Assessing Speaking

It is simply the ability to parrot back a word or phrase or a sentence.

It is the production of short stretches of oral language. Examples include directed response tasks, reading aloud, sentence and dialogue completion, limited picture-cued tasks.

The tasks include interaction and test comprehension but at the limited level of short conversations, standard greetings, small talk, requests, and comments.

The length and complexity of the interaction are more in interactive tasks than in responsive ones. The task sometimes includes multiple exchanges and/or multiple participants.

The tasks include speeches, oral presentations, and story-telling. Oral interaction from listeners is either highly limited or ruled out altogether.

 What

tasks to assess imitative speaking?

Typical listen and repeat.

What

kinds of prompts would you use? Examples: Test-takers hear:

beat/bit bat/vat I bought a boat yesterday. The glow of the candle is growing.

Test-takers

repeat the stimulus.

 How

would you score these tasks? Example scoring scale:

2 1 0

acceptable pronunciation. comprehensible, partially correct. silence, seriously incorrect.

 Could

you design a test that is done over the phone? Where the test-taker talks to a computer? What tasks could you include to test all the five basic types of speaking? Lets look and listen at a test called PHONEPASS (Versant English Test now offered by Pearson Education, Inc.) http://www.ordinate.com/samples/english.jsp

 What

do you think about this test? Use the five basic criteria.

 What

speaking skills can be assessed/inferred from the PHONEPASS test? Examples?

 What

range of tasks can be used to assess intensive speaking? List some with your partner

 Typical:

Directed Response Tasks What kinds of prompts would you use? Examples: Test-takers are directed to respond:

Tell me he went home. Tell me that you like rock music. Tell me that you arent interested in tennis. Tell him to come to my office at noon. Remind him what time it is.

 Typical:

Reading aloud What kinds of prompts did PHONEPASS use? What other tasks could you design? List two other tasks with your partner

 Reading

a scripted dialogue. Reading sentences containing minimal pairs.

Examples: The man beat his dog. The man bit his dog.

Reading

information from a table or chart.

 What

elements of speech would you assess? List two of the major ones. Typical:

Pronunciation Fluency

 Pronunciation:

what scale would you design

for scoring? Example:

0.00.4 frequent errors and unintelligible. 0.51.4 occasionally unintelligible. 1.52.4 some errors but intelligible. 2.53.0 occasional errors but always intelligible.

 Fluency:

what scale would you design for

scoring? Example:
0.0 0.4 slow, hesitant, and unintelligible. 0.5 1.4 non-native pauses and flow that interferes with intelligibility. 1.5- 2.4 non-native pauses but the flow is intelligible. 2.5- 3.0 smooth and effortless.

 Look

at the PHONEPASS sample score report and answer these questions. 1. What is the range of possible scores? 2. What are the different bands? 3. What did the sample candidate score? 4. What does the score tell the candidate? 5. How does PHONEPASS measure up against other speaking tests?

What are the advantages? Comparisons between students are quite simple. Tests are easy to prepare and to administer. Predictable output, practicality, and reliability in scoring.

What are the disadvantages? It is not really authentic is it?

Exceptions

A parent reading to a child, sharing a story (news) with someone giving a scripted oral presentation.

It

is not communicative in real contexts.

 Lets

take a look at some speaking task samples from the TOEFL iBT TEST.
you listen to the sample, make a note of the

As

similarities and differences to the PHONEPASS test what tasks are used to assess the different types of speaking

See research paper for background of test design. You can download the full sample iBT test.

 First,

test-takers are given time to read through the dialogue to get its gist, then the tape/teacher produces one part orally and the test-taker responds. Advantages?

More time to anticipate an answer No potential ambiguity created by aural misunderstanding (oral interview).

 TOEFL

iBT identifies three broad areas to assess in their scoring standards. What are they?

DELIVERY LAN G UAG E U S E TOPIC DEVELOPMENT

 Oral

Interview:

a test administrator and a test-taker direct face-to-face exchange proceed through a protocol of questions and directives. It can vary in length from 5 to 45 minutes, depending on purpose and context.

Placement interviews may need only 5 minutes Proficiency Interviews may require an hour.

 Lets

take a look at the IELTS TEST, part 1 and IELTS TEST, part2. As you listen to the sample, make a note of the

the differences between IELTS and PHONEPASS the role of the examiner what different tasks are used, and why

 IELTS

has five broad areas in scoring:

COMPREHENSION GRAMMAR V O CAB U LAR Y PR O N U N C IATI O N C OM M UNI CATIV E CO MPETE NC E

 Lets

take a look at the IELTS TEST, part 2. As you listen to the sample, try to assess the speaker using the scoring grid provided.

Note your score for each aspect Compare with your partner at the end

How do these relate to the 5 criteria? Clear administrative PRACTICAL procedures Focusing the questions and VALID probes on the purpose of the assessment Biased for best AUTHENTIC & WASHBACK performance Creating a consistent, RELIABLE workable scoring system

 Lets

take a look at another totally different approach to assessing speaking.

Linguistic profiling suggests that language development (first or second) follows a standard schedule. Speech samples collected from learners

Analysed to locate the patterns Patterns matched from the sample to the regularities of the standard development schedule.

See RAPID PROFILE as an example: http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/rapidprofile/

 For

your reference, what follows is a summary of various tasks that can be used to assess different aspects of speaking. These have been summarized from Brown (2003) Language Assessment Principles.

Question and Answer Examples: 1. What is this called in English? ( to elicit a predetermined correct response) 2. What are the steps governments should take, if any, to stem the rate of deforestation in tropical countries? ( given more opportunity to produce meaningful language in response)

1.
2. 3.
a. b. c.

What do you think about the weather today? Why did you choose your academic major? Personal questions:
Have you ever been to the U. S. before? What other countries have you visited? Why did you go there? What did you like best about it?

Examples: how to operate an appliance how to put a bookshelf together, or how to create a dish. Scoring: based on (1) Comprehensibility (2) Specified grammatical/discourse categories.

Test-takers hear:
1. 2. 3. 4.

Describe how to make a typical dish Whats a good recipe for making _____? How do you access email on a PC computer? How do I get from ___ to ____ in your city?

Test-takers

respond.

The task should require the test-taker to produce at least 5 or 6 sentences. Use familiar topics and test linguistic competence. Paraphrasing, e.g. paraphrasing a story or a phone message

1.
2.
a. b. c.

elicit short stretches of output the criterion being assessed:

Is it a listening task more than production? Does it test short-term memory rather than linguistic ability? How does the teacher determine scoring of responses?

Four stages: Warm-up, Level check, Probe, and Wind-down. 1. Warm-up

the interviewer directs mutual introductions, helps the test-taker become comfortable with the situation, apprises the format, and reduces anxieties.

2.

Level check
Through preplanned Qs, the test-takers respond using expected forms and functions. Linguistic target criteria are scored.

3.

Probe:
In this phase, test-takers go to the heights of their ability and extend beyond the limits of the interviewers expectation. Through probe questions, the interviewer discovers the test-takers proficiency. At the lower levels of proficiency, probe items may demand a higher range of vocabulary and grammar than predicted. At the higher levels, probe items will ask the t-t to give an opinion, to recount a narrative or to respond to questions.

4.

Wind-down
the interviewer encourages the test-taker to relax with some easy questions, sets the t-ts mind at ease, and provides information about when and where to obtain the results of the interview. This part is not scored.

1. Warm-up:
How are you?/Whats your name?/What country are you from?/Let me tell your about this interview.

2. Level check:
How long have you been in this city?/tell me about your family./What is your major?/How long have you been working at your degree?/What are your hobbies or interests?/Why do you like your hobby? What is your favorite food?/Tell me about your exciting experience youve had.

3. Probe:
What are your goals for learning English in this program?/Describe your academic field to me. What do you like or dislike about it?/Describe someone you greatly respect, and tell me why you respect that person./If you were [president, prime minister] of your country, what would you like to change about your country?

4. Wind-down:
Did you feel okay about this interview?/Youll get your results from this interview next week./Do you have any question to ask?/It was interesting to talk with you. Best wishes.

picture-cued stimulus requires a description from the test-taker. It may elicit a word, a phrase, a story, or incident. Scoring scale for intensive tasks: 2 comprehensible; acceptable target form 1 comprehensible; partially correct 0 silence; or seriously incorrect

 Translation

is a communicative device in contexts where English is not a native lang. English can be called on to be interpreted as a second language. Conditions may vary from an instant translation of a native word, phrase, or sentence to a translation of longer texts. Advantages: the control of the output & easily specified scoring.

 It

is a popular pedagogical activity in communicative language-teaching classes. The test administrator must determine the assessment objectives of the role play, then devise a scoring technique that pinpoints those objectives. Examples: Pretend that youre a tourist asking me for directions, You are buying a necklace from me in a flea market, and want a lower price.

 As

informal techniques to assess learners, D & C offer a level of authenticity and spontaneity that other assessment techniques may not provide:

clarifying, questioning, paraphrasing, intonation patterns, body language, eye contact, and other sociolinguistic factors

 Extensive

speaking tasks are frequently variations on monologues, usually with minimal verbal interaction. Oral Presentations:

Examples: presenting a report, a paper, a marketing plan, a sales idea, a design of a new product, or a method.

Rules for effective assessment: (a) specify the criterion, (b) set appropriate tasks, Elicit optimal output, and (d) establish practical, reliable scoring procedures. Oral presentation checklist
Content: The purpose

3 excellent 2 good 1 fair 0 poor

or objective of the presentation was accomplished. The introduction was lively and got my attention. The main idea or point was clearly stated toward the beginning. The supporting points were clearly expressed and supported well by facts and argument. The conclusion restated the main idea or purpose.

 Delivery The speaker

well. The speaker maintained eye contact with the audience. The speakers language was natural and fluent. The volume of speech was appropriate. The rate of speech was appropriate. The pronunciation was clear and comprehensible. The grammar was correct and didnt prevent understanding. Used visual aids, handouts, etc., effectively. Showed enthusiasm and interest. Responded to audience questions well.

used gestures and body language

 At

this level, a picture/a series of pictures is used as a stimulus for a longer story or description. The objective of eliciting narrative discourse needs to be clear. (p. 181) (Tell & use the P. tense) For example, are you testing for oral vocabulary, (girl, telephone, wet) for time relatives (before, after, when), for sentence connectors (then, so), for past tense of irregular verbs (woke, drank, rang), or for fluency in general? Criteria for scoring need to be clear.

 Test-takers

hear /read a story or news event that they are asked to retell. It differs from the paraphrasing task discussed above in that it is a longer stretch of discourse and a different genre.

 Longer

texts are presented for the testtaker to read in the native language and then translate into English. Texts vary in forms: dialogue, directions, play, movie, etc. Advantages: the control of the content, vocabulary, the grammatical and discourse features. Disadvantages: a highly specialized skill is needed.