This document outlines the design of a speaking test to assess English proficiency at the university level. It includes: 1) Test specifications such as purpose, examinees, construct, tasks, and rubric. The test consists of two sections - comparing/contrasting pictures of holidays and discussing the perfect vacation. 2) Descriptions of the two testing tasks - comparing/contrasting pictures and reaching an agreement on the perfect vacation. 3) A sample analytic rubric used to score test takers on vocabulary, fluency, accuracy, organization, and interaction. 4) A sample test paper with the tasks and timing.

1. UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE LA SANTÍSIMA CONCEPCIÓN
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
Departamento de Lenguas
SPEAKING TEST DESING
ASSESSMENT
Teacher
Gabriela Sanhueza
José Miguel Casanueva H.
Makarena Sánchez C.
Concepción, June 2014

2. Speaking test
I. List of test specifications from Luoma (2004).
The test’s purpose To assess student’s domain of units contents
at the end of the semester
Description of the examinees First cohort. University level
Test level Intermediate level of English.
Definition of construct (theoretical
framework for the test)
Student should be able to compare and
contrast pictures about holidays and discuss
the perfect vacation for them.
Description of suitable language course or
textbook
The students work throughout the semester
was based on the textbook “Objective PET”,
from Cambridge University Press.
Number of sections/papers This oral test is divided in two sections
-1st section: Compare and contrast pictures
about holidays
-2nd section: Get to an agreement
Time for each section/paper 1st section: 1 ½ minutes per test-taker
2nd section: 3 minutes
Total: 4 ½ minutes
Weighting for each section/paper Total 20 points
Target language situation
- Compare and contrast pictures about
holidays: “On one hand…”; “On the other
hand….”;“in contrast…”; “…..whereas..”
-Get to an agreement: “I would rather..” ; “I
prefer..” ; “I think that…”; “In my opinion…”;
“I agree..”
Text types Images
Text Length 5 minutes
Language skills to be tested Speaking
Language elements to be tested The language elements to be tested are :
-Vocabulary use
-Fluency
-Accuracy
-Organization of ideas
-Interaction
Tests tasks Comparing
Contrasting
Getting to an agreement

3. Extra-information:
Warm up activity: Personal information
As speaking tests are not very comfortable for the students, we want to provide a
confident environment in order to break the ice and diminish the anxiety of the students. The
activity basically consists in asking the test takers some personal information.
Examples: How are you today? – How was your weekend? – Do you have a lot of work to do
this week?
Test methods Instructions
Rubrics Analytic rubric
Criteria for marking -Vocabulary use
-Fluency
-Accuracy
-Organization of ideas
-Interaction
Samples paper See page 6 and 7

4. II. Testing tasks descriptions (Fulcher, n.d)
Task 1: Compare and contrast pictures related to holidays
Student A
Look at these pictures for a while. Identify similarities and differences between these two
images. You have 1 ½ minutes
Student B
Look at these pictures for a while. Identify similarities and differences between these two
images. You have 1 ½ minutes
Student A starts
Task specifications
Task Orientation Guided by instructions
Interactional relationship One-way
Goal orientation Divergent: Test takers have to compare and
contrast about holidays
Interlocutor status and familiarity High Status : tester- test taker
Topics Holidays
Task 2: Getting to an agreement
Student A and Student B
Look at these pictures for a while. Discuss with your partner about which of these two places
you would choose for a perfect holiday by giving reasons. You have 3 minutes. Student B
starts
Task specifications
Task Orientation Guided by instructions
Open when test takers interact with each
other
Interactional relationship Two-way: Interactions between test takers
Goal orientation Convergent: Test takers have to get to an
agreement
Interlocutor status and familiarity Same Status : Test taker – test taker
Topics Perfect holiday

5. III. Scoring procedure: Analytic rubric
Student’s name: Grade: Mark:
Category Excellent (4) Good (3) Poor (2) Needs Work
(1)
Score
Vocabulary
Use
The student
makes use of a
wide range of
vocabulary
The student
makes adequate
use of
vocabulary
The student
makes some
inadequate
use of
vocabulary
Inadequate use
of vocabulary
Fluency The student’s
message has
easy flow and
rhythm and
presents
normal
hesitations and
pauses
The student’s
message is
generally
understandable
and presents
few hesitations
and pauses.
The
student’s
message is
difficult to
understand
presenting
awkward
hesitations
and pauses.
The student’s
message cannot
be understood
presenting
many
hesitations and
pauses that
interfere with
the ideas.
Accuracy The student
uses a variety
of grammar
structures
which facilitate
the speech
comprehension
The student
makes few
errors in
grammatical
structures even
though the
speech is
understandable.
The student
makes
frequent
grammatical
errors
which
makes it
difficult to
understand.
The student
makes many
grammatical
errors which
makes the
message non
comprehensible
Organization
of ideas
The student
presents all the
information in
a logical
sequence
The student
presents most
of the
information in a
logical
sequence
The student
presents
lack of
coherence in
the majority
of ideas
The student
presents
incoherence
and no logical
sequence of
ideas
Interaction The student
cooperates
actively with
each other
The student
cooperates
partially with
each other
The student
cooperates
deficiently
with each
other
The student
does not
cooperate with
each other at
all.
Total score: 20

6. IV. Sample paper
English Speaking test (June, 2013)
Topic: Holidays
Task 1: Compare and contrast pictures related to holidays
Student A: Look at these pictures for a while. Identify similarities and differences between these
two images. You have 1 ½ minutes .
Student B: Look at these pictures for a while. Identify similarities and differences between these
two images. You have 1 ½ minutes

7. Task 2: Getting to an agreement
Student A and Student B: Look at these pictures for a while. Discuss with your partner about
which of these four places you would choose for a perfect holiday by giving reasons. You have 3
minutes
Student B starts