This document discusses assessing speaking skills. It begins by defining speaking as an interactive process of constructing meaning through producing and receiving information. Spoken language is described as having characteristics like variation in speed, intonation, gestures. The document then outlines different types of speaking tasks like imitative, intensive, responsive, interactive and extensive. It provides examples of assessment formats for speaking like reading aloud, conversational exchanges, using pictures, and oral interviews. Finally, it discusses techniques for assessing speaking like role plays, discussions, oral presentations and considering criteria for evaluating performance.

1. QUIZ: Discuss the extent to which you
agree or disagree with the following
statements.
1. Dictation provides a reasonably valid method
for testing listening and writing.
2. Listening tasks may focus on a grammatical
category such as verbs, tenses, etc.
3. Sound discrimination tests are normally not
authentic.
4. The Backwash effect of listening is harmful to
non-native speakers of English.

2. Assessing Speaking
Language Testing and
Evaluation

3. Teaching speaking
• What is Speaking?
¨Speaking is an interactive process of constructing
meaning that involves producing and receiving and
processing information¨ (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce,
1997).
According to Kramsch (1986) cited in O´Malley and
Valdez (1996) ¨Speaking means anticipating the
listener´s response and possible misunderstandings, and
arriving at the closest possible match between intended,
perceived, and anticipated meanings¨.
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4. Assessing Speaking
Characteristics of Spoken language
Spoken language is different from written language for many reasons.
One important reason is that it usually has to be understood
immediately whereas written language can be read many times. For
that reason, spoken language has many different features.
 Spoken language has the following characteristics (Halliday, 1989, p.
31):
 Variation in speed (generally faster than writing)
 Loudness or quietness
 Gestures - body language
 Intonation
 Stress
 Rhythm
 Pitch range
 Pausing and phrasing
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5. Assessing Speaking
Basic
Types of
Speaking
Imitative
Intensive
Responsive
Interactive
Extensive
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Source: Brown, D (2004)

6. Assessing Speaking
Imitative: Word repetition Task (repeat after me…)
PHONEPASS TEST
Intensive: Directed Response Tasks, Read-Aloud Tasks,
Sentence Dialogue completion tasks and oral questionnaires,
Picture-Cued Tasks, translation (of limited stretches of
discourse).
Responsive: Question/answer, giving instructions and
directions, Paraphrasing, Test of Spoken English (TSE)
Interactive: Interview, Role Play, Discussions and
Conversations, Games, Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)
Extensive: Oral presentations, Picture-Cued Story-Telling,
Retelling a Story, News Event, Translation (of Extended Prose)
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Source: Brown, D (2004)

7. ASSESSMENT FORMATS FOR
SPEAKING

8. 1. READING ALOUD
• Student is given a short time to glance
through an extract before being required to
read it aloud.
• Backwash effect is harmful.
• Used to test pronunciation.

9. 2. CONVERSATIONAL EXCHANGES
• Suitable for the language laboratory and can
serve to focus attention on certain aspects of
the spoken language.
• Do not allow for authentic interaction.

10. • TEST TYPE 1:
– The testees are given a series of situations and are
required to construct sentences on the lines of a
certain pattern of group of patterns.
• Example:
– It’s raining heavily. Tom and Anna are waiting
impatiently at home to set off on their picnic.
– (They wish it would stop raining)

11. • Mr. Black has a small carbut hi neighbors all
have large cars. He would like a large car too.
• Anna hasn’t learnt to swim yet but most of
her friends can swim.
• Tom is waiting for Bill outside the cinema. The
show is about to start.

12. • TEST TYPE 2:
– Similar to number one but not as strictly controlled.
– No model responses are given by the examiner and
the students are free to use whatever pattern s they
wish.
• Example:
– A friend of yours has forgotten where he has put his
glasses. He cannot see well without them. What will
you say to him? (Let me help you to look for them..)

13. • You are trying to get to the public library but
you are lost. Ask a police officer the way.
• Your friend returned from a holiday abroad.
What do you say to him?
• A waitress has just brought you the bill but
has totalled it up incorrectly. What do you say
to her?

14. • TEST TYPE 3:
– The students hear a stimulus to which they
respond in any appropriate way. (conventional
greetings, apologies, acceptable ways of
expressing disagreement)
• Example:
– Do you mind if I use your pencil for a moment?
– (Not at all, Certainly, Please do, Go ahead)

15. • TEST TYPE 4:
– Similar to number 3 but the stimuli and responses
form part of a longer dialogue and the situation is
thus developed.
• Example;
– MAN: Excuse me. I wonder if you can help me at
all. I’m looking for a chemist.
PAUSE FOR TESTEE’S REPLY
MAN: Thank you. Do you know what time it opens?
PAUSE for TESTEES REPLY.

16. • TEST TYPE 5:
– Incomplete dialogue with prompts whispered in
student’s ear.
• EXAMPLE:
RECEPTIONIST: CAN I help you?
(You want to know if there is a single room available)
YOU: __________________________
RECEPTIONIST: Yes, we have a single room.
(Ask the price)
YOU: __________________________

17. 3. Using pictures
• Picture of single objects can be used to assess
phoneme contrasts.
• Picture of a scene can be used for examining
the total oral skills.
• Description and narration.
• Students are given a picture to study for a few
minutes; then they are required to describe
the picture in a given time.

18. PICTURE-CUED STORY TELLING (intermediate level sample)
Source:http://www.google.co.ve/search?hl=es&biw=1259&bih=573&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sequenced+pictures+for+story+telling&btnG=Buscar&oq=sequenced+pictu
res+for+story+telling&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=54413l75052l0l31l30l2l0l0l3l905l6206l0.2.11.4.1.1.1

19. Source: Brown, H., 2004. Language Assessment Principles and Classroom Practices.
PICTURE – CUED STORY TELLING
(OBJECTIVE: SIMPLE PAST)

20. 4. Oral interview
• Highly subjective but realistic
• Students are highly susceptible to
psychological tensions and also to language
constraints.
• Teacher as the interviewer
• Interview students in pairs or even threes.

21. Assessing Speaking:
Interactive Speaking
Choosing the best test format
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ROLE PLAY
Structured role
play (information
gap)
Structured
interview
Unstructured
Interviews
ROLE PLAY
Unstructured
role play

22. Assessing Speaking: Interactive Speaking
 Interviews: (stages)
Warm up: 1. small talk
Level check: the test taker
2. answers Wh-questions
3 produce a narrative without interruptions
4 reads a passage outloud
5 Tells how to make something or do something
6 engages in a brief, controlled, guided role play
 Probe: The test-taker:
7 responds to interviewer´s questions about something the test taker doesn´t know and
is planning to include in an article or paper.
8 talks about his or her own field of study or profession.
9 engages in a longer, more open-ended role play (e.g. simulates a difficult of
embarrassing situation) with the interviewer.
10 gives an impromptu presentation on some aspect of test-taker´s field.
Wind down:
11 feeling about the interview, information or results, further questions
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23. OTHER TECHNIQUES FOR ORAL
EXAMINING

24. Role Plays

25. Discussions and conversations

26. Assessing Speaking:
Extensive Speaking
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Translation of
an extended
prose
Oral
Presentations
Picture-cued
Story Telling
Retelling a
story
Source: Brown, 2004

27. Oral Presentations
• Specify the criterion
• Set appropriate tasks
• Optimal output
• Practical, reliable scoring

28. Source: Brown, H., 2004. Language Assessment Principles and Classroom Practices.
ORAL PRESENTATION CHECK LIST

29. Conclusions
• 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.
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30. References
• Brown, D. (2004). Language Assessment, Principles and Classroom Practices.
Longman
• O Malley, M. and Valdez L. (1995). Authentic Assessment for English
Language Learners. Practical Approaches for Teachers. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
• Weir, C. (1990). Communicative Language Testing. Prentice Hall.
• Bailey, K.M., & Savage, L. (1994). "New ways in teaching speaking." Alexandria, VA: Teachers of
English to Speakers of Other Languages.
• Brown, H.D. (1994). "Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy.“
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
• Burns, A., & Joyce, H. (1997). "Focus on speaking." Sydney: National Center for English Language
Teaching and Research.
• Carter, R. & McCarthy, M. (1995). Grammar and spoken language. "Applied Linguistics, 16" (2),
141-158
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