FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING STUDENT’S ORAL LANGUAGE
Student Name:
NTCF ESL Speaking Level:
Date:
Lucy Yr 4
Task description:
Telling the listener what the text ‘Wake up Wallaby’ is about using illustrations as a support.
Teacher comment
Task
 How familiar is the
topic/curriculum area to the
learner?
 How well does the learner
understand the demands of the
task?
 How long did the learner take
to complete the task?
Content
Did the learner …
 include the relevant detail (eg
main characters, ideas, steps
in process, events)
 give additional/supporting
detail?
 stay on the topic
 provide accurate information?
Behaviours Did the learner
 ask for repetition/explanation
 self-correct her/his
language/content?
 use avoidance strategies such
as relying on peers, staying
with familiar speech patterns?
 respond appropriately to the
interlocutor (answering the
questions)?
 Initiate or sustain the
conversation
 Demonstrate spontaneity (eg
flexible use of prepared
materials, impromptu
speaking)?
Features of speech Was the
 level of language appropriate
to the context (use of
social/academic language,
slang)?
 talk fluent (eg effect of
hesitation, repetition, pace of
delivery)?
 pronunciation clear? Was there
a need for repetition to aid
understanding?
 use of stress (on important
syllables/words) appropriate?
 intonation varied appropriately
rather than being monotonous?
 learner’s body language
appropriate to the meaning
being conveyed (according to
cultural background)?
 interaction with the audience
appropriate (eg eye contact,
ability to reformulate, use of
pauses, pace of delivery)?
Action
Very familiar, the class has been using the
text as the basis of it's work for
approximately four weeks
L has retold the story frequently, in groups
with other children, using the illustrations to
support, she understood that the teacher
wanted her to retell the story.
2 minutes

Teach/talk about the
character names in the
book

Check hearing of sounds
(falcon/pelican)

Ask L to retell again using
'own language'
Ask questions to elicit other
language
Write a group negotiated
text using different
language items (vocabulary
expansion).
She included all the characters in the story,
however, she missed some of the events in
the story.
L did not give additional/supporting detail (it
was not called for in this task)
The student stayed on the topic
L stayed on the topic, her retelling was very
close to the events in the story
Lucy didn't appear to need to ask for
repetition/explanation because the content
was so familiar
L self-corrected, second line - the, they;
fourth line - the, he;
Lucy stayed with the familiar speech
patterns she had learned from the work
associated with the book.
Responding to the interlocutor was not
applicable for this task
L did not initiate or sustain any extra
information
L did not demonstrate any spontaneity, has
stayed with a close retelling of the story
which was what she understood the task to
be.


The level of formality required was related
to the language used in the text and Lucy
followed this pretty closely
As I was not with Lucy when she retold the
story I am not able to say
how fluent her speech was or
how clear her pronunciation was
(Falcon for pelican would seem to
be a pronunciation error rather than
a semantic one)
whether her stress and intonation
patterns were appropriate
whether her body language, eye
contact etc was appropriate
Reproduced from Observation Guide (Reading) in the NLLIA ESL Bandscales, 1994, pp F7.
FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING STUDENT’S ORAL LANGUAGE
Teacher comment
Textual features

Did the talk have appropriate
structure/sequencing according to
text type?

Did the learner use cohesion with
effect
omission/substitution (Will he
come? I don’t think so)
to add information (and, and
then, also, in addition,
furthermore ….)
to contrast information (but,
however, although…)
to qualify, express possibility
(if, unless, except)
to express cause/effect (so,
because, as a result)
to express time (then, next,
when …)
to refer to ideas, people,
things within the text (From the
start the All Stars Band were very
good musicians and because they
had become popular in one place
they travelled a lot.
Grammar and vocabulary Did the
learner

use a variety of sentence
structures – simple and complex?

use modals effectively (can, could,
must, should, would, possibly,
probably …)

use ‘context-embedded’language
or language which gave the
audience all the knowledge they
needed?

choose vocab and expressions
appropriate to the audience?
(formal/colloquial)

use idiomatic speech? (No I can’t
shout today, I’m a bit hard up.)

use a range of expression? (ability
to make meaning clear, to express
ideas, choice/variety of
words/expressions to maintain
listener’s interest,
Grammatical accuracy Did the
learner

use verbs appropriately (tense,
active/passive)?

have correct use of singular/plural
forms, subject/verb agreement?

use articles appropriately
(a/an/the)?

use prepositions appropriately

use correct sentence structure and
word order?
Lucy retold the story in the correct
sequence as given in the story.
Lucy is using a singular cohesive device to
add information 'and'.


Her use of reference items is not clear ( the
first 'they'); some are used correctly ( the
kangaroo...him); others are omitted (bark
and ---- didn't wake up)

Lucy uses very simple sentence structures
(subject-verb-object), (the sentence
structures modelled in the book would were
also simple)
Action
Teach alternatives to
the use of 'and'.
•Do sentence extension
exercises (scrambled
sentences joined by
various conjunctions,
with alternative
pronouns, linking
pronouns to nouns).
•Teach alternative ways
of saying the same
thing
Lucy did not use a variety of sentence
structures, however, this could have been
dictated by the task.
Lucy did not use modals in her speech (can,
should, could)
Lucy's lack of facility with reference items
means that her talk is context embedded
and the meaning is not always clear.
Lucy used only vocabulary /expressions that
she had learned from the text.
Lucy did not use idiomatic speech (could
have been dictated by the task)
Similarly L did not use a range of
expressions in her speech
Lucy mixes some present and past tense
verbs
subject- verb agreement is inconsistent
(They was)
L has not used articles much (a/an), she
uses (the) sometimes inappropriately and
maybe as a pausing device.
L has not used nay prepositions in this text.
L word order was generally correct, although
there was some repetition of pronouns.
Lucy mixes some present and past tense
verbs
subject- verb agreement is inconsistent
(They was)
L has not used articles much (a/an), she
uses (the) sometimes inappropriately and
maybe as a pausing device.
L has not used any prepositions in this text.
L word order was generally correct, although
there was some repetition of pronouns

Teach aspects of
grammar in context - in
shared book, group
negotiated text etc
Other suggestions for action:
Reproduced from Observation Guide (Reading) in the NLLIA ESL Bandscales, 1994, pp F7.