This document discusses one-to-one and paired testing for speaking assessments. It describes the advantages as providing authentic interaction, a wider range of tasks, and more objective marking with two examiners. Speaking tasks may include interviews, presentations, negotiations and discussions ranging from 10 minutes for lower levels to 20 minutes for advanced levels. Sample questions and tasks are provided at different levels. The document also outlines how to standardize exams, provide classroom practice, and develop students' interactional skills in order to best assess their speaking abilities.

1. Katherine Andrade

2. One-to-one testing Paired testing
Advantages

3. Authentic
opportunities for
interaction
Increases the
range of of task
types.
Enables 2
examiners:
interlocutor -
assessor
Marking is more
objective (2
examiners)

4. Interview tasks
Presentation tasks
Negotiation tasks
Discussion tasks
• Lower
levels: Less
than 10’
• Advanced
levels: Only
20’

5. Purpose:
 Settle the candidates (starting point)
 Test their ability to provide general personal
information.
• Everyday
topics
• Levels
• Paired
interviews

6. Lower-level question:
Where are you from?
Higher-level question:
Looking back on your education up to now, is there
anything you would like to change?
Paired interview:
Ask each other about:
Future plans/ reasons for learning English

7.  Ability to speak at length (1-3’) on a prescribed
topic.
Visual prompt Verbal prompt

8.  Discuss a given situation in order to reach a decision
(negotiating skills).
 One-to-one testing/ Paired testing
 Speculate about a
situation.
 Make suggestions
 Discuss alternatives
 Find differences
 Put items in order

9.  Final and more complex task (open-ended questions)
 Direct intervention of the interlocutor
 Ability to articulate opinions and beliefs
Speaking
abilities at
their best!
Example

10. Exam procedure
Level of
performance
required

11. Examiner
behavior
Conduct of
paired testing
Recording of
speaking exams

12. Discourse
management
Fluency
Coherence
Interactive
communication
Turn-taking
Initiating &
responding
Grammar &
vocabulary
Grammatical
items
Lexical forms
Pronunciation
Production
of individual
sounds
Control of
prosodic
features

13.  Standardize the conduct of
exams.
 Classroom practice
 Examiner scripts
 Putting learners in the
interlocutor’s role.

14.  Negotiating in English in the classroom
 Awareness raising in the features of paired-task performance

15. Real
context
example
Teacher’s
model
Students’
example
Students’
practice

16. Skills in managing
interaction
Interview tasks
• Turn-taking
• Function cards
• Asking & responding to
interview questions

17. Discussion
skills
• Topics
• Express
opinions
• Debates
Sustained
speaking
tests
• Regular
practice
• Listening with
full attention
Talk about
pictures
• Express
oneself
tentatively
• No general
knowledge is
measured

18. Individual
sounds
Stress
Intonation