Assessing Performance: Enhanced FLO Diagnostics (EFD)

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Automated Assessment Tool: EFD (Pilot languages: AD, KP, & RU) Automated Assessment Tool

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Text analysis reveals a symbiotic relationship between the two products: – Authentic materials – Problem solving – Critical thinking – Developing strategies – Processing extended discourse – Cultural knowledge – Contextualization – Exposure to pragmatics Linking Performance with Proficiency

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Counterterrorism Insurgency Weapons Air defense Border violations Military training Technical terminology Diplomatic mission Computer discussions Mixture of English and target language Setting up infrastructure Any conversation with a suspicious twist to it… Sample Topics from the Field

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER LISTENING Task 1: Title: Able to immediately summarize the cut in no more than seven words (all levels) Task 2: Speaker Analysis: Able to distinguish between the speakers, by identifying their gender, number, accent and attitude Task 3: Content Qs: Understands the cut globally Task 4: Transcription: Able to transcribe the meaning accurately by reconstruct lexical and grammatical structure of the sentence Task 5: Translation: Able to transfer the meaning accurately from the target language into English Top-Down Activities

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Task 6: Transcription 1, partial: Able to transcribe the meaning accurately by using correct lexicon (vocabulary category 1) Task 7: Transcription 1, partial: Able to transcribe the meaning accurately by using correct lexicon (vocabulary category 2) Task 8: Transcription 2, partial: Able to transcribe the meaning accurately by using correct grammatical structure (grammar category 1) Task 9: Transcription 2, partial: Able to transcribe the meaning accurately by using correct grammatical structure (grammar category 2) Task 10: Edit/Correct gist: Able to identify important details and edit misinformation Bottom-up Activities

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER READING Task 11 Rewriting distorted text 4% Task 12 Content questions (different genre text) 10% Bottom-up Activities: con’t

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Passing: 90% LISTENING Task 1 Title 4% Task 2 Speaker Analysis 4% Task 3 Content Qs 15% Task 4 Transcription 23% Task 5 Translation 22% Task 6 Partial Transcription (vocabulary category 1) 3% Task 7 Partial Transcription (vocabulary category 2) 3% Task 8 Partial Transcription (grammar category 1) 3% Task 9 Partial Transcription (grammar category 2) 3% Task 10 Edit/Correct Gist 20% Grading Protocol (draft)

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER READING Task 11 Rewriting distorted text 4% Task 12 Content questions (different genre text) 10% Grading Protocol (draft): cont’d

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER The linguists/students will be given: Performance analysis and clear recommendations how to improve their FLO skills Recommendations how to proceed to the next higher level of proficiency Feedback and Recommendations

DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Comments/Questions