Publications

BACKGROUND: Efficient selection of medical students in GP training plays an important role in improving healthcare quality. The aim of this study was to collect quantitative and qualitative validity evidence of a multicomponent proficiency-test for identifying underperforming students in cognitive and non-cognitive competencies, prior to entering postgraduate GP Training. From 2016 to 2018, 894 medical GP students in four Flemish universities in ...

The popularity of online courses with open access and unlimited learner participation (MOOCs) has been growing intensively. Certificates of MOOC completion are becoming a significant element in learners' portfolios as well as an additional source of academic credits. That is why learners, professors, universities, and employers have an interest in accurate measures of learners' proficiency in MOOCs. Existing psychometric approaches do not serve ...

This study investigated the effects of comprehensive feedback on learners’ grammatical accuracy during text revision and in new writing tasks in light of proficiency level. It also sought to determine to what extent learners’ proficiency level plays a role in their feedback preferences and attitudes towards the feedback. The participants were 52 low proficiency and 39 high proficiency foreign language university learners, who were randomly ...

Second language (L2) learners must attain certain language competences before they can control the language they use in composing an L2 text. This study aims to look into the effect of L2 proficiency level on composing processes of L2 student writers in L2 writing. The research to date has produced conflicting evidence concerning the relationship between L2 proficiency and composing processes. A number of L2 studies found that L2 proficiency ...

A relatively small body of research addresses the effect of intellectual impairment on proficiency in sport. The aim in the present study was to determine whether the technical proficiency of table tennis players (TTP) with and without intellectual disability (ID), matched for years of training experience, are different. The sample consisted of 71 elite TTP with ID (41 males, age=27±8years, IQ=61±9; and 30 females, age=28±8years, IQ=57±10; M±SD) ...

This study examines the effect of proficiency in the L2 (English) and L3 (Dutch) on word learning in the L3.Listeners were 92 L1 Spanish speakers with differing proficiencies in L2 and L3, and 20 native speakers ofDutch. The learners were divided into basic and advanced English and Dutch proficiency groups accordingto their scores on general listening comprehension language tests. Participants were trained and subsequentlytested on the mapping ...

This study investigates the relationship between nine quantitative measures of L2 speech complexity and subjectively rated L2 proficiency by comparing the oral productions of English L2 learners at five IELTS proficiency levels. We carry out ANOVAs with pairwise comparisons to identify between which proficiency levels the observed differences are to be situated, as well as ordinal logistic regression modelling, allowing us to combine multiple ...

The effect of intellectual impairment on sports performance has received limited attention by researchers. As a contribution to closing this gap, the purpose of the present investigation was to examine the differences in tactical proficiency between table tennis players with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). These groups were matched for training-volume and experience and consisted of 41 male (age = 27±8) and 30 female (age= 28±8) ...

This study examines the effect of L2 and L3 proficiency on L3 word learning. Native speakers of Spanish with different proficiencies in L2 English and L3 Dutch and a control group of Dutch native speakers participated in a Dutch word learning task involving minimal and non-minimal word pairs. The minimal word pairs were divided into U+2018minimal-easyU+2019 and U+2018minimal-difficultU+2019 pairs on the basis of whether or not they are known to ...

The attentional blink task involves rapid serial presentation of visual stimuli, two of which the participants have to report. The usual finding is that participants are impaired at reporting the second target if it appears in close temporal proximity to the first target. Previous research has shown that the effect is stronger in bilinguals than monolinguals. We investigated whether the difference between monolinguals and proficient bilinguals ...