Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Why do we test the oral ability? because we want to measure the development of the spoken language and the ability to interact successfully. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

have representative sample of the tasks that we expect the students to perform. those task should elicit valid samples of behavior that truly represent their abilities. these samples can and will be scored validly and reliably. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Specify all possible content. It should be found in the test specification.  Include a representative sample of the specified content. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Choose appropriate techniques. (A list of the appropriate techniques will be discusses later)  Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

Answer Q.1 Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Plan and structure the testing carefully. 1- Make the test as long as possible. 2- Plan the test carefully. 3- Give the students as many ‘fresh starts’ as possible. (more than one format, more than one tester, separate items) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

4- Use a second tester for interviews. 5- Set the tasks and ideas that is appropriate for their level. They should not cause the students any difficulties. 6- Conduct the exam in a quiet room. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

7- Put students at their ease. (pleasant, reassuring, avoid reminding them they are being tested, don’t make obvious notes, transition between topics should be natural as much as possible) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

8- Collect enough relevant information about the students. 9- Do not talk too much. 10- Train the instructors. (they should be sympathetic, flexible, have good command of the language) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Oral ability can be scored either; holistically or analytically.  It is advisable to use the analytical method because not all the teachers are well-trained to evaluated the spoken language. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Holistic scoring. For example; in ALIGU test, speaking is being scored according to comprehension, pronunciation, grammar and word order, vocabulary, and general speed of speech. Each area is weighted equally. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

PointsDescription 5 pts.Use English with few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar and word order. 4 pts.Use ‘good English’, but with occasional grammatical or word order errors which do not, however, affect the meaning. 3 ptsMeanings occasionally influenced by grammatical and or word order. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

2 pts.Grammatical usage and word order definitely unsatisfactory. Frequent need to rephrase construction and/or restricts himself/herself to basic structural patterns. 1 pt.Errors of grammar and word order make comprehension quite difficult. 0 pt.Speech is full of grammatical and word order errors as to be virtually unintelligible to the ‘man in the street’. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Analytical (Objective) scoring. Take off points for grammatical, pronunciation, vocabulary errors, lack of fluency, and appropriateness. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Most common technique used.  Drawbacks???? The relationship between the tester and the students. ???? tests one style of speech. However, we can get around this last problem by using different techniques. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

A) Questions and request for information. yes/no questions should be avoided, except at the beginning. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

We can use the following types of questions; 1- Request for elaboration. 2- appearing not to understand. 3-invitation to ask questions. 4- interruption. 5- abrupt change of topics. (check the examples on page 119) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

B) Pictures. C) Role play D) Interpreting E) Prepared monologue (presentation) (check the examples on page 120) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Advantages: Elicit language that is appropriate to exchange between equals. They will feel more confident.  Disadvantages: The performance of one might affect the performance of the other one. Some candidate might dominate and don’t allow the other one to express themselves. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

A) Discussion B) Role play Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 All candidates should be presented with the same audio-video recorded stimuli, and the candidates themselves response into microphones.  this format is called “semi-direct”. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

 Disadvantages: It can not be administered if language laboratories are not available. It is inflexible because the students’ performance can not be traced. Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani

A) Describe / comment on situations. B) Simulated conversation C) Picture (Check examples on page 122) Miss. Mona AL-Kahtani