The paper examines the results of the CEFR alignment project for the Slovenian national examinations in English. The authors aim to validate externally the standard-setting procedures by adopting a ...socio-cognitive model of validation (Khalifa & Weir, 2009; Weir, 2005) to analyse the scoring, context and cognitive validity of three reading subtests: the Slovenian B2 national examination and the international examinations FCE and CAE, aligned with B2 and C1 respectively. The relative comparability between the three subtests is determined by analysing the results of tests that have been administered to a group of 80 test-takers (expected CEFR level: B2). The placement of the test-takers also reveals to what extent the judgements of the Slovenian panellists about CEFR levels coincide with those reported for FCE and CAE. The study thus also explores whether the high degree of agreement between the judges on the alignment panel can be solely attributed to their adequate and precise understanding of CEFR descriptors – which is directly mirrored in their setting of the cut scores and relating the examination to relevant CEFR levels – or whether it can also be ascribed to their shared educational, national and cultural background. The answers to these questions are paramount because they reveal the descriptive adequacy of CEFR descriptors and because different interpretations of CEFR levels can significantly affect national testing policies and, consequently, language teaching and testing.
Task difficulty is an important but complex phenomenon in Applied Linguistics, for which there is relatively little empirical research. This article discusses approaches to defining task difficulty ...and focuses on objective task difficulty derived from ratings of performances and on difficulty derived from an error count in the performances, thus taking errors as indicators of writing task difficulty. Errors are described in terms of the Scope–Substance error taxonomy in writing performances from the Slovene General Matura examination in English. The most frequent errors are located at word and phrase level. Generally, error frequency decreases as writing proficiency increases, but some error types do not conform to this trend. This is the case for punctuation errors, which gain prominence at higher levels of mastery. The results of this study are relevant for assessment, particularly for rating scale development or revision, and for rater training. They are equally relevant for teaching, since knowing sources of difficulty in tasks is a prerequisite for effective pedagogical action. More generally, if applied to performances based on a wider range of tasks, viewing errors as indicators of difficulty can lead to a better understanding of difficulty‐generating task features.
Povzetek
Težavnost nalog je pomemben, a zapleten pojav v uporabnem jezikoslovju, o katerem je razmeroma malo empiričnih raziskav. Prispevek obravnava pristope k opredeljevanju zahtevnosti nalog pri preverjanju pisnega sporočanja. Osredinjen je na njihovo objektivno zahtevnost, ki izhaja iz točkovnih ocen pisnih izdelkov in iz števila napak v izdelkih, kar pomeni, da napake obravnava kot kazalec zahtevnosti nalog. Napake opredeli po taksonomiji obseg‐vsebina in jo uporabi za ocenjevanje pisnih izdelkov na izpitu iz angleščine na slovenski splošni maturi. Najpogostejše napake se pojavljajo na ravni besed in besednih zvez; večinoma se njihova pogostnost zmanjša z naraščanjem pisne zmožnosti, vendar nekatere vrste napak ne sledijo temu trendu. Tak je primer napak v rabi ločil, ki so pogostejše na višjih ravneh znanja. Rezultati študije so pomembni za ocenjevanje, predvsem za razvoj in prenovo ocenjevalnih lestvic, pa tudi za usposabljanje ocenjevalcev. Dognanja so pomembna tudi za poučevanje, saj je razumevanje razlogov za zahtevnost predpogoj za učinkovito pedagoško delo. Širše gledano lahko napake uporabimo kot kazalec zahtevnosti tudi pri drugih vrstah nalog in s tem izboljšamo prepoznavanje in razumevanje tistih lastnosti nalog, ki prispevajo k njihovi zahtevnosti.
Članek najprej primerja nekatere vidike slovenske splošne in poklicne mature iz an gleščine, nato pa predstavi del rezultatov projekta »Umestitev izpitov iz angleščine v Skupni evropski referenčni ...okvir za jezike«, ki je potekal v obdobju 2008–10.
This paper presents a study which investigates the reading strategies employed by Slovenian EFL students whose classroom context is influenced by a high-stakes, curriculum-aligned national ...examination. The findings show that there are only minor differences between strong and weak students in their use of reading strategies. The results are discussed in light of the washback effect and the development of the reading skill/strategies in the classroom. The discussion suggests that educators should be aware of the limitations of high-stakes examinations, and introduce reading tasks not directly linked to such examinations, in order to minimise their potential negative effect in the classroom.
Este artículo presenta un estudio sobre las estrategias de lectura de los estudiantes eslovenos de ILE cuyo contexto del aula está influido por el examen nacional de alto impacto, añadido al currículo. Los resultados muestran que hay solo diferencias mínimas
entre los estudiantes competentes y los incompetentes en el uso de las estrategias de lectura. Los resultados se discuten a la luz del efecto rebote y el desarrollo de la habilidad/las estrategias de lectura en clase. La discusión propone que los educadores deberían ser conscientes de las limitaciones de los exámenes de alto impacto e introducir tareas de lectura indirectamente relacionadas con tales exámenes para minimizar su potencial efecto negativo.
Rad predstavlja eksperimentalno istraživanje o percepciji jednoglasnika standardnoga engleskog jezika, koje je provedeno u trima etapama, u razdoblju od 2014. do 2018. godine. Promatrani vokali ...istraženi su (i) usporedbom engleskoga i slovenskoga vokalskog sustava te (ii) provođenjem eksperimenta u njihovoj percepciji. Raščlambom se u središte pozornosti stavlja ukupna izvedba sudionika, najučestalije neusklađenosti u poimanju te njihovo napredovanje tijekom nastave unutar jednoga semestra. Rezultati ukazuju na činjenicu: da se promatrana izvedba iz prethodnih istraživanja odražava i u poteškoćama u percepciji jednoglasnika, da usporedbom vokalskih sustava nije u potpunosti moguće predvidjeti diskriminacijske pogreške kod vokala stranoga jezika, da se opreke kod novih vokala usvajaju / izjednačavaju na različite načine te da se percepcija fonema stranoga jezika prema jasno izloženim uputama može poboljšati.
Engleska glagolska konstrukcija fail to x može biti protumačena na dva načina: prema prvom glagol nosi puno leksičko značenje ne uspijevanja u onome što se pokušava učiniti, dok prema drugom pokazuje ...znakove desemantizacije te se smatra gramatikaliziranim niječnim obilježivačem. Uzimajući u obzir sintaktička i semantička svojstva konstrukcije fail to x, ovo istraživanje ispituje njezinu distribuciju u dvjema vrstama korpusa. Za analizu distribucije obaju tipova u engleskome – s punim leksičkim značenjem i desemantiziranog – korišteni su opći korpusi (Britanski nacionalni korpus ‘BNC’ i Korpus suvremenog američkog engleskog ‘CoCA’). Za daljnju razradu dobivenih rezultata i njihovu usporedbu na međujezičnoj razini korišten je usporedni englesko-slovenski korpus (DGT Prijevodna memorija Europske komisije) kako bi se istražili prijevodi konstrukcije fail to x na slovenski. Usporedni korpus jezika pravne struke pokazuje utjecaj registra na uporabu konstrukcije fail to x te podupire tvrdnje da je desemantizirani glagol fail uobičajeno prisutan u formalnijim registrima.
•Supercavitation can efficiently destruct bacteria.•3.6 log reduction was achieved for L. pneumophila bacteria.•3.3 log reduction was achieved for E. coli bacteria.•3.8 log reduction was achieved for ...B. subtilis bacteria.•Hydrodynamic cavitation enables continuous water treatment.
In sufficient concentrations, the pathogenic bacteria L. pneumophila can cause a respiratory illness that is known as the “Legionnaires” disease. Moreover, toxic Shiga strains of bacteria E. coli can cause life-threatening hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Because of the recent restrictions imposed on the usage of chlorine, outbreaks of these two bacterial species have become more common. In this study we have developed a novel rotation generator and its effectiveness against bacteria Legionella pneumophila and Escherichia coli was tested for various types of hydrodynamic cavitation (attached steady cavitation, developed unsteady cavitation and supercavitation). The results show that the supercavitation was the only effective form of cavitation. It enabled more than 3 logs reductions for both bacterial species and was also effective against a more persistent Gram positive bacteria, B. subtilis. The deactivation mechanism is at present unknown. It is proposed that when bacterial cells enter a supercavitation cavity, an immediate pressure drop occurs and this results in bursting of the cellular membrane. The new rotation generator that induced supercavitation proved to be economically and microbiologically far more effective than the classical Venturi section (super)cavitation.
How bacterial cells colonize new territory is a problem of fundamental microbiological and biophysical interest and is key to the emergence of several phenomena of biological, ecological, and medical ...relevance. Here, we demonstrate how bacteria stuck in a colony of finite size can resume exploration of new territory by aquaplaning and how they fine tune biofilm viscoelasticity to surface material properties that allows them differential mobility. We show how changing local interfacial forces and colony viscosity results in a plethora of bacterial morphologies on surfaces with different physical and mechanical properties.
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