Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students

Assessment of grammatical knowledge is a rather neglected area of research in the field with many open questions (Purpura, 2004). An overview of the construct of grammar over time indicates that the dimensions of grammatical knowledge have not been adequately addressed in most of the models of gramm...

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Main Author: Hamed Zandi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Isfahan 2014-08-01
Series:Applied Research on English Language
Subjects:
Online Access:http://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15485_2c9e8314e6c5e7de72975720575facfe.pdf
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author Hamed Zandi
author_facet Hamed Zandi
author_sort Hamed Zandi
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description Assessment of grammatical knowledge is a rather neglected area of research in the field with many open questions (Purpura, 2004). An overview of the construct of grammar over time indicates that the dimensions of grammatical knowledge have not been adequately addressed in most of the models of grammar. The present research incorporates recent proposals about the nature of grammatical development to create a framework consisting of dimensions of complexity, range, and strength, and investigates the dimension(s) which can best predict the state of grammatical knowledge of EFL students. To this end, the specifications of a test of grammatical knowledge were drafted and reviewed by (N = 7) of trained specifications reviewers. The specifications were revised and the test was administered to 158 English learners with mixed proficiency levels. The items were analyzed using classical test theory and Rasch model. The results of stepwise regression indicate that the model that best predicts grammatical knowledge of lower ability leaners includes range and strength, while for the higher level strength and complexity are the best predictors. This finding implies that specifications of a grammatical knowledge test may include use of a combination of item formats in order to measure different dimensions.
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spelling doaj.art-cf649885bd8c4122869e66b80923eb1d2022-12-21T23:44:44ZengUniversity of IsfahanApplied Research on English Language2252-01982322-53432014-08-01368510015485Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL studentsHamed ZandiAssessment of grammatical knowledge is a rather neglected area of research in the field with many open questions (Purpura, 2004). An overview of the construct of grammar over time indicates that the dimensions of grammatical knowledge have not been adequately addressed in most of the models of grammar. The present research incorporates recent proposals about the nature of grammatical development to create a framework consisting of dimensions of complexity, range, and strength, and investigates the dimension(s) which can best predict the state of grammatical knowledge of EFL students. To this end, the specifications of a test of grammatical knowledge were drafted and reviewed by (N = 7) of trained specifications reviewers. The specifications were revised and the test was administered to 158 English learners with mixed proficiency levels. The items were analyzed using classical test theory and Rasch model. The results of stepwise regression indicate that the model that best predicts grammatical knowledge of lower ability leaners includes range and strength, while for the higher level strength and complexity are the best predictors. This finding implies that specifications of a grammatical knowledge test may include use of a combination of item formats in order to measure different dimensions.http://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15485_2c9e8314e6c5e7de72975720575facfe.pdfdimensions of grammatical knowledgegrammatical complexitygrammatical rangegrammatical strength
spellingShingle Hamed Zandi
Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
Applied Research on English Language
dimensions of grammatical knowledge
grammatical complexity
grammatical range
grammatical strength
title Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
title_full Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
title_fullStr Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
title_short Investigating the relationship among complexity, range, and strength of grammatical knowledge of EFL students
title_sort investigating the relationship among complexity range and strength of grammatical knowledge of efl students
topic dimensions of grammatical knowledge
grammatical complexity
grammatical range
grammatical strength
url http://are.ui.ac.ir/article_15485_2c9e8314e6c5e7de72975720575facfe.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hamedzandi investigatingtherelationshipamongcomplexityrangeandstrengthofgrammaticalknowledgeofeflstudents