Weideman, A. J.Keyser, Gini2018-01-252018-01-252017-07http://hdl.handle.net/11660/7704English: The low levels of academic literacy of students at South African universities are a well-known problem, and one which is increasingly being identified as one of the prime reasons for a lack of academic performance and low throughput rates. The employment of academic literacy tests by tertiary institutions is a direct result of the need to identify which students are potentially at risk, and would therefore need additional academic support in order to complete their degree courses successfully in the prescribed time. One such test that has been used for some time nationally and internationally to measure the academic literacy levels specifically of postgraduate students is the Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS). This test, however, is currently unavailable in any of the other official languages. This study therefore confirms the need to promote multilingualism at postgraduate level, even in the face of this goal at present being increasingly undermined by the favouring of a monolingual English dispensation at university. More specifically, this and previous studies acknowledge the lack of an Afrikaans alternative for TALPS as a serious shortcoming in language assessment at tertiary level. In response to this need the study intends to design, develop, test out and refine a postgraduate of academic literacy in Afrikaans (TAGNaS – Toets van Akademiese Geletterdheid vir Nagraadse Studente). This is done with reference to a theoretical-analytical framework of constitutive and regulative design principles that relate assessment design on the one hand to intrinsic, conventional conditions such as reliability and validity and, on the other, take account of social impacts such as transparency, accountability, and fairness. For the theoretical justification of TAGNaS multiple sets of evidence are presented, among which are the articulation of the theoretical rationale for the test (a key element of construct validity) and an argument integrating several statistical analyses of the pilot test results. Since the test rests theoretically upon a recently modified definition of academic literacy, experimentation with new or modified subtests and task types was part of the investigation. The results indicate that it can be highly productive to treat the operationalization of the construct with ingenuity and creativity, and also that experimentation with the challenges that new articulations of established constructs provide can be successfully accomplished.Afrikaans: Die lae akademiese-geletterdheidsvlakke van studente aan Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite is ’n goedbekende probleem wat toenemend as een van die hoofoorsake van akademiese onderprestering en swak deurvloeikoerse bestempel word. Die gebruik van akademiese geletterdheidstoetse by tersiêre instansies is ’n direkte gevolg van die behoefte om te bepaal watter studente potensiële risikostudente is wat heel waarskynlik bykomende akademiese ondersteuning gaan benodig ten einde hulle graadkursusse binne die voorgeskrewe tydperk met sukses te voltooi. Een so ’n toets wat reeds ’n geruime tyd lank nasionaal en internasionaal gebruik word om die akademiese geletterdheidsvlak van spesifiek voornemende nagraadse studente te meet, is die Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS). Hierdie toets is egter tans in geen van die amptelike landstale behalwe Engels beskikbaar nie. Gevolglik bevestig hierdie studie die behoefte aan die bevordering van veeltaligheid op nagraadse vlak, selfs in weerwil daarvan dat hierdie strewe toenemend in die huidige universiteitbestel ten gunste van Engels-eentaligheid ondermyn word. Meer spesifiek, beskou hierdie en vorige studies dit as ʼn leemte in die gebied van taaltoetsing op tersiêre vlak dat daar tans geen Afrikaanse alternatief vir TALPS beskikbaar is nie. In antwoord op hierdie behoefte gee hierdie studie uitvoering aan die ontwerp, loodsing en verfyning van ʼn nagraadse toets van akademiese geletterdheid in Afrikaans (TAGNaS). Dit word gedoen ooreenkomstig ’n wetenskaplikteoretiese raamwerk van konstitutiewe en regulatiewe ontwerpbeginsels wat verantwoordelike toetsontwerp in verband bring met, aan die een kant, die inagneming van instrinsieke, konvensionele voorwaardes soos betroubaarheid en geldigheid, en, aan die ander kant, die verrekening van sosiale impakte soos deursigtigheid, verantwoordbaarheid en regverdigheid. Vir die teoretiese begronding van TAGNaS word ’n menigvuldigheid van bewyse ter stawing gebied, waaronder ’n artikulasie van die teoretiese rasionaal waarop die toets gebaseer is (’n kernaspek van konstrukgeldigheid), asook ’n beredeneerde opgawe van verskeie statistiese ontledings van die loodstoetsresultate. Aangesien die teoretiese basis van die toets uit ’n onlangs bygewerkte definisie van akademiese geletterdheid bestaan, maak eksperimentering met gewysigde en/of nuwe subtoetse en/of taaktipes deel van hierdie ondersoek uit. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat om vindingryk en kreatief om te gaan met die operasionalisering van ’n konstruk besonder suksesvol en verruimend kan wees, en dui aan dat eksperimentering met die vereistes wat nuwe artikulasies van gevestigde konstrukte stel, geslaag kan wees.afMultilingualismApplied linguisticsLanguage assessmentAcademic literacyDesign principlesConstitutive conceptsRegulative ideasReliabilityValidityConstruct validityConsequential validityValidationAcademic achievement -- Students| -- South AfricaLiteracy -- South AfricaDissertation (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch, German and FrenchDissertationUniversity of the Free State