Writing Prompts for Speaking
Test-takers
Construct/
subskills
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22- 25 years old Arabic students, majoring in Special Education.
Advanced learners in Saudi Arabia
Clarity, including questioning and answering with clear and comprehensible language
Pronunciation, including speaking with accurate pronunciation
Fluency, including the ability to speak clearly, easily, smoothly and expressively
Comprehension, including fully understanding the questions asked and answering them
correctly
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Directions
Prompt
Scoring
Rubric
Content, including asking appropriate questions and providing good answers
This speaking test will assess how well you speak English. It will last approximately five
minutes. I will ask you one question. Try to answer it as completely as possible in a
formal manner. Your score for the test will be based on your response. Be sure to speak
loudly and clearly enough. Ask questions when you need.
Many educators are busy now trying to manage behaviors of teenagers in schools. They
believe that teenagers’ problems in school are getting worse. What do you think about this
issue? Do you agree or disagree with them? In five minutes, explain why.
The scoring rubric is adopted from iRubric: ESL Speaking Interview rubric
(http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?sp=yes&code=KXX6W9&). The change in
this rubric includes removing the “poor” grade because students are at advanced levels
and are supposed to respond.
Fair
1 pts
Good
3 pts
Excellent
5 pts
Clarity
Questions and answers
were awkward and
incomprehensible to
understand at times.
Questions or answers
were awkward at times
but always
understandable.
Questions and answers
were clear and
comprehensible.
Pronunciation
Student's
pronunciation made
understanding
difficult.
Student's pronunciation
was understandable with
some error.
Student's
pronunciation was
accurate and clear with
no errors.
Fluency
Student took a long
time to ask and
respond to questions.
Students were able to
ask and answer the
questions with little
difficulty.
Students were able to
communicate clearly
with no difficulty.
Comprehension
The student showed
little comprehension of
questions. Questions
had to be repeated.
The student understood
most of what was asked
of him/her.
The student fully
understood the
questions asked and
answered correctly.
Content
Ask some
inappropriate
questions for
information or
answered question
with very limited
answers.
Gave appropriate
questions for survey
information but
responses were limited
in content.
Gave appropriate
questions and good
content in responses to
questions.
Score
Reporting
Form
I will tell each student his score through giving him the following form:
Dear __________________,
( Student’s name)
On____________,you took the speaking test. The purpose of the test was to
( Test Date)
identify your proficiency in speaking English. This report tells you about the
levels of your speaking skills, which include clarity, pronunciation, fluency,
comprehension and content. Level of speaking skill includes Fair (5 points),
Good (6-15 points) and Excellent (16-25 points). You got _________and your
score was __________ out of 25 points.
Sincerely, _______________________
(Teacher’s name)