NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH AS A

SECOND LANGUAGE TEST

(NYSESLAT)

GRADES 2-4

TEST SPECIFICATIONS

WITH LINKS TO STANDARDS

Updated October 30, 2003

Prepared by Educational Testing Service

Copyright © 2003 Educational Testing Service.

Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

PART I

TEST SPECIFICATIONS

for

WRITING

SPEAKING

READING

LISTENING

WRITING

Number of Writing Tasks: 3

Task Types are:

• Prewriting for a story/essay (using a graphic organizer that is provided)
• Writing the story/essay (one writing prompt)
• Editing a piece of writing (12 errors)

SCORING THE WRITING EXERCISES

The 2-4 Writing exercises are scored holistically. For Prewriting, a 0-1-2 scale is used. For Writing a story/essay, a 0-1-2-3 scale is used. For Editing, corrected errors are counted, and the number of corrected errors is then translated to a 3-2-1-0- scale.

Scoring Task Type 1: Prewriting for a story/essay

Score	Characteristics of Students Responses
2	The student fills in the boxes with clear and relevant ideas. The responses in most of the boxes have enough detail to show thinking, imagination, or insight into the topic.
1	The student attempts to write something relevant to the topic in some of the boxes. All or most of the responses are single words or very simple phrases.
^0	The boxes are blank, or only one box is filled in, or the information written in the boxes is irrelevant or incoherent.

Scoring Task Type 2: Writing the story/essay

Score	Characteristics of Students Responses
4	The student’s response: is completely and easily comprehensible; has an appropriate main idea or theme provides appropriate and specific details, examples and, if required, supporting evidence; and develops in a coherent and connected way contains language that flows in well-developed sentences, with some variety in sentence structure shows well-developed vocabulary resources (the student usually finds appropriate words to convey meaning) displays few errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation; errors do not interfere with communication
3	The student’s response: is comprehensible, though the reader may have to make an effort to understand it; has an identifiable main idea or purpose provides some appropriate details, examples and, if required, supporting evidence; and develops in a coherent and connected way is written entirely, or almost entirely, in complete sentences; displays some variety in sentence structure shows emerging vocabulary resources (the student often finds appropriate words to convey meaning) displays some errors in grammar (for example, in the use of articles and prepositions), spelling and punctuation, but these errors do not impede communication
2	The student’s response: is somewhat comprehensible but often requires a marked effort on the part of the reader to understand it; may lack a main idea often fails to provide appropriate details, examples, or evidence displays little or no variety in sentence structure; the writing may be choppy or abrupt shows basic vocabulary resources; errors in word choice sometimes interfere with communication displays frequent errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions, and avoids more difficult structures; errors may interfere with communication
1	The student’s response: is often incomprehensible; has no main idea or clear purpose; and may not address every part of the question/prompt provides few, if any, details, examples, or evidence contains few, if any, complete sentences; the writing may seem inappropriate or incoherent shows a limited range of vocabulary, which interferes with communication shows little control of grammar and of the conventions of written English
0	The student’s response is not recognizable as written English, does not address the question at all, or is completely irrelevant or incoherent.

Scoring Task Type 3: Editing a piece of writing

SCORE	Number of Errors the Student Corrects Properly
3	10 - 12
2	6 – 9
1	3 – 5
0	0 - 2

SPEAKING

Number of Test Questions: 5

Task Types for Students:

o Narrate a story based on a 4-picture sequence*

o Describe and interpret information in a chart or graph*

o Express an opinion or explain a personal preference*

o Ask appropriate questions in school or social situations*

o Provide information and assistance

o Explain actions, choices, and decisions

o Make an argument/speak persuasively

o Make a comparison/contrast

* Asterisked item types will appear in each form.

SCORING THE SPEAKING TASKS

The 2-4 Speaking tasks are scored holistically using two rating scales. A 0-1-2 rating scale is used for the Express an opinion or explain a personal preference and Ask appropriate questions in school or school situations item types. A 0-1-2-3 point rating scale is used for all of the other item types listed above.

The administrator of the tasks scores each task after the student has finished speaking.

SCORING GUIDE FOR GRADES 2-4 SPEAKING

2-1-0 SCALE

Score Point	Characteristics of Student Responses
2	The student’s response: is understandable and appropriate is basically grammatically correct presents appropriate word choices for the grade level may have minor errors, but the errors are infrequent and they do not interfere with communication
1	The student’s response: is understandable displays noticeable errors in grammar displays noticeable errors in word choice displays limited English proficiency
0	The student gives no response, gives a response that cannot be understood as English, or does not demonstrate an understanding of English.

3-2-1-0 SCALE

Score	Characteristics of Student Responses
3	The student’s response: is completely and easily comprehensible is coherent is fluent provides appropriate and specific details and/or examples shows well-developed vocabulary resources (the student can usually find the right word) may display grammatical mistakes (for example, in the use of articles or prepositions), but mistakes do not generally interfere with communication may display an accent, but errors of pronunciation and intonation do not interfere with communication
2	The student’s response: is comprehensible, but may require effort on the part of the listener develops in a somewhat coherent way is somewhat fluent provides some appropriate and specific details and/or examples displays a basic, but not wide or extensive vocabulary (the student sometimes cannot find the right word) grammatical errors sometimes interfere with comprehension may display errors in pronunciation and/or intonation that interfere with communication
1	The student’s response: is somewhat comprehensible presents limited ideas (the student has difficulty expressing a complete thought without prompting) is spoken haltingly (the student usually does not produce no more than one or two words at a time) provides few, if any, details or examples shows a very limited range of vocabulary, which interferes with communication (the student often cannot find the right word) makes numerous grammatical errors that interfere with communication shows little control of pronunciation, intonation, or stress
0	The student gives no response, gives a response that cannot be understood as English, or does not demonstrate an understanding of English.

READING

Number of Questions: 25

Task Types for Students:

o Reading comprehension passages with multiple-choice questions.

o Passage Types

· Fiction/Literary (1-3 passages)

· Graphic (1-2 passages)

· Non-fiction (1-3 passages)

o Question Types That Must Be Represented:

· Main Idea/Topic Summary

· Detail/Fact

· Vocabulary

· Sequence of Events/Process

· Inference/Prediction

· Reference/Antecedent

· Cause/Effect

· Interpretation

· Literary Elements such as Plot, Character, or Setting

o Question Types That Will Also Be Represented, as Appropriate:

· Author’s Purpose

· Literary/Genre

· Fact versus Opinion

Note on Passage Types:

Among the nonfiction, fiction, and graphic passages, writers of test questions and test assemblers are encouraged to include passages that reflect cultural patterns and norms in the United States and /or the cultures and perspectives of immigrants to the United States.

Note on Answers:

Students mark their answers on a multiple-choice answer sheet.

LISTENING

Number of Test Questions: 24

Stimulus Types:

· Picture Description (4-8 Questions)

· Informative/Academic (2-4 Questions)

· Literary Text (3-6 Questions)

· Social Interaction (8-12 Questions)

Question Types:

· Matching Statements with Pictures (at least 4 questions)

· Listening for Main Ideas (at least 4 questions)

· Listening for Details (at least 6 questions)

· Making Inferences/Predictions (at least 3 questions)

Notes:

Stimulus material for the Listening test is presented on an audiotape. Students mark their answers on a multiple-choice answer sheet.

PART II

ALIGNMENT OF STANDARDS AND TASK & QUESTION TYPES
Alignment of Learning Standards and Specifications

Grades 2-4

New York ESL Learning Standards	Task/Item Types
Standard 1: English for information and understanding.	Writing – Prewriting, writing the story/essay, editing Speaking – Narrate a story based on a picture sequence, describe and interpret information in a chart or graph, give directions based on a map, make a comparison/contrast Reading – Nonfiction passages in everyday or academic language, passages presenting information in a graphically organized form (including charts, graphs, maps, and calendars), inference, sequence of events or stages in a process, compare, contrast, categorize information, vocabulary Listening –Informative/academic, matching statements with pictures, listening selectively for a specific purpose, listening for main ideas, listening for details, making inferences/predictions
Standard 2: English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression.	Reading – Stories or excerpts from fiction and/or poems, literary elements, such as plot, character, setting, or theme, predictions or inferences based on literary works, interpretation of literary meaning, literary genres Listening – Literary text, listening for main ideas, listening for details, making inferences/predictions
Standard 3: English for critical analysis and evaluation.	Writing – Writing the story/essay Speaking – Make an argument/speak persuasively<