.edu.au/97pap/hughp518.htm.Google Scholar
Johnson, H. (2011). Academic language and learning taking a lead: Enabling first year persistance and success. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 5 (2), 145157.Google Scholar
Johnstone, R. (2006). Review of research on language teaching, learning and policy published in 2004 and 2005. Language Teaching, 39 (4), 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearins, J.M. (1981). Visual spatial memory in Australian Aboriginal children of desert regions. Cognitive Psychology, 13 (3), 434460.Google Scholar
Knoch, U., & Elder, C. (2013). A framework for validating post-entry language assessments (PELAs). Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 2 (2), 4866.Google Scholar
Mainemelis, C., Boyatzis, R.E., & Kolb, D.A. (2002). Learning styles and adaptive flexibility: Testing experiential learning theory. Management Learning, 33 (1), 533.Google Scholar
Mowat, E. (2002). Teaching and learning with images. VINE, 32 (3), 513 Google Scholar
Mumford, A. (1993). Putting learning styles to work: An integrated approach. Journal of European Industrial Training, 17 (10), 39. doi:10.1108/03090599310046182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., & Exell, M. (2012). Addressing the language and literacy needs of aboriginal high school VET student who speak SAE as an additional language. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41 (2), 229239.Google Scholar
Queensland-Study-Authority. (2015). Effective teaching and learning strategies: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages: Resource guide. Retrieved June 8, 2016 from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/snr_atsi_languages_11_strategies.pdf.Google Scholar
Ransom, L. (2009). Implementing the post-entry English language assessment policy at the University of Melbourne: Rationale, processes and outcomes. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 3 (2), 1325.Google Scholar
Read, J., & von Randow, J. (2013). A university post-entry English language assessment: Charting the changes. International Journal of English Studies, 13 (2), 89110. doi: 10.1017/S0261444813000190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, K. A., & Goen, J. (2015). Making meaning, visibly: “Writing” and “Reading” image essays. English Journal, 104 (5), 5965.Google Scholar
Rochecouste, J., Oliver, R., Bennell, D., Anderson, R., Cooper, I., & Forrest, S. (2016). Teaching Australian Aboriginal higher education students; what should universities do? Studies in Higher Education, Retrieved April 11, 2016 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1134474.Google Scholar
TEQSA (2011). Higher education standards framework (Threshold standards) tertiary education quality and standards agency Act 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2015 from https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00169/Download.Google Scholar
Trudgett, M. (2013). Stop, collaborate and listen: A guide to seeding success for indigenous Higher Degree Research students, In Craven, R. G., & Mooney, J. (Eds.), Seeding Success in Indigenous Australian Higher Education (pp. 137155). London: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Universities Australia (2011). National best practice framework for Indigenous cultural competency in Australian universities. Canberra: Universities Australia. Retrieved July 7, 2016 from https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/uni-participation-quality/Indigenous-Higher-Education/Indigenous-Cultural-Compet#.VzwIHPl9670.Google Scholar