Language Assessment

Chap. 7 Assessing Speaking

Basic Types of Speaking 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 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

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

Assessment Tasks: Imitative Speaking

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 2 acceptable pronunciation. 1 comprehensible, partially correct. 0 silence, seriously incorrect.

Phonepass Test 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.

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

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

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)

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.

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 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 Advantages: Comparisons between students are quite

simply. Tests are easy to prepare and to administer. Predictable output, practicality, and

reliability in scoring.

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 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 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 Grammar Vocabulary Comprehension Fluency Pronunciation Task (the objective of the elicited task) Example (p. 158)

Translation 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 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 de-forestation in tropical countries? ( given more opportunity to produce meaningful language in response)

Questions Eliciting Open-Ended Responses

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 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 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.

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 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)

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 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

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 test-takers respond using expected forms and functions. Linguistic target criteria are scored.

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.

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

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 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 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 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 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 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

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, (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.

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.

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

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 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) 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.