THE EFFECTS OF ORAL QUIZZES ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH AND SPEAKING ABILITY

THE EFFECTS OF ORAL QUIZZES ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH AND SPEAKING ABILITY. Rất nhiều nghiên cứu cho thấy việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh đã góp phần thúc đẩy động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh. Trong một khảo sát ở trường trung học phổ thông (THPT) Trần Văn Bảy, giáo viên và học sinh khối 11 cũng đề nghị rằng việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói nên được áp dụng với mục đích tăng cường động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh. Trong khi đó, trong phân phối chương trình của THPT không có tiết nào dành cho việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh. Vì vậy, nghiên cứu này được tiến hành để tìm hiểu tác động của việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói trong giờ học lên động cơ học kỹ năng nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh. Bên cạnh đó, đề tài này cũng khảo sát mối tương quan giữa động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh.

Luận văn Thạc sĩ với đề tài:

“THE EFFECTS OF ORAL QUIZZES ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING

ENGLISH AND SPEAKING ABILITY”

do học viên Nguyễn Hà Thanh Vân thực hiện và báo cáo đã được Hội Đồng ChấmLuận Văn thông qua

The thesis entitled “The Effects of Oral Quizzes on High School Students’

Motivation in Learning Speaking English and Speaking Ability” is conducted under

the supervision of Dr Thai Cong Dan, at Department of Foreign Languages, School

of Social Sciences & Humanities, Can Tho University

I hereby declare that the information reported in the present paper is theresult of my own work, except where due reference or citation is made The currentthesis has not been accepted for any other degree or diploma

Thái Công Dân, Ph.D Nguyễn Hà Thanh Vân

The present study has been completed with the support and encouragement

of many people I am deeply indebted to all of those who have contributed to thesuccess of my study

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to mysupervisor, Dr Thai Cong Dan, at Department of Foreign Languages, School ofSocial Sciences & Humanities, Can Tho University During the time I wasconducting the present research, he provided me with useful materials and preciousadvice

I would like to extend my special thanks to Dr Pham Thi Hong Nhung and

Dr Ngyen Van Loi who are insightful in their invaluable suggestions and hintswhich help improve the quality of the current thesis

I wish to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers of the Master Program

at Can Tho University for their useful knowledge and whole-hearted instructions

I am grateful to my colleagues, teachers of English in Tran Van Bay highschool, for completing and delivering the survey questionnaires to the eleventhgrade students I am extremely thankful to Ms Son Kim Le for her dedication inworking as a co-examiner in the oral tests

I deeply acknowledge to all the eleventh grade students in Tran Van Bayhigh school for participating in my survey I owe a special note of gratitude to thestudents in Class 11A1 and Class 11A5 for their enthusiastic participation in thepresent research

I am deeply indebted to my classmates, Ms Tran Thi Truc Ly, Ms Le NgocVan Thuy, and Ms Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, for their devotion in giving useful ideas andcomments on my research instruments I also wish to extend my sincere

appreciation to M.A Quach Tan An for providing me with useful materials andM.A Lam Hai Khanh for assisting me to import the data.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents who were always by myside, shared difficulties and encouraged me during the time I was carrying out thestudy In fact, the thesis could not be completed successfully without their financialand sentimental support

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration iv

Acknowledgements v

Table of contents vii

List of tables xii

List of figures xiii

Tóm lược xiv

Abstract xv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……… ….1

1.1 Rationale……….……… 1

1.2 Research objectives……… 4

1.3 Research questions……….4

1.4 Research hypotheses……… 4

1.5 Significance of the study………5

1.6 Organization of the study……… 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………7

2.1 Oral quiz……… ……… 7

2.1.1 Definition of oral quiz……… 7

2.1.2 Benefits of oral quiz……….8

2.1.3 Characteristics of quizzes versus tests……….9

2.1.4 Possible challenges in testing speaking skills and solutions… 10

2.2 Motivation………12

2.2.1 Definition of motivation………12

2.2.2 Types of motivation……… 13

2.2.3 The roles of motivation in language learning……… 15

2.2.4 The ways to enhance students’ motivation in speaking classes… ……… 15

2.3 Speaking ability……… 17

2.3.1 Definition of speaking ability……… 17

2.3.2 The roles of speaking ability in language learning………… 18

2.3.3 Components of good speaking ability………18

2.3.4 Criteria for assessing speaking ability……… 20

2.3.5 Techniques for testing oral ability………20

2.4 The effects of oral testing on students’ motivation in learning speaking… ………23

2.5 The effects of oral testing on students’ speaking ability……… 25

2.6 The correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking and speaking ability………27

2.7 Summary of the literature and justification of the current study……….31

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……….33

3.1 Research design ……… 33

3.2 Participants ……… 34

3.2.1 Teachers 34

3.2.2 Students……… 34

3.3 Material 35

3.4 Research instruments……… 35

3.4.1 Main instruments 36

3.4.1.1 Motivation questionnaires………36

3.4.1.2 Oral tests……… 38

3.4.1.3 Interview questions……… 41

3.4.2 Supplementary instrument 42

3.5 Procedures of data collection and those of oral quiz implementation ……… 42

3.5.1 Procedures of data collection 43

3.5.2 Oral quiz implementation process 46

4.1 Research question 1: Do oral quizzes enhance high school

students’ motivation in learning speaking English……….49

4.1.1 Findings from the pre-questionnaire and the post-questionnaire on the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English ……49

4.1.2 Findings from the interview on the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English 53

4.2 Research question 2: Do oral quizzes increase high school students’ speaking ability? 56

4.2.1 Findings from the pre-oral test and the post-oral test on the participants’ speaking ability 56

4.2.2 Findings from the interview on the participants’ speaking ability 59

4.3 Research question 3: Is there a correlation between high school students’ motivation in learning speaking and speaking ability? 61

4.3.1 Findings from the motivation questionnaires and the oral tests on the correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability 62

4.3.2 Findings from the interview on the correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability 64

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS……… 66

5.1 Discussions ……… 66

5.1.1 Theoretical framework of the study ……… 66

5.1.2 Summary of the research results 67

5.1.3 Discussions of the findings 69

5.1.3.1 The effects of oral quizzes on the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English 69 5.1.3.2 The effects of oral quizzes on the participants’

speaking ability 73

5.1.3.3 The correlation between the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability 75

5.1.4 Pedagogical implications 77

5.1.5 Limitations of the study ………80

5.1.6 Suggestions for further research 81

5.2 Conclusions ………81

REFERENCES ……… 83

APPENDICES……….…… 94

Appendix 1 A survey on students’ motivation in learning speaking English and speaking ability Questionnaire for grade eleven students …… ……… 94

Appendix 2 Bảng câu hỏi dành cho học sinh khối 11……… 97

Appendix 3 A survey on students’ motivation in learning speaking English and speaking ability Questionnaire for EFL teachers …… 100

Appendix 4 Extrinsic motivation……… 103

Appendix 5 Intrinsic motivation ……….…… 104

Appendix 6 Questionnaire on students’ motivation in learning speaking English (pilot)……… ……….… 105

Appendix 7 Bảng câu hỏi về động cơ học kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh (thử nghiệm) ……… 110

Appendix 8 Questionnaire on students’ motivation in learning speaking English ……… ……… 115

Appendix 9 Bảng câu hỏi về động cơ học kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh ……… 120

Appendix 10 Oral test……… 124

Appendix 11 Marking scale……… … 126

Appendix 13 Interview questions……… 130

Appendix 14 Câu hỏi phỏng vấn……….……….131

Appendix 15 Interview transcription……… 132

Appendix 16 A typical lesson plan with the implementation of oral quizzes… ……… 139

Appendix 17 Model of the researcher’s journal……… 148

Appendix 18 Typical researcher’s journals……….149

Appendix 19 Raw calculations of the questionnaires……… 153

Appendix 20 Raw calculations of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation questionnaires……… ………… 162

Appendix 21 Raw calculations of the oral tests……… 166

Appendix 22 Raw calculations of the correlation……… 170

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Characteristics of the participants 35

Table 3.2: Characteristics of the interviewees 41

Table 3.3: The procedures of the study 43

Table 4.1: Participants’ motivation in learning speaking English 51

Table 4.2: Paired-Samples T-Test on the mean scores of participants’ motivation in the pre-questionnaire and the post-questionnaire 51

Table 4.3: Participants’ speaking ability before and after the intervention 57

Table 4.4: Paired-Samples T-Test of the mean scores 58

Table 4.5: The correlation between the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability 62

Table 5.1: Summary of the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English and speaking ability 67

Table 5.2: Summary of the correlation between the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability 68

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1: Summary of the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English

before and after the treament 52Figure 4.2: Summary of the participants’ speaking ability 59Figure 5.1: Variables of the study 67

TÓM LƯỢC

Rất nhiều nghiên cứu cho thấy việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh đã góp phần thúc đẩy động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh Trong một khảo sát ở trường trung học phổ thông (THPT) Trần Văn Bảy, giáo viên và học sinh khối 11 cũng đề nghị rằng việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói nên được áp dụng với mục đích tăng cường động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh Trong khi đó, trong phân phối chương trình của THPT không có tiết nào dành cho việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh Vì vậy, nghiên cứu này được tiến hành để tìm hiểu tác động của việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói trong giờ học lên động cơ học kỹ năng nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh Bên cạnh đó, đề tài này cũng khảo sát mối tương quan giữa động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh Nghiên cứu này được thực nghiệm trong 10 tuần trên một nhóm học sinh

và sử dụng cả hai phương pháp định lượng và định tính, trong đó việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói trong giờ học là biến độc lập, động cơ nói và khả năng nói là các biến phụ thuộc Đối tượng tham gia gồm 65 học sinh khối 11 đến từ hai lớp 11A1 và 11A5 của trường THPT Trần Văn Bảy Ba công cụ chính được dùng để thu thập số liệu là (1) một bảng câu hỏi về động cơ học kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh, (2) một bài kiểm tra về khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh, (3) và một số câu hỏi phỏng vấn Ngoài ra, một công cụ phụ khác cũng được áp dụng trong quá trình thực hiện việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói là nhật ký giảng dạy của người nghiên cứu Kết quả cho thấy sau nghiên cứu động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh tăng lên Bên cạnh đó, có sự tương quan ở mức độ trung bình giữa động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh Một nghiên cứu khám phá thêm cũng được thực hiện để so sánh động cơ học nói bên ngoài và bên trong của nhóm thực nghiệm đồng thời cũng khảo sát xem loại động cơ nào có nhiều mối tương quan hơn với khả năng nói của học sinh Kết quả cho thấy học sinh có động cơ học nói bên trong và bên ngoài bằng nhau Tuy nhiên so với động cơ học nói bên trong thì động cơ học nói bên ngoài có nhiều mối tương quan hơn với khả năng nói Kết quả nghiên cứu chứng minh rằng việc kiểm tra kỹ năng nói trong giờ học đã có tác động tích cực đến động cơ học nói và khả năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh khối 11 ở trường THPT Trần Văn Bảy

A number of studies have demonstrated that oral testing contributes to enhancing students’ motivation in learning speaking and speaking ability In a survey conducted in Tran Van Bay high school, both teachers and students in grade eleven also proposed that oral testing should be utilized in order to increase students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability Meanwhile, in the context of high school, there were no periods for oral tests in the syllabus Therefore, the current research was carried out to investigate the effects of oral quizzes (informal oral tests administered in speaking classes during less than fifteen minutes) on students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability It also examined whether there was a correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability The current ten-week experimental study followed a single group design with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in which oral quizzes were one independent variable, learners’ motivation in learning speaking English and learners’ speaking ability were two dependent variables Participants were 65 eleventh grade students from two classes (Class 11A1 and Class 11A5) in Tran Van Bay high school Three main instruments used to collect the data were (1) a questionnaire on the participants’ motivation in learning speaking English, (2) an oral test on their English speaking ability, and (3) interview questions Besides, another supplementary instrument applied during the implementation of oral quizzes was the researcher’s journals The results indicated that students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability were enhanced after the treatment In addition, there was a moderate correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking English and speaking ability An exploratory research was also conducted to compare the participants’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in learning speaking English and to investigate which type of motivation more correlated with students’ speaking ability The results revealed that the participants had the same level of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in learning speaking English; however, the participants’ extrinsic motivation in learning speaking English more slightly correlated with speaking ability than their intrinsic one The research outcomes proved that the use of oral quizzes had positive effects on grade eleven students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability in the context of Tran Van Bay high school

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The chapter firstly focuses on the rationale for the study, and then the research objectives and the research questions follow In addition, the research hypotheses are shaped Finally, the significance and the organization of the study are presented.

1.1 Rationale

It cannot be denied that English is extremely necessary for our modernsociety nowadays Ministry of Education and Training has applied the new textbookwhich aims to develop all four skills (listening, speaking, writing and reading) inwhich communicative skills are of great emphasis because the ability tocommunicate in a second language efficiently contributes to the success of learnersnot only in school but also in other aspects of their lives (Mead et al, 1985; Kayi,2006)

Numerous researchers in education field (e.g., Lemke, 1989; Knight, 1991;Chuang, 2009; Khamkhien, 2010) have emphasized that speaking skills areconsidered as crucial parts of the language learning process because speaking skillsform the foundation for developing other language skills (Lado, 1961; Ur, 1996;Liao, 2009) If speaking skills are neglected in English classroom, the foundationwill be destroyed and will impede the development of the other skills (Zhang et al.,1995; Bilash, 2009) From language learners’ viewpoints, most of them alsoevaluate their success in language learning based on their progress in speaking skills(Richards, 1990; Grace, 1998; Chuang, 2009) They consider their speaking ability

as the measure of their knowledge about a language and their achievements inspoken communication can prove their progress in language learning (Bukart,1998)

As a teacher of English in Tran Van Bay high school for eight years, theresearcher carried out a survey on 535 grade eleven students and six teachersteaching these students The aims of the survey were to collect information aboutstudents’ motivation in learning speaking English, students’ speaking ability as well

as to find out possible ways for enhancing students’ motivation in learning speakingEnglish and their speaking ability Eight-item questionnaires were delivered to theteachers and ten-item questionnaires were distributed to the students (See Appendix

1, 2, 3) The results indicated that most teachers (83.3%) and students (98.1%)realized the necessity of learning speaking skills for communication and fordeveloping other language skills However, half of the teachers estimated that theirstudents’ motivation in learning speaking English was low; similarly, 57.2% of thestudents also asserted that their motivation in learning speaking English was low Inorder to increase students’ motivation in learning speaking English, both teachers(66.7%) and students (51.4%)proposed that teachers should design more interestingtasks In addition, 33.3% of the teachers and 32.3% of the students suggested thatanother way to enhance students’ motivation in learning speaking English was totest speaking skills frequently in class In terms of students’ speaking ability, 83.3%

of the teachers judged that their students’ speaking ability was poor, and 16.7% ofthe teachers claimed that their students’ speaking ability was average When beingasked to self-evaluate their own speaking ability, among 535 students, 49.7% statedthat their speaking ability was poor; 43.4% thought that their speaking ability wasaverage; 6.2% affirmed that they had fair speaking ability and 0.7% reported thattheir speaking ability was good According to the teachers, two reasons leading tothe students’ low ability in speaking were the lack of speaking skills in tests andexams (83.3%) and the large number of students in each class (16.7%) Among thestudents with poor speaking ability, they confided that their speaking ability waslow because of their low motivation (49.7%), the lack of speaking skills in tests andexams (30.8%), limited time for practicing speaking English (14.8%), and theirshyness when speaking English (4.7%) According to the teachers, there were two

possible ways to increase students’ speaking ability: speaking skills should be tested(83.3%), and the number of students in each class should be smaller (16.7%) Forthe students, in order to improve their speaking skills, firstly teachers should designmore interesting speaking tasks (47.6%); secondly speaking skills should be tested(42.4%); thirdly they should be allowed more time to practice speaking skills(8.2%); and finally the number of students in each class should be reduced (1.8%).

From the statistics of the survey, it could be concluded that the eleventhgrade students in Tran Van Bay high school realized the essential role of speakingskills in language learning and in daily life Nevertheless, most of them had lowmotivation to learn English speaking skills and poor speaking ability The studentsreported various reasons leading to poor speaking ability, yet two remarkable causeswere their low motivation and the lack of oral testing There were severalsuggestions for enhancing students’ motivation in learning speaking English andtheir speaking ability proposed by the teachers and students; however, it wasstrongly supported that interesting tasks and frequent oral testing might helpimprove students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speakingability

A number of studies by Sook (2003), Lawtie (2004), and Xian-Long (2009)have demonstrated that oral testing is one of the most effective ways to enhancestudents’ motivation in learning speaking English Furthermore, it was proved thatoral testing positively affected students’ speaking ability in several studies (Finch &Taeduck, 2002; Sook, 2003; Xian-long, 2009) It was also found that there was apositive correlation between learners’ motivation in learning speaking English and

their speaking ability in other studies of Bernaus (1995), Penelitian (2006), and

Cindy (2009)

What has been presented above illustrated that speaking skills areindispensable for language learning and oral testing plays an important part inincreasing students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking

for testing speaking skills in the course syllabus As suggested by many researchers(Dornyei, 2001; Finch and Taeduck, 2002; Lawtie, 2004; Xian-Long, 2009), inorder to maximize the positive effects of oral testing, oral tests should be classworkactivities and frequently applied in every speaking class Therefore, in the presentstudy, instead of implementing oral tests, oral quizzes (informal oral testsadministered in speaking classes during less than fifteen minutes) were employedwith the hope that oral quizzes might contribute to the enhancement of high schoolstudents’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability.

1.2 Research objectives

Because of the presented reasons above, the current research aims at findingout

(1) whether oral quizzes enhance high school students’ motivation in

learning speaking English

(2) whether oral quizzes increase high school students’ speaking ability (3) whether there is a correlation between high school students’ motivation

in learning speaking English and their speaking ability

1.3 Research questions

In order to attain the research objectives, the current study intends to obtain

the answers to three research questions:

1 Do oral quizzes enhance high school students’ motivation in learningspeaking English?

2 Do oral quizzes increase high school students’ speaking ability?

3 Is there a correlation between high school students’ motivation in learningspeaking English and their speaking ability?

1.4 Research hypotheses

It was hypothesized that oral quizzes would enhance high school students’motivation in learning speaking English and would increase their speaking ability It

was also predicted that there would be a positive correlation between high schoolstudents’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability.

1.5 Significance of the study

Speaking skills have played a vital role in language learning, and mostlanguage learners consider speaking ability as the measure of their knowledge about

a language In addition, motivation has been considered as one of the most crucialfactors which help promote the learning process A lot of studies have investigatedthe effects of oral testing on students’ motivation in learning speaking and speakingability Nonetheless, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, there has been noresearch on the effects of oral quizzes on students’ motivation in learning speakingEnglish and speaking ability, which forms the significance of the current study Ifthe hypotheses that oral quizzes would enhance high school students’ motivation inlearning speaking English and speaking ability become true, then the current study

is significant in several ways Firstly, the research findings might provide valuableliterature to the issue of oral quiz which has been little studied Secondly, it isexpected that the outcomes of the current study will be of considerable interest tocurriculum designers and might encourage them to apply oral testing in high schoolEnglish program It is also hoped that the results of the present study will assist inencouraging Department of Education and Training as well as school administrators

to provide teachers of English with good conditions for implementing oral testing.Especially, the research findings will hopefully broaden the insights of high schoolteachers of English into the positive effects of oral quizzes on learners’ motivation

in learning speaking English and speaking ability so that they will be aware ofemploying oral quizzes in their speaking classes Last but not least, it is believedthat the research results might contribute to the improvement in the quality ofteaching and learning English speaking skills particularly and English subjectgenerally in high school context

1.6 Organization of the study

The thesis comprises five chapters: (1) Introduction, (2) Literature Review, (3)Research Methodology, (4) Research Results, and (5) Discussions and Conclusions.Chapter one introduces the rationale of the study, the research objectives, theresearch questions and the research hypotheses In addition, the significance and theorganization of the study are also included

Chapter two reviews the literature relevant to the thesis topic in order toestablish the foundation for the current study Concepts and previous studiesfundamental to oral quiz, motivation and speaking ability as well as the correlationbetween motivation in learning speaking and speaking ability are described Thechapter ends with the summary of the literature and justification of the study

Chapter three describes the research methodology involving the researchdesign, the participants, the material, and the research instruments Moreover, theprocedures of data collection and those of oral quiz implementation are alsodescribed in detail

Chapter four reveals the results of the research which aim to answer the threeresearch questions All of the data from the motivation questionnaires, the oral testsand the interview are presented

Chapter five summarizes and discusses the findings of the study The chapteralso includes the pedagogical implications and the limitations of the study.Suggestions for further research and conclusions end the chapter

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The chapter reviews the literature fundamental to the effects of oral quizzes on students’ motivation

in learning speaking English and speaking ability Specifically, the chapter firstly clarifies the terms oral quiz, motivation and speaking ability Then, studies relevant to the effects of oral testing

on students’ motivation in learning speaking English and speaking ability are presented Studies about the correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking English and their speaking ability are also introduced Finally, summary of the literature and justification of the current study are addressed.

2.1 Oral quiz

The section provides a general knowledge of oral quiz, which primarilyfocuses on its definition, benefits and characteristics

2.1.1 Definition of oral quiz

There are influential ways of defining the concept quiz According to Cohen (1994, p.31), “a quiz is not very rigorous and it is only a short test [ ] It tends to be more informal than a test” Davis (1999) states that a quiz is often carried out in fifteen minutes or less In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005), a quiz is

defined as an informal test given to students

From the presented definitions of the notion quiz, it appears that Cohen provides a more detail definition on the term quiz Cohen’s definition (1994) is

shared with that of Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005) and is clarified

by Davis’s (1999) Meanwhile, the definition of the term oral quiz has not been found in any research For this reason, based on the definitions of quiz and the nature of oral quiz applied in the present study, oral quiz is identified as an informal

oral test which is administered in speaking classes during less than fifteen minutes.

2.1.2 Benefits of oral quiz

Researchers claimed that quizzes offer both teachers and students a lot ofbenefits Particularly, Cohen (1994, p.31) has presented numerous advantages ofquizzes

+ Firstly, quizzes are constructed, administered, scored, and evaluated moreeasily than tests because they are often shorter

+ Secondly, the focus of quizzes may be quite narrow in terms of bothcontents and procedures since they often relate to the class assignments andactivities

+ Thirdly, since quizzes are presented in informal manners, quizzes mayenable test-shy students to take part in the quizzes well and help teachers assesslearners’ language abilities more naturally and accurately than a test

+ Fourthly, both teachers and learners can receive useful instant feedbackfrom quizzes For instance, after a quiz, teachers can know which items or taskssuccessfully meet the assessment needs of a given class For students, they haveopportunity to check how well they have learned in the previous or current lessonsthanks to quizzes

+ To further emphasize the benefits of quizzes, Cohen (1994, p.35) alsoadded that a quiz given at the beginning of class can serve as a review of whatstudents learned in the last class and help students have ready emotional state toparticipate in the class section A quiz used at the end of class helps to attractstudents’ attention

Additionally, a number of researchers demonstrated various benefits of oralquizzes in learning speaking skills (e.g., Flight, 2003; Kurzweil, 2003; Antonion &O’Donnell, 2004; Capps 2007) Specifically, Flight (2003) argued that theinstructors can attain a lot of desirable results when they apply proper oral quizzessuch as:

+ revealing the effectiveness of the instructor’s training procedures

+ checking students’ retention and comprehension of what has been learned

+ reviewing material already covered by the students

+ drawing students’ interests and stimulating thinking

+ emphasizing the main points of the lesson

+ promoting active student participation, which is essential to effectivelearning

Kurzweil (2003) and Antonion & O’Donnell (2004, cited in Hughes, 2005)found that oral quizzes provide teachers and students with instant feedback afterspeaking activities Oral quizzes can help them realize problematic areas so thatthey can improve future lessons Teachers can use oral quizzes as a means toquickly evaluate students’ progress, and students are eager to hear their scores aswell as to receive advice from the teacher and other classmates on how to improvetheir oral performances In addition, oral quizzes can promote student interests intheir weak points and encourage them to practice their speaking skills as the termcontinues Capps (2007) added that oral quizzes can be a non-threatening andmotivational tool for encouraging students to take part in oral presentation

In summary, it has been indicated that quizzes play a vital role in languagelearning in general, and oral quizzes offer considerable advantages to both teachersand students in teaching and learning speaking skills in particular Therefore, moreattention should be paid to the use of oral quizzes in order to enhance students’motivation in learning speaking and speaking ability In reality, it appears to beambiguous to distinguish the terms “quiz” and “test” The following part willthoroughly describe the characteristics of quizzes and those of tests

2.1.3 Characteristics of Quizzes versus Tests

Cohen (1994, p.32) pointed out several differences in characteristics betweenquizzes and tests

• serve to familiarize or train students

re item or task type

• immediate feedback for teachers on

how items work

• feedback for learners on how they did

• variety of items and procedures

• seen as the measurement itself - not training

• too late to do anything re poor items/ tasks - just discount them

• too late for learners to do anything about their weaknesses

2.1.4 Possible challenges in testing speaking skills and solutions

Many teachers of English are afraid of testing speaking skills because theymay face several challenges Below are possible problems that teachers mightencounter when testing speaking skills and their solutions

The first problem originates from the difficulty in establishing criteria forevaluating a speaking test Even though criteria are best designed, the subjectivity

of marking may lead to unreliable results (Kitao & Kitao, 1996; Hingle &Linington, 1997) To resolve this problem, specific criteria should be designedaccording to the purpose of the test to ensure the reliability of the oral test Inaddition, in oral tests, there should be two examiners to minimize the subjectivity ofmarking Especially, time and effort should be devoted to examiner training andstandardization Finally, it is suggested that examinees’ performances should be

recorded so that the examiners may listen to the recordings and mark again in casethere is a great discrepancy in scoring between the two raters (Fulcher, 2003).

Time limit also becomes one of the most concerns for teachers whenconducting oral testing In fact, it is hard to test a large number of learners in a

relatively short time (Heaton, 1988; Seligson, 1997) The solution to this challenge

is that teachers may assess students in pairs or in groups to save time Besides, usinggroup competition as a form of oral test may become a good idea because teacherscan save much time and the students will put more efforts to win other groups

Another difficulty in testing speaking skills is that candidates are not familiarwith the instructions when being tested at the first time (Hingle & Linington, 1997;Christman, 1999) There are several ways to settle the problem First of all, teachersshould inform all of the students that they are being assessed and remind them thattheir efforts will be rewarded (Christman, 1999) Furthermore, students should begiven clear and comprehensible instructions before they participate in the oral tests.For instance, the tester should describe the test purpose, predict the possibleduration of the test, outline the tasks involved in the test and give instructions at thebeginning of each task (Underhill, 1992)

The final challenge when conducting oral testing arises from candidates’anxiety In many situations, the candidates may be unable to provide an accuratepicture of their oral ability because of their anxiousness (Underhill, 1992; Ohata,2005) In fact, many studies have supported that anxiety results in worseperformance of the students Therefore, teachers should attempt to find out as manyways to reduce students’ anxiety as possible For example, friendly environmenthelps support students to speak correctly and eagerly (Zhao, 1998) Testers’supportive attitudes such as body language, smiling faces, and encouraging gesturescan contribute to a relaxing testing environment (Ohata, 2005) Moreover, it issuggested that testers should avoid taking notes on the testees’ performancesbecause it might cause stress for the testees

In short, although it is unavoidable to face several problems in testingspeaking skills, it is believed that high school teachers of English can conduct oraltesting successfully since the solutions to these challenges are available

2.2 Motivation

It cannot be denied that motivation plays a significant role in determiningsuccess or failure in language learning (Dörnyei, 2001, Quashoa, 2006; Ebata,2008) The present section comprises the definition, the types and the roles ofmotivation Moreover, the ways to enhance students’ motivation in speaking classesare also discussed

2.2.1 Definition of motivation

Although the term motivation is widely recognized, it appears to have been

impossible for theorists to attain consensus on its definition According to Gardner

(1985, p.10), motivation is charaterized as “the extent to which an individual works

or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfactionexperienced in this activity” Oxford and Shearin (1994, cited in Abisamra, 2009)

describes motivation as a desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal From Dörnyei’s viewpoint (2001), motivation explains the

reasons people decide to do something, the efforts they are going to pursue it andthe time they are willing to keep up the activity From the presented definitions, it istransparent that there has been a good deal of variation in the literature in the way in

which the term motivation has been defined It is important to note that these

definitions are not contrary to one another, but rather complement each other in

clarifying the concept of motivation Within the scope of the current paper,

motivation is considered as the willingness, need and desire of students to participate in the learning process (Bomia et al, 1997) This definition is adopted as

the definition for the term motivation in the present study because it is the most

comprehensive and the most relevant to language learning context

2.2.2 Types of motivation

Motivation has been categorized into several types such as integrativemotivation, instrumental motivation, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivationaccording to different perspectives of psycholinguists In the present research,motivation is classified into two types: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is defined as the “motivation to engage in an activity

because that activity is enjoyable and satisfying to do” (Deci & Ryan, 1985, p.39).Intrinsic motivation occurs when someone wants to do something for fun orchallenge, regardless environmental factors In other words, people decide to do anaction or a behavior because of their own interests towards the activity rather thanbecause of the external outcome (Chang, 2005) Although there have been various

interpretations of intrinsic motivation, in the present study, intrinsic motivation

refers to the willingness or desire that urges students to participate in speaking activities because of their own interests

Extrinsic motivation is characterized as “actions carried out to achieve some

instrumental end such as earning a reward or avoiding a punishment” (Deci andRyan, 1985, p.39) Supporting the definition of Deci and Ryan (1985), Dörnyei(2001) states “extrinsic motivation occurs when the individual’s behavior is gearedtowards getting some kind of external reward (such as good grades) or avoidingpunishment” Based on the presented definitions and with the scope of the current

study, extrinsic motivation is considered as the desire that leads students to take

part in speaking activities because of external rewards or fear of punishment

The relationship between extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation in learning speaking English

It has been reported that extrinsic motivation may become a detrimentalfactor that possibly undermines intrinsic motivation Numerous researchers (e.g.,Greene & Lepper, 1974; Beck, 1978; Deci & Ryan, 1985; McCullers et al., 1987;

Rummel & Feinberg, 1988) have found that tangible rewards and other extrinsicmotivators might have harmful effects on students’ intrinsic motivation Learners’motivation will be lost when rewards are no longer offered If a student is told that

he or she will earn a desired reward for completing the task successfully, he will beless eager to join in other tasks which offer him nothing In brief, from theseresearchers’ viewpoints, intrinsic motivation brings more potential benefits tolanguage learning than extrinsic motivation does, and extrinsic motivation maybecome a factor that obstructs intrinsic motivation

In contrast to the findings of Greene & Lepper (1974), Beck (1978), Deci &Ryan (1985), McCullers et al (1987), Rummel & Feinberg (1988), other studies(e.g., Kruglanski et al.,1975; Zinser, Young and King, 1982; Boggiano, Maine andKatz, 1991; Cameron and Pierce, 1994; Dörnyei, 1994) have demonstrated thepositive effects of extrinsic motivation on intrinsic motivation Particularly,Kruglanski et al (1975) investigated the interaction between intrinsic and extrinsicmotivation on forty-eight boys The results revealed that the participants’ intrinsicmotivation increased thanks to rewards (an example of extrinsic motivation) whichwere given together with the tasks Other studies carried out by Zinser, Young andKing (1982); Boggiano, Maine and Katz (1991) indicated that rewards in the form

of verbal praise could contribute to the enhancement of intrinsic motivation Thesefindings support the conclusion that if extrinsic motivation is used appropriately, itcan be combined with or even lead to intrinsic motivation (Cameron and Pierce,1994; Dörnyei, 1994)

To sum up, it is transparent that both intrinsic motivation and extrinsicmotivation are necessary for encouraging people to learn (Csikszentmihaly, 1990;cited in Man-Fat, 2004) Hence, the present study aims to enhance both students’intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation with the hope that motivation, in turn,may increase students’ learning achievement

2.2.3 The roles of motivation in language learning

A number of researchers stated that motivation is one of the crucial factorswhich determine success of language learning (e.g., Gardner, 1980; Kohn, 1990;Dörnyei, 1998 & 2001; Sagawa, 2001; Koiso, 2003; Qashoa, 2006; Rost, 2006;Ebata, 2008; Sevtap, 2008) Dörnyei (1998) clarified that language learners may beable to accomplish long-term goals with sufficient motivation since motivationencouraged them to learn the language first, and then it provided them with greateffort to be persistent in the learning process Therefore, students’ motivation is

essential to produce positive results in learning English (Politzer, 1983; Norris,

2001; Rost, 2006) Dörnyei (2001) also added that 99 percent of language learnerswho are really motivated will be able to learn the language, regardless of theirlanguage aptitude He reported that without sufficient motivation, even the mostoutstanding learners cannot persist long enough to achieve any really usefullanguage and the atmosphere in the class is no longer lively (Rost, 2006) In brief, itcannot be denied that motivation plays an indispensable role in language learningbecause motivation is not only the essential factor in language learning but also theeffective tool for facilitating learning success (Qashoa, 2006) Therefore, motivationshould not be neglected in language classroom, and language teachers should putmore efforts in finding more effective ways to enhance students’ motivation

2.2.4 The ways to enhance students’ motivation in speaking classes

Motivation is one of the key factors which can determine success or failure

in any language learning context (Dörnyei, 2001) Therefore, finding effective ways

to motivate learners is an important issue being always in the minds of languageteachers

Dörnyei (2001, p.7) suggested that in order to motivate learners, teachersshould

+ enhance the learners’ language-related values and attitudes

+ increase the learners’ expectancy of success

+ increase the learners’ goal-orientedness

+ make the teaching materials relevant for the learners

+ create realistic learner beliefs

Especially, Dörnyei (2001, pp.133-134) emphasized that rewards,particularly grades, can become powerful motivational tools for enhancing students’motivation if teachers apply grades in a proper manner Therefore, he proposedseveral suggestions for teachers to take advantage of using grades such as:

+ involve students in an ongoing process of evaluation during the course rather than relying on the results of one or two tests only The assessment should also cover participation in the lessons or in projects.

+ use grades in a motivating manner, reducing as much as possible their demotivating impact

+ make sure that grades also reflect effort and improvement and not just objective levels of achievement.

+ apply continuous assessment that also relies on measurement tools rather than pencil-and-paper tests.

+ encourage accurate students self-assessment by providing various self-evaluation tools

From Lawtie’s viewpoints (2004), there are various measures to increasestudents’ motivation in speaking classes First, teachers should distribute apercentage of their final grade to speaking skills and inform students that they arebeing assessed continually on their speaking practice in class throughout the term.Second, the classroom desks should be arranged differently, and the walls should bedecorated in English language and cultural posters Third, teachers should providestudents with positive feedback so that they feel relaxed and shy students areencouraged to speak more Finally, teachers had better speak English as much aspossible in class to create a good speaking environment If a teacher rarely speaksEnglish in class, he certainly cannot persuade his students to participate in speaking

activities eagerly Therefore, teachers should be enthusiastic in speaking English inorder to form good models for students to follow.

According to Maamari (2010), although students are motivated by a number

of factors, the teacher and the way he/she presents the lessons and the way he/sheencourages and supports students may influence students’ motivation Thus, inorder to stimulate students and maintain their interests, teachers should design avariety of activities, of ways for presenting lectures, of informal assessmentprocedures, of extra support materials and so on

2.3 Speaking ability

In the present section, issues relevant to speaking ability such as itsdefinition, the roles of speaking ability in language learning, and components ofgood speaking ability are presented Moreover, criteria for speaking ability andtechniques for testing oral ability are introduced Finally, possible challenges intesting speaking skills and their solutions are also discussed

2.3.1 Definition of speaking ability

In the literature of second language learning, numerous conceptualizations of

speaking ability have been put forward According to Lado (1961, p.240), speaking ability is considered as “the ability to express oneself in real-life situations, or the

ability to report events in accurate words, or the ability to communicate, or theability to utter a sequence of ideas fluently” Chapelle et al (1997) believe that

speaking ability must be described in relation to the characteristics of the context in

which communication occurs In short, there have been various interpretations of

the notion speaking ability, and different researchers define the term speaking

ability in different ways However, in the current research, the researcher is taking speaking ability to mean communicative language ability realized in different oral communication situations.

2.3.2 The roles of speaking ability in language learning

Language learners often consider speaking ability as the measure of theirknowledge about that language They think that their success in learning the targetlanguage is measured in terms of their ability to carry out a conversation (Nunan,1991) For most language learners, the ability to communicate with the others istheir primary goal in language learning (Harlow & Muyskens, 1994) In otherwords, when we say that someone has good speaking ability in English, it may beinferred that he is a good English learner According to Kayi (2006), it is clear thatthe ability to communicate in a second language efficiently contributes to thesuccess of the learners not only in school but also in every aspect of life Hence, iflanguage teachers wish to improve students’ knowledge about a language, the firstthing they should do is to enhance students’ speaking ability

2.3.3 Components of good speaking ability

Communicative competence is a linguistic term which refers to a learner’sspeaking ability According to Hymes (1972), communicative competence mentionsnot only the learner’s ability to apply and use grammatical rules, but also his ability

to produce accurate utterances and to apply these utterances appropriately Canaleand Swain (1980) and Canale (1983) define communicative competence as anunderlying system of knowledge and skill needed for communication

There are different viewpoints about what components form communicativecompetence For Canale and Swain (1980), communicative competence comprisesfour components: (1) grammatical competence, (2) sociolinguistic competence, (3)

discourse competence, (4) and strategic competence Grammatical competence

refers to the mastery of language code such as vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling,semantics and sentence formation It focuses on the knowledge and skill essential

for understanding and expressing the meaning of utterances Sociolinguistic

competence means that utterances are appropriate both in meaning and form given

in particular contexts Appropriateness of meaning makes reference to thecommunicative functions that are adequate or inadequate for a given situation

Discourse competence means how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to

constitute a unified text This unity is achieved through cohesion in form andcoherence in meaning Strategic competence refers to the mastery of verbal and

nonverbal communication strategies to make up for breakdowns in communicationand to enhance the effectiveness of communication

According to Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei and Thurrell (1995), communicativecompetence consists of five components: (1) linguistic competence, (2) actionalcompetence, (3) discourse competence, (4) sociocultural competence and (5)strategic competence Linguistic competence is the knowledge of the basic elements

of the language code such as syntax, morphology, vocabulary, phonology and

orthography Actional competence refers to the ability to understand and convey

communicative purpose by interpreting and performing language functions such ascomplimenting, reporting, agreeing/disagreeing, predicting, and suggesting and so

on Discourse competence is the ability to apply language structures into different

types of unified spoken and written discourse (dialogue, political speech, poetry,

academic paper, cookery recipe, etc.) Sociocultural competence mentions the

mastery of the sociocultural rules of language use: the appropriate application ofvocabulary, register, politeness, and style in a given social situation within a given

culture Strategic competence is the knowledge of verbal and non-verbal

communication strategies which enable us to overcome difficulties whencommunication breakdown occurs

From the presented definitions and components of communicativecompetence, it is suggested that learners had better obtain various types ofcompetence if they wish to have good speaking ability (or good communicativecompetence)

2.3.4 Criteria for assessing speaking ability

Methodologists have designed criteria for assessing students’ speaking abilitybased on the components of communicative competence discussed in the previoussection The criteria used for assessing speaking ability may be dissimilardepending on the purpose of the test For instance, Adams and Frith (1979) assessedstudents’ speaking ability by using five categories (accent, vocabulary, grammar,fluency and comprehensibility) Kitao & Kitao (1996) considered grammar,pronunciation, fluency, content, organization, and vocabulary as aspects forassessing speaking skills

In the current study, five criteria adopted from Thompson’s (1997) were usedfor assessing the participants’ speaking ability They consist of (1) comprehension,(2) fluency, (3) vocabulary, (4) pronunciation and (5) grammar Each criterionincludes five rating scales which are thoroughly described and are arranged fromlevel 1 to level 5 (See Appendix 11)

2.3.5 Techniques for testing oral ability

Underhill (1987) and Shohamy (1988) suggested that it is necessary to use acombination of assessment methods which involve different types of tasks to obtain

a valid overall picture of oral proficiency

Researchers have applied a variety of techniques for testing students’speaking ability For instance, Mead et al (1985) introduced the following speakingtest types:

+ Simple questions and answers

+ Guided interview

+ Evaluation during group interactions

+ Oral reports

+ Dialogues / roleplays

+ Skits and drama

Ulsh and Cowles (1988, cited in Cohen, 1994) designed a semi-direct testwhich consisted of several types of tasks for assessing speaking ability called TheSimulated Oral Proficiency Interview such as:

* Personal Conversation: The respondent is asked some questions in target

language about family, education, and hobbies etc This section functions as awarm-up to help the respondent think in the target language

* Giving directions: The respondent is provided with a map and is asked to

give direction between two points in the map

* Detailed Description: The respondent is given a drawing which consists

of a variety of subjects and actions and is instructed to describe the picture in detail

* Picture Sequence: The respondent is instructed to speak in a narrative

fashion about two sets of four or five pictures in sequence

* Topical Discourse: The respondent is instructed to some topics, and each

topic involves specialized content The topics are read aloud on the tape or written

in the target language in a text booklet

* Situations: The respondent hears or reads the descriptions of situations in

which a specified audience and communicative task are identified

Hughes (1989) introduced several techniques for testing oral ability asfollows:

* Questions and requests for information: The tester provides questions or

requests to candidates Candidates give answers or explanations

* Pictures: Single pictures are used for eliciting description and series of

pictures (or video sequences) form a natural basis for narration

* Role play: Candidates can be asked to assume a role in a particular

situation

* Interpreting: Simple interpreting tasks can test both production and

comprehension in a controlled way The candidate plays a vital role of theinterpreter for a native language speaker and a foreigner played by two testers

* Discussion: Two candidates discuss on a topic in order to come to a

decision

* Tape-recorded stimuli: All candidates listen to the situations in the

audio-(or video-) tape-recorded stimuli and complete its requirements

* Imitation: Candidates hear a series of sentences, each of which they have

to repeat in turn

Nakamura & Valens (2001) used three different types of speaking tests intheir study

* Monologue Speaking Test: It is also called the presentation The

candidates are asked to perform some tasks such as talking about their favouritesport, or presenting their ideas about something and so on

* Dialogue Speaking Test: It is also known as the interview It is an

open-ended test where the candidates lead a discussion with the teacher, using theirconversation skills

* Multilogue Speaking Test: It is also called the discussion and debating.

The discussions are student-generated Students are put into groups and they decide

on a topic they feel would be of interest for the rest of the classroom

In the study of investigating the types of speaking assessment tasks used byKorean Junior Secondary School English teachers, Sook (2003) found that thefollowing types of assessment tasks were used:

+ Answer the questions

+ Show and tell

+ Self-introduction or family introduction

+ Role-play

+ Rote memory of text dialog

+ Picture description

For Chuang (2009), when testing the oral proficiency in the languageclassroom, the teachers may simply interview the learners and assess theirresponses, or use other techniques like role-playing, group discussion betweenlearners, monologue, and picture description and so on

In summary, there are a variety of techniques for testing students’ speakingability The important thing to note is that when designing oral tests, teachers shouldselect appropriate techniques based on several factors such as content of the lesson,students’ levels, purpose of the test, and time etc in order to assure the reliabilityand validity of the oral tests

2.4 The effects of oral testing on students’ motivation in learning speaking

A lot of researchers in the field of linguistics claimed the positive effects oftesting on students’ motivation in learning Krashen and Terrel (1983, p.165)asserted:

“Testing can be done in a way that will have a positive effect on the students’ progress […] Teachers are motivated to teach and students are motivated to study materials which will be covered on tests Quite simply, if we want students

to acquire a second language, we should give tests that promote the use of acquisition (in and out of the classroom) In other words, our tests should motivate students to prepare for the tests by obtaining more comprehensible input and motivate teachers to supply it”

Having similar ideas to those of Krashen and Terrel (1983), Alderson andWall (1993) stressed that even a “poor” test could provide a positive washbackeffect and could motivate both learners and teachers For example, a test mightencourage learners to prepare the lessons at home and to study the subject beingtested more seriously whereas teachers might design their lesson plans morecarefully in order to help the students achieve good results in the test Tests can bevery motivating for different students in dissimilar ways In fact, the externalreward of getting high scores may motivate some students meanwhile the desire to

receive praise from parents, teachers or friends for studying well may give anincentive to other students (Kuramoto, 2002)

The positive impact of oral testing on students’ motivation in learningspeaking skills was also found in numerous studies (e.g., Assessment ReformGroup, 2002; Sook, 2003; Lawtie, 2004; Xian-Long, 2009) For instance, Sook(2003) implemented a study which aimed to identify which types of speakingassessment tasks were used by Korean Junior high school teachers of English andthe ways in which those assessments were administered Furthermore, teachers’perceptions of speaking assessment were also investigated The results illustratedthat almost all of the teacher participants had positive attitudes towards the essential

of speaking assessment because they claimed that students tended to be motivated

by assessment or examinations

In an article written for teachers who have encountered problems in speakingclasses with many students, Lawtie (2004) proposed several suggestions which

reinforced the research findings of Sook (2003) He suggested that an effective way

to enhance students’ motivation in learning speaking is to inform the students thatthey are being assessed continually on their speaking practice in class throughoutthe term and to portion a percentage of their final scores to speaking skills

In a survey conducted in 2009, Xian-Long investigated the main problems ofChinese students when studying English speaking skills and proposed severalhelpful measures to deal with the problems He recommended that oral tests should

be implemented side by side with tests of other skills because the impact of oraltesting is considered as an invisible stimulation for students’ external motivation inlearning speaking Furthermore, he confirmed that taking good use of the positiveeffects of oral testing can ensure students’ consistent endeavors to develop their oralskills Especially, more attention should be paid to how much progress that eachstudent has attained during the term, instead of ranking the speaking ability betweenstudents Following such way not only encourages students to eagerly participate inclassroom activities but also promotes their enthusiasm and interest in speaking the

target language in their free time These suggestions helped strengthen Lawtie’sviewpoints (2004).

Unlike the findings of Sook (2003), Lawtie (2004), and Xian-Long (2009),the results of a review of research on the impact of summative testing on pupils’motivation to learn by Assessment Reform Group (2002) demonstrated that therewere two different views on the impact of testing on pupils’ motivation in learning.Specifically, testing might have either positive or negative effects on pupils’motivation to learn depending on the level of the pupils and the way of assessment

On one hand, it was found that testing positively affected students’ motivation tolearn For instance, teachers’ own class testing practices can improve pupils’ self-efficacy if the purposes and expectations of the tests are explained and task-relatedfeedback is provided However, it was noticed that testing can motivate only pupilswho expect success and only enhances motivation towards performance goals rather

than learning goals On the other hand, the experience of testing may cause a negative effect on students’ motivation to learn In some situations, repeated tests

may bring down the self-pride and attempt in learning of students who are less

successful in learning The use of repeated tests might lead these students to adopt

test-taking strategies due to the importance of the tests instead of putting moreefforts to prepare for the tests

From what has been discussed so far, it could be concluded that oral testingmight have either positive or negative effects on students’ motivation in learningspeaking skills Nonetheless, there were more studies supporting the positive effects

of oral testing onenhancing students’ motivation to learn speaking English

2.5 The effects of oral testing on students’ speaking ability

It has been claimed that oral testing brings both positive and negative effects

to students’ speaking ability

Several researchers (e.g., Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) pointed out thenegative impact of oral testing on students’ speaking ability in a research on 75Spanish learners of English at an American university They developed the ForeignLanguage Classroom Anxiety Scale to identify anxious university students and theiranxiety The scale involved three dimensions: communication apprehension, testanxiety and fear of negative evaluation The findings revealed that test anxiety isquite persuasive in language classrooms because of its continuous performanceevaluative nature The researchers emphasized that oral testing has the potentiality

to raise students’ anxiety both in oral tests and oral communication, especially forsusceptible students

In contrast to the findings of Horwitz et al (1986), a number of researchersreported that the use of oral English cannot be enhanced unless oral tests areincorporated into the overall testing requirements (e.g., Finch & Taeduck, 2002;Sook, 2003; Xian-Long, 2009) Particularly, Finch and Taeduck (2002) carried out astudy which focused on the improvement in spoken English of 1700 KoreanFreshman University students over an academic year (64 hours) The resultsdemonstrated that oral tests have beneficial ‘washback’ effect on promotingstudents’ oral skills Finch and Taeduck argued that the test was considered as notonly a goal for students to enhance their oral skills but also a means to achieve thatgoal The oral tests could help assess students’ speaking ability and assisted in thedevelopment of oral skills because they encouraged students to participate inspeaking activities and acquired positive learning habits

Sook (2003) conducted a study whose aims were to identify the types ofspeaking assessment tasks used by Korean junior high school teachers of Englishand the ways in which those assessments were administered Moreover, teachers’perceptions of speaking assessment were also investigated Sook (2003) was in linewith Finch and Taeduck (2002) when he suggested that teachers should teststudents’ speaking ability in practical situations if they expect students to learn

speaking skills effectively In other words, if teachers wish to improve theirstudents’ speaking ability, teachers should apply oral tests in the course so thatstudents will put more efforts to develop their speaking ability

In a survey among Chinese students who studied English in order to find outthe main problems that they faced in developing speaking skills, Xian-Long (2009)proposed that utilizing the positive effects of oral testing was one of the mosteffective classroom strategies which could enhance students’ speaking ability Itwas suggested that in order to ensure the positive effects of oral testing, teachersshould decide the results of students’ speaking skills on both continuous assessmentand the oral test at the end of the course since students’ performances in speakingskills will be more closely observed and evaluated through continuous assessment

The author’s idea strongly supported those of Finch and Taeduck (2002) and Sook

(2003)

In summary, the presented studies demonstrated both positive and negativeeffects of oral testing on students’ speaking ability However, the positive effects oforal testing were found in more studies than the negative ones

2.6 The correlation between students’ motivation in learning speaking and their speaking ability

The correlation between students’ motivation and language achievement ingeneral as well as the correlation between students’ motivation in learning speakingand their speaking ability in particular were investigated in many studies

In 1984, Youssef examined the correlation between students’ motivation andtheir achievement in second language courses The participants consisted of 97English speakers in the tenth and eleventh grades in introductory French, German,and Spanish courses A survey was used to measure students’ motivation and theirlanguage achievement was identified by the final language course grades The