Type of Work: Language Materials Development
Duration: 06-Jul-2015 to 14-Aug-2015
Compensation: Paid Attractive compensation
Internship Location: Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Minimum Education Level: No Minimum
ELL summer interns will produce materials for use on large-scale, high-stakes standardized tests of English language proficiency. Each intern will work on
one of the following: - TOEFL iBT® Test: The TOEFL iBT test is taken by nonnative speakers of English who are planning to apply to a college or university
in an English-speaking country. - TOEIC® Tests: The TOEIC tests are taken principally by people who need to communicate with both native and nonnative
speakers of English in the context of the global workplace.
- TOEFL® Primary™ Tests: The TOEFL Primary tests are taken by nonnative English language learners ages 8+ who are studying English as part of their
school curriculum. They measure the English communication skills that provide a foundation for students’ future success.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The test development work is intellectually challenging and rewarding. The work may include:
- writing items that test knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension;
- creating conversations and talks that test listening comprehension;
- developing scenarios and prompts that allow candidates to demonstrate their writing, speaking or teaching skills;
- analyzing curriculum and matching the curriculum with prescribed test specifications.
Requirements:
Interns must have a very high degree of fluency in English but do not need to be native speakers, nor do they need to be U.S. citizens. Non-U.S. citizens
must have appropriate work visas. All interns must have excellent writing skills. The work requires verbal precision and sensitivity to nuance, analytic skill,
attention to detail, and receptiveness to instruction. Interns must be able to work well individually and collaboratively, carefully consider constructive
feedback, and manage their time effectively to meet targets.
How to Apply:
Each of the test sections hiring for the summer is associated with a specific work sample. You will need to complete and submit a separate work sample for
each test section for which you would like to be considered. Directions for completing and submitting your work sample(s), along with a cover letter and
résumé, are available on the ELL Summer Institute Web site at: http://www.ets.org/ell/internship.
Applications are due Sunday, March 29, 2015. Applicants are selected mainly on the basis of their performance on the work samples. Work samples will be
evaluated in April, and you will be notified of your status by April 29.
Application Deadline: 29-Mar-2015
7/28/2017
Vowel Shift in English
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
Historically long vowels and diphthongs
became lax when followed by two syllables
ser[e:]ne > ser[ɛ]nity
Later [e:] > [i] ser[e:]ne > ser[i]ne
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
This process results in these alternations
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
Meter / metrical
Obscene / obscenity
Nation / national
Cone / conical
Bible / biblical
Discrete / discretion
Code / codify
Pronounce / pronunciation
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
This is in part responsible for many written
vowels having two common pronunciations
“a” [eɪ, æ]
“e” [i, ɛ]
“i” [aɪ, I]
“o” [oʊ, ɑ]
“u” [uʊ, ʌ]
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
Generativists assume each pair of vowels is
the same in UR
Sane and sanity both have abstract [se:n] as
the root and derive the vowels in s[eɪ]ne and
s[æ]nity by rule
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
Experimentalist like Wang and Derwing show
that people connect these spelling rule vowel
pairs and can apply them to new words
“She is a prestice lady who has a lot of
presticity”
7/28/2017
Trisyllabic shortening
Experimentalist like Wang and Derwing show
that people connect these spelling rule vowel
pairs and can apply them to new words
“She is a prestice lady who has a lot of
presticity”
Connection between vowels doesn't mean they
come from single vowel in UR
7/28/2017
Surface Analogy
1 The phonetic form of one word will influence
the pronunciation of a related word
Interv[i]ne and interv[ɛ]ntion
Both [i] and [ɛ] could be used in the nonce
word intervenatory
This is a spelling rule alternation
comp[ɛ]l and comp[ʌ]lsion could be used in
the nonce word comp*lative
7/28/2017
Surface Analogy
2 Don't use a pronunciation that doesn't
appear in a related word
surv[aɪ]ve has no related words like surv[ɪ]vSo the nonce word survivatory should be
surv[aɪ]vatory
7/28/2017
Research Question
How do the spelling rules and surface analogy
influence the pronunciation of nonce words?
7/28/2017
Research Question
How do the spelling rules and surface analogy
influence the pronunciation of nonce words?
7/28/2017
Test Items
Test items were nonce words and neologisms
Derived forms made with -ify, -ical, -atory, -tion, etc.
Nonce word
“He couldn't stand her den[eɪ]gue attitide. If it were for her
den__gity he would ask her out.”
Neologism
“She loves c[ɑ]ffee so much that if she could she'd c___ffify
everything so it tasted like coffee”
People chose between possible pronunciations
c[ɑ]ffify no change from coffee
c[æ]ffify vowel from related word caffeine
c[ʌ]ffify vowel unrelated—distractor answer
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested spelling rule
Denague > den__aguity
den[eɪ]guity
den[æ]guity
den[ʌ]guity
7/28/2017
no change
spelling rule change
distractor vowel
Results
Items that tested spelling rule
Denague > den__aguity
den[eɪ]guity
den[æ]guity
den[ʌ]guity
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no change
spelling rule change
distractor vowel
53
346
93
Results
Items that tested surface analogy
Coffee > c__ffify
c[ɑ]ffify no change from coffee
c[æ]ffify vowel from related word caffeine
c[ʌ]ffify vowel unrelated—distractor answer
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested surface analogy
Coffee > c__ffify
c[ɑ]ffify no change from coffee
113
c[æ]ffify vowel from related word caffeine
186
c[ʌ]ffify vowel unrelated—distractor answer 70
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
Intervene > interv__natory
interv[i]natory no change
interv[ɛ]natory predicted by
spelling rule and surface analogy (interv[ɛ]ntion)
interv[æ]natory distractor
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
Intervene > interv__natory
interv[i]natory no change
48
interv[ɛ]natory predicted by
spelling rule and surface analogy (interv[ɛ]ntion)404
interv[æ]natory distractor
40
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
surv[aɪ]ve > surv__vative (allrelated words have same vowel)



7/28/2017
surv[aɪ]vative
no change predicted by surface analogy
surv[I]vatory predicted by spelling rule
surv[ɛ]vative distractor
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
surv[aɪ]ve > surv__vative (allrelated words have same vowel)



7/28/2017
surv[aɪ]vative
no change predicted by surface analogy 207
surv[I]vatory predicted by spelling rule
241
surv[ɛ]vative distractor
44
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
abst[eɪ]n > abst__natory (related word abst[ɛ]ntion)
abst[eɪ]natory no change
abst[ɛ]natory
predicted by surface analogy
abst[æ]natory predicted by vowel shift
7/28/2017
Results
Items that tested spelling rule and surface
analogy
abst[eɪ]n > abst__natory (related word abst[ɛ]ntion)
abst[eɪ]natory no change
45
abst[ɛ]natory
187
predicted by surface analogy
abst[æ]natory predicted by vowel shift
7/28/2017
137
Conclusions
Spelling rule alternations are applied by
people to new words
Other vowel alternations (non-spelling rule)
from morphemic relatives can be applied
also (caffeine / coffee, propel / propulsion)
7/28/2017
Conclusions
Spelling rule alternations are applied by
people to new words
Other vowel alternations (non-spelling rule)
from morphemic relatives can be applied
also (caffeine / coffee, propel / propulsion)
Unique UR and rules for spelling
alternations have been proposed
(trisyllabic shortening)
Do we need a unique UR and rules for
words like caffeine / coffee, propel /
propulsion?
7/28/2017