Language Assessment
Chap. 7 Assessing Speaking
Basic Types of Speaking
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Imitative. It is simply the ability to parrot
back a word or phrase or a sentence.
Intensive. 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.
Basic Types of Speaking
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Responsive. The tasks include interaction
and test comprehension but at the limited
level of short conversations, standard
greetings, small talk, requests, and
comments.
Interactive. 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.
Basic Types of Speaking
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Extensive. (monologue) The tasks include
speeches, oral presentations, and storytelling. Oral interaction from listeners is
either highly limited or ruled out altogether.
Assessment Tasks: Imitative
Speaking
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Word repetition task
Test-takers hear:
beat/bit bat/vat
I bought a boat yesterday.
The glow of the candle is growing.
Test-takers repeat the stimulus.
Scoring scale for repetition tasks
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2
1
0
acceptable pronunciation.
comprehensible, partially correct.
silence, seriously incorrect.
Phonepass Test
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It elicits computer-assisted oral production
over a telephone. Test-takers read aloud,
repeat sentences, say words, and answer
questions.
Part A: read aloud selected sentences.
Examples: Traffic is a huge problem in
Southern California.
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Part B: repeat sentences dictated over the
phone.
Example: Leave town on the next train.
Part C: Answer questions with a single
word or a short phrase.
Example: Would you get water from a
bottle or a newspaper?
Part D: hear three word groups in random
order and link them in a correctly ordered S.
Ex.: was reading/my mother/a magazine
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Part E: have 30 seconds to talk about their
opinion about some topic that is dictated
over the phone. Topics center on family,
preferences, and choices.
Scores are calculated by a computerized
scoring template and reported back to the
test-taker within minutes.
Assessment Tasks: Intensive
Speaking
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Directed Response Tasks
Directed response
Tell me he went home.
Tell me that you like rock music.
Tell me that you aren’t interested in tennis.
Tell him to come to my office at noon.
Remind him what time it is.
Test of Spoken English Scoring
Scale (Read-Aloud Tasks)
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Pronunciation:
Points:
0.0—0.4 frequent errors and unintelligible.
0.5—1.4 occasionally unintelligible.
1.5—2.4 some errors but intelligible.
2.5—3.0 occasional errors but always
intelligible.
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Fluency:
Points:
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.
Variations on Read-Aloud tasks
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Reading a scripted dialogue.
Reading sentences containing minimal
pairs. Examples: Try not to heat/ hit the pan
too much.
Reading information from a table or chart.
Read-Aloud Tasks
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Advantages:
Comparisons between students are quite
simply.
Tests are easy to prepare and to administer.
Predictable output, practicality, and
reliability in scoring.
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Disadvantages:
It is inauthentic, except in situations such
as parent reading to a child, sharing a story
with someone, giving a scripted oral
presentation.
It is not communicative in real contexts.
Sentence/Dialogue Completion
Tasks and Oral Questionnaires
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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.
Example (p. 150) short dialogue (p. 151)
Advantage: more time to anticipate an
answer, no potential ambiguity created by
aural misunderstanding (oral interview).
Picture-Cued Tasks
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A 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
A Scale for Evaluating Interviews
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Grammar
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Fluency
Pronunciation
Task (the objective of the elicited task)
Example (p. 158)
Translation
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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.
Responsive Speaking
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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)
Questions Eliciting Open-Ended
Responses
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1. What do you think about the weather
today?
2. Why did you choose your academic
major?
3. a. Have you ever been to the U. S. before?
b. What other countries have you visited?
c. Why did you go there? What did you
like best about it?
Giving Instructions & Directions
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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.
Eliciting Instructions or Directions
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Test-takers hear:
Describe how to make a typical dish
What’s 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.
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The task should require the test-taker to
produce at least 5 or 6 sentences.
Use familiar topics and test linguistic
competence.
Paraphrasing
Examples: paraphrasing a story and
paraphrasing a phone message (p. 162)
Considerations of Paraphrasing
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1. elicit short stretches of output
2. the criterion being assessed:
a. Is it a listening task more than
production? b. Does it test short-term
memory rather than linguistic ability?
c. How does the teacher determine
scoring of responses?
Test of Spoken English (TSE)
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TSE is a 20-minute audiotaped test of oral
language ability within an academic or
professional environment.
TSE scores are used by many North American
institutions of higher education.
The tasks are designed to elicit oral production in
various discourse categories. (p. 163)
Example: sample items in TOEFL (p. 164)
Scoring: a holistic score ranging from 20 to 60
(performance, function, appropriateness, and
coherence)
Interactive Speaking
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Oral Interview: a test administrator and a
test-taker sit down in a direct face-to-face
exchange and proceed through a protocol
of questions and directives.
It varies in length from 5 to 45 minutes,
depending on purpose and context.
Placement interviews may need only 5
minutes while Oral Proficiency Interview
(OPI) may require an hour.
A Framework for Oral Proficiency
Testing
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Four stages: Warm-up, Level check, Probe, and
Wind-down.
Warm-up: The interviewer directs mutual
introductions, helps the test-taker become
comfortable with the situation, apprises the
format, and reduces anxieties.
Level check: Through preplanned Qs, the testtakers respond using expected forms and
functions. Linguistic target criteria are scored.
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Probe: In this phase, test-takers go to the
heights of their ability and extend beyond
the limits of the interviewer’s expectation.
Through probe questions, the interviewer
discovers the test-taker’s 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.
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Wind-down: the interviewer encourages the
test-taker to relax with some easy questions,
sets the t-t’s mind at ease, and provides
information about when and where to
obtain the results of the interview. This part
is not scored.
Content specifications (p. 169)
Sample questions (p. 169-170)
Sample Questions of an Oral
Interview
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1. Warm-up:
How are you?/What’s 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?
Continue
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What is your favorite food?/Tell me about your
exciting experience you’ve 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?
Continue
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4. Wind-down:
Did you feel okay about this
interview?/You’ll get your results from this
interview next week./Do you have any
question to ask?/It was interesting to talk
with you. Best wishes.
The Success of an Oral Interview
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Clear administrative procedures (practicality)
Focusing the questions and probes on the purpose
of the assessment (validity)
Biased for best performance
Creating a consistent, workable scoring system
(reliability)
Descriptions of the Oral Proficiency Scoring
Categories (p. 172-173)
Role Play
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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 you’re a tourist asking
me for directions”, “You are buying a necklace
from me in a flea market, and want a lower price”.
Discussions & Conversations
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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)
Games
Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) guidelines (p.
177)
Designing Assessments:
Extensive Speaking
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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.
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Rules for effective assessment: (a) specify the
criterion, (b) set appropriate tasks, (c)
Elicit optimal output, and (d) establish practical,
reliable scoring procedures.
Oral presentation checklist
3 excellent 2 good 1 fair 0 poor
Content:
The purpose 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.
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The supporting points were clearly expressed and
supported well by facts and argument.
The conclusion restated the main idea or purpose.
Delivery
The speaker used gestures and body language
well.
The speaker maintained eye contact with the
audience.
The speaker’s language was natural and fluent.
The volume of speech was appropriate.
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The rate of speech was appropriate.
The pronunciation was clear and
comprehensible.
The grammar was correct and didn’t
prevent understanding.
Used visual aids, handouts, etc., effectively.
Showed enthusiasm and interest.
Responded to audience questions well.
Picture-Cued Story-Telling
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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.
Retelling a Story, News Event
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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.
Translation (of Extended prose)
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Longer texts are presented for the test-taker 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.