Bài giảng Phương pháp kiểm tra và đánh giá học tập - Chapter 7: Oral production tests

Chapter 7: 
Oral production 
tests
I. Some difficulties in testing 
the speaking skills
 There aren’t still the exact criteria for measuring 
speaking skills as well as the weighting given to 
such components as correct pronunciation.
 The interdependence of the speaking and 
listening skill increases the difficulty of any serious 
attempt to analyze precisely what is being tested 
at one time.
 Administration is another difficulty as it is 
impossible to test a large number of students 
because of limited time involved. 
II. Reading aloud
 generally used when it is desired to access 
pronunciation as distinct from the total speaking 
skills.
 constructing suitable tests, testers should imagine 
actual situations in real life in which the testees may 
be required to read aloud.
 The retelling of a short story or incident more 
useful than reading aloud; but unfortunately this test 
measures other skills: reading comprehension, 
memory and organization.
III. Conversational exchanges
(Type 1&2)
(1) Testees are given a series of situations and are 
required to construct sentences on the lines of a 
certain pattern or a group of patterns. They read or 
hear the situation and then make the appropriate 
responses. 
(2) This type of item is similar to the previous one, but 
no model responses are given by the examiner 
and the students are free to use whatever patterns 
they wish. 
Type 3, 4 & 5
(3) The testees hear a stimulus to which they must 
respond in any appropriate way. 
(4) This type is similar to type 3, but the stimuli and 
responses form part of a longer dialogue and the 
situation is developed. 
(5) This item takes the form of incomplete dialogue 
with prompts whispered in the student’s ear.
IV. Using pictures for assessing 
oral production
 Pictures of single objects can be used for testing 
the production of significant phoneme contrasts.
 Pictures are also used to test learners’ ability to 
describe or narrate a story.
 Advertisements, posters and strip cartoons may 
be used for classroom tests.
IV. Using pictures for assessing 
oral production (con.)
 Careful selection of the pictures will help in 
controlling the basic vocabulary required and may 
determine the type of sentence structure 
 The most effective type of oral examination using 
pictures requires not only narration or picture 
description but also discussion about the picture 
concerned.
 Another effective way of assessing a student’s 
ability to speak is to give pairs or groups of 
students a task to perform
Notes
i) When scoring students’ performances, the 
examiner should concentrate on what individual 
students are doing with the target language, and 
how they are using the target language to achieve 
their purpose
ii) If students are examined in small groups, they 
should be given a sequence of pictures to arrange. 
VI. The oral interview
 The scoring highly subjective & sometimes low 
reliability.
 Testee’s performance in a particular interview may not 
accurately reflect his or her true ability. 
 This kind of test offers a realistic means of assessing the 
total oral skill in a natural speech situation.
 However, oral interview is artificial and unrealistic as 
testees are placed not in natural real-life speech situations 
but in examination situations.
 Testees are susceptible to psychological tensions, 
constraints of necessary style and register in such a 
situation.
Some ways to avoid problems in administrating 
oral interviews (1-2)
 The classroom teacher the examiner; if 
an external examiner required sitting at 
the back of the room or in any obscure 
place.
 oral interview is usually the most difficult 
for the examiner as (s) he must take the 
dual role i.e. of both language partner and 
assessor. 
Some ways to avoid problems in 
administrating oral interviews (3,4& 5)
 never attempt to note down marks or 
comments while the testee is still engaged 
in the interview.
 interviewing in pairs or groups to help 
testees to avoid tension and language 
constraints they will feel free to converse 
and use language in a more natural and 
purposeful way.
 to ensure two sts have similar or 
sympathetic personalities & have similar 
levels of language ability
Some ways to avoid problems in 
administrating oral interviews (6-7)
 concerned more with the examinees’ use 
of the target language to achieve their 
goals rather than with their knowledge or 
their actual ability to accomplish the task 
given.
 grammatical acceptability and 
pronunciation, but also appropriacy of 
language and effectiveness of 
communication.
Some ways to avoid problems in 
administrating oral interviews (8-9)
 The oral interview should be scored only 
after the student has left the room. 
 In order to devise a suitable scale, the 
examiner should first describe clearly the 
criteria for assessing oral ability. 
VII. Some other techniques for oral examining
(1) the short talk
 testees may be allowed several days or only a few 
minutes to prepare the talk. 
 a realistic test of sustained speech, but an 
extremely difficult exam for L2 learners at all but 
the most advanced stages
 preventing students from learning whole sections 
of their talk
 Vague subjects should be avoided
VII. Some other techniques for oral examining 
(con.)
(2) group discussing and role playing
 important techniques for assessing oral production, 
the teacher can discover how students are thinking 
and using the target language 
 taking a minor role to control the role play
 feeling free to interrupt or control the discussion in a 
diplomatic way to ensure that each member of the 
group makes a contribution 
General conclusions
 Classroom teacher/the examiner & his/her continuous assessment 
 a reliable method of measuring oral skills
 the oral interview useful because of its beneficial backwash 
effects on teaching
 (1) an oral interview involving two testees; (2) a short problem-
solving activity involving the comparison or sequencing of pictures; 
and (3) a longer activity comprising group discussion or a role play 
(for classroom tests)
 The teacher must frequently consider the effects of examination on 
teaching and learning. For instance, if the reading aloud section is 
considered harmful in its effects on teaching, it should be omitted 
from the exam.