Chapter 7 :Oral production tests doc

Using pictures for assessing oral production  Pictures of single objects can be used for testing the production of significant phoneme contrasts.. Using pictures for assessing oral prod

Chapter 7:

Oral production

tests

I Some difficulties in testing

the speaking skills

 There aren’t still the exact criteria for measuring speaking skills as well as the weighting given to such components as correct pronunciation

 The interdependence of the speaking and

listening skill increases the difficulty of any

serious attempt to analyze precisely what is being tested at one time

 Administration is another difficulty as it is

impossible to test a large number of students

because of limited time involved

II Reading aloud

 generally used when it is desired to access

pronunciation as distinct from the total speaking

skills

 constructing suitable tests, testers should imagine actual situations in real life in which the testees may

be required to read aloud

 The retelling of a short story or incident more

useful than reading aloud; but unfortunately this test measures other skills: reading comprehension,

III Conversational exchanges

(Type 1&2)

(1) Testees are given a series of situations and are

required to construct sentences on the lines of a certain pattern or a group of patterns They read or hear the situation and then make the appropriate responses

(2) This type of item is similar to the previous one, but

no model responses are given by the examiner

and the students are free to use whatever patterns they wish

Type 3, 4 & 5

(3) The testees hear a stimulus to which they must respond in any appropriate way

(4) This type is similar to type 3, but the stimuli and responses form part of a longer dialogue and the situation is developed

(5) This item takes the form of incomplete dialogue with prompts whispered in the student’s ear

IV Using pictures for assessing

oral production

 Pictures of single objects can be used for testing the production of significant phoneme contrasts

 Pictures are also used to test learners’ ability to describe or narrate a story

 Advertisements, posters and strip cartoons may

be used for classroom tests

IV Using pictures for assessing

oral production (con.)

 Careful selection of the pictures will help in

controlling the basic vocabulary required and may determine the type of sentence structure

 The most effective type of oral examination using pictures requires not only narration or picture

description but also discussion about the picture concerned

 Another effective way of assessing a student’s

ability to speak is to give pairs or groups of

students a task to perform

i) When scoring students’ performances, the

examiner should concentrate on what individual

students are doing with the target language, and how they are using the target language to achieve their purpose

ii) If students are examined in small groups, they

should be given a sequence of pictures to arrange

VI The oral interview

 The scoring  highly subjective & sometimes low

reliability.

 Testee’s performance in a particular interview may not

accurately reflect his or her true ability

 This kind of test offers a realistic means of assessing the total oral skill in a natural speech situation.

 However, oral interview is artificial and unrealistic as

testees are placed not in natural real-life speech situations but in examination situations.

 Testees are susceptible to psychological tensions,

constraints of necessary style and register in such a

situation.

Some ways to avoid problems in administrating

oral interviews (1-2)

 The classroom teacher  the examiner; if

an external examiner required sitting at the back of the room or in any obscure

place.

 oral interview is usually the most difficult

for the examiner as (s) he must take the

dual role i.e of both language partner and

assessor

Some ways to avoid problems in

administrating oral interviews (3,4& 5)

 never attempt to note down marks or

comments while the testee is still engaged

in the interview.

 interviewing in pairs or groups to help testees to avoid tension and language constraints they will feel free to converse and use language in a more natural and

purposeful way.

 to ensure two sts have similar or sympathetic personalities & have similar

Some ways to avoid problems in

administrating oral interviews (6-7)

 concerned more with the examinees’ use

of the target language to achieve their goals rather than with their knowledge or

their actual ability to accomplish the task given.

 grammatical acceptability and pronunciation, but also appropriacy of language and effectiveness of

Some ways to avoid problems in

administrating oral interviews (8-9)

 The oral interview should be scored only after the student has left the room

 In order to devise a suitable scale, the examiner should first describe clearly the criteria for assessing oral ability

VII Some other techniques for oral examining

(1) the short talk

 testees may be allowed several days or only a few

minutes to prepare the talk

 a realistic test of sustained speech, but an

extremely difficult exam for L2 learners at all but the most advanced stages

 preventing students from learning whole sections

of their talk

VII Some other techniques for oral examining

(con.)

(2) group discussing and role playing

 important techniques for assessing oral production, the teacher can discover how students are thinking and using the target language

 taking a minor role to control the role play

 feeling free to interrupt or control the discussion in a diplomatic way to ensure that each member of the group makes a contribution

General conclusions

 a reliable method of measuring oral skills

effects on teaching

problem-solving activity involving the comparison or sequencing of pictures; and (3) a longer activity comprising group discussion or a role play (for classroom tests)

teaching and learning For instance, if the reading aloud section is considered harmful in its effects on teaching, it should be omitted from the exam