2. Introduction
The testing of second language speaking is a relatively new field, even
within the young discipline of applied linguistics. The aspects of
speaking that are considered part of its assessment include grammar,
pronunciation, fluency, content, organization, and vocabulary. (Kitao &
Kitao, 1996). Depending on the situation and the purpose of the test,
testers need to choose the appropriate methods and techniques of
testing.
3. Relationship between Speaking and Listening
speaking and listening skills are very much related to each other; it is
difficult to separate them. In most cases, there is an interchange between
listening and speaking, and speaking appropriately depends on
comprehending spoken input. Therefore, this has an impact on testing
speaking because the testers will not know whether they are testing purely
speaking or speaking and listening together.
5. • 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
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Micro and Macro of Speaking
The micro-skills refer to producing the smaller
chunks of language such s phonemes, morphemes,
words, collocations, and phrasal units.
The macro-skills imply the speaker’s focus on the
larger elements: fluency, discourse, function, style,
cohesion, nonverbal communication, and strategic
options.
9. Assessment Tasks: Imitative Speaking
• Phonologically focused repetition tasks range from word level
to sentence level usually with each item focusing on a specific
phonological criterion.
• Word repetition task
• Test-takers hear:
• beat/bit bat/vat
• Sentence repetition task
• I bought a boat yesterday.
• The glow of the candle is growing.
• Test-takers repeat the stimulus.
11. Phonepass Test
• It elicits computer-assisted oral production over a
telephone. Test-takers read aloud, repeat sentences,
say words, and answer questions.
• Part A: Test-takers read aloud selected sentences.
• Examples: Traffic is a huge problem in
Southern California.
12. •Part B: Test-takers repeat sentences dictated over the
phone.
•Example: Leave town on the next train.
•Part C: Test-takers answer questions with a single word
or a short phrase.
•Example: Would you get water from a bottle or a
newspaper?
•Part D:Test-takers hear three word groups in random
order and link them in a correctly ordered sentence.
Example: was reading/my mother/a magazine.
13. • Part E: Test-takers 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.
15. Directed Response Tasks
• These type of limited response tasks are mechanical not
communicative, but they require minimal processing of meaning
in order to produce the correct grammatical output. Examples:
• 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.
16. 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.
17. • 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.
Read-Aloud Tasks
18. • 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.
Variations of Read-Aloud Tasks
19. • Advantages:
• Comparisons between students are quite simply.
• Tests are easy to prepare and to administer.
• Predictable output, practicality, and reliability in
scoring.
Read-Aloud Tasks
20. • 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.
Read-Aloud Tasks
21. • 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)
Sentence- Dialogue Completion Tasks and Oral Questionnaire
22. Sentence- Dialogue Completion Tasks and Oral Questionnaire
Advantages: Moderate control of the output of the test taker
Disadvantages: 1. Reliance on literacy and an ability to transfer easily
from written to spoken English. 2. Contrived, inauthentic nature of
this task. The same objective might be better accomplished using a
role- play technique. Or we can say that such completion tasks are
nothing more than a set of written form of questions that is part of a
standard oral interview.
23. • Pictures may be very simple designed to elicit a word or a
phrase or complex like storytelling or elicitation of minimal
pairs.(like ship and sheep).Grammatical categories may be
cued by pictures as well. Comparative forms are elicited by this
type of oral language elicitation. Also future tense, negatives,
numbers, prepositions and finally description of people is
elicited through 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.
Picture – Cued Tasks
24. Scoring responses on picture- cued intensive speaking tasks
varies depending on the expected performance criteria.
Some can be evaluated simply as “ correct” or “incorrect” and
some others as three- point rubrics, and finally some others
may be more complicated to be scored like opinions about
paintings or directions on a map.
Scoring Responses on Picture- Cued Tasks
25. • 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.
Translation
26. • 1- 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)
Responsive Speaking
27. • 2- 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?
Responsive Speaking
28. • 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.
Giving Instructions and Directions
29. • 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.
Eliciting Instructions or Directions
30. • 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)
Eliciting Instructions or Directions
31. • 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?
Considerations for Paraphrasing
32. Speaking assessment is very difficult.
It is important to determine what
criteria to use to assess whether
accuracy or fluency. Such criteria can
be based upon created models or
adapted ones.
Conclusion
