This project,
providing systematic descriptions of
the tasks used in all languages in
the KPG examinations, is aimed at
the collection of the essential
meta-data for standardization of the
exam specifications and control of
the exam battery. So far, it has
involved the creation and continuous
enrichment of a database in which
tasks are stored for each language,
exam period, and proficiency level
along with information regarding the
task type (e.g. multiple choice,
multiple match, gap filling, etc.),
what a given task checks (e.g.
comprehension, language awareness,
production of written or spoken
language) as well as descriptions of
the texts associated with a given
task (the source text to which the
candidate is asked to respond and
the target text which is to be
produced). In the theory of language
underlying the KPG examinations, the
notion of text is understood
as the material configuration of
various aspects of the communicative
context in which language functions.
In the Task Analysis database, texts
are described in terms of bundles of
features specifying their
communicative function, or the
so-called text genre. These
features include the topic
and the domain to which a
text pertains (e.g. environment,
entertainment, travel, sport, etc.);
the discourse environment of
the text (e.g. newspaper, magazine,
webpage, encyclopedia, dictionary,
etc.), incorporating distinctions
regarding the communicative roles or
identities of the author and
addressee of the text; the text
type (e.g. article,
announcement, report, advertisement,
email, etc.), identified in terms of
the communicative goals for which
the text has been produced as well
as its structure; and the text
process (e.g. description,
narration, explanation,
argumentation, instruction) by means
of which the communicative goals are
fulfilled.
The values that these features may
take are specified in pre-defined
typologies, i.e. the KPG typologies
of domains, discourse environments,
text types and processes. Treating
genres in terms of combinations of
individual parameters has
significant advantages over their
conception as atomic categories. The
model that has been implemented in
this project supports the
classification of texts on the basis
of well-defined criteria designating
coherent categories. This
classification is readily extensible
to new categories. Furthermore, it
enables identifying how linguistic
choices attested in texts correlate
with specific aspects of their
communicative context.
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