This document discusses how to properly assess speaking skills. It emphasizes using a clear test purpose, suitable test constructs, and a range of task types. Speaking tests should include a variety of tasks like monologues, interactions, and paired activities. Assessment should consider cognitive knowledge, processing abilities, and automaticity. Tasks can vary in difficulty based on factors like familiarity and abstractness of topics, as well as speech functions. Tests should use clear instructions and a justified ordering of tasks. Scoring can be done through holistic or analytical scales, with each approach having strengths and limitations.

1. HOW TO ASSESS
SPEAKING
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION MODULE
ELIZABETH TAYO

2. FAIR SPEAKING TESTS
Clear test
purpose
Suitable
test
construct
Range of
task types
Approprite
asseesment
scales
Examiner
training

3. VARIETY OF TASKS
Interaction
Monologue
Reproduction

4. COGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND
PROCESSING
Generalization of deas (conceptualisation)
Knowledge of grammar
Knowledge of vocabulary
Knowledge of sounds
Articulation
Self-Monitoring
Automatic

5. TESTS TASKS
MONOLOGUE SPEECH:
 Talk about a topic
 Describe a photograph, compare photographs.
 Tell/Summarise a story

6. INTERACTION TASKS
 Question and answer
 Discussion
 Information gap activities
 Role plays

7. PAIRED TASKS
Advantages:
- High authenticity
- Interactional skills
Limitations:
-Role of personality, age, gender, language ability, etc

8. What should do about the
possible limitation of task?
Include a range of task types and a range of different
channels:
 Question and answer
 Monologue
 Paired interaction
 Use of analytical and global criteria and scales.

9. TASK DIFFICULTY
 TASK A:
 Students are given pictures about different objects and
are asked to answer a question about the best gift to
buy for a friend. They would decide which is the best
gift.
 TASK B:
 Students are asked about the advantages or
disadvantages of communicating in different ways, they
are given ideas and they have to decide which two ways
are the best way to comunicating.

10. TASK DIFFICULTY: TOPIC/TYPE
OF INFORMATION
LESS MORE
Personal
Familiar
Concrete
Non-personal
Unfamiliar
Abstract

11. TASK DIFFICULTY: Speech
functions.
Speech functions
. Informational functions (expressing opinions, comparing)
. Interactional functions (agreeing, asking for opinion,
persuading)
. Interaction management functions (starting to speak,
interrupting)

12. OTHER FACTORS WHICH
AFFECT TASK FAIRNESS
 Are the instructions clear?
 Is the purpose of the task clear to the test takers?
 Is there a range of tasks?
 Are the items/tasks in a justifiable order?
 Is the timing for each part of the test appropriate?

13. TYPES OF SCALES
 HOLISTIC
 . General impression
 . One overall mark
 ANALYTICAL
 . Broken down into separate features
 . Several marks – one for each assessment criterion

14. HOLISTIC SCALES
STRENGTHS:
. Practicality: faster
LIMITATION:
. No useful diagnostc informatin (single score)
. Difficulty to use when sills are uneveny developed.

15. ANALYTICAL SCALES
 STRENGTHS:
 . Diagnostic information
 . Useful in rater training
 . Useful for L2 learners who have an uneven profile
LIMITATIONS:
. Time consuming