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Language Testing: Testing Oral Ability: 1. Representative Tasks
Language Testing: Testing Oral Ability: 1. Representative Tasks
Language Testing: Testing Oral Ability: 1. Representative Tasks
The tasks should elicit behavior which truly represents the candidates’ ability.
The samples of behavior can and will be scored validity and reliably
1. Representative tasks
• We will begin by looking at the specified content of the Cambridge CCSE Test of
Oral Interaction
1.Operations
- Expressing - Directing
- Describing - Eliciting
- Narration - Reporting
4. Topics : Unspecified
It can be seen that the content specifications are similar to those for the Test of
Writing
The categorization of the operation (skills) is based on Bygate (1987)
Skills
Informational skills: providing personal and non-personal information,
describing, giving instructions, comparing, eliciting , apologizing, etc…
Interactional skills : expressing agreement, disagreement , indicating uncertainty
or understanding …
• Skills in managing interactions: initiating interactions, changing the topic of
interaction, taking turn in interaction , …
Type of text
Presentation (monologue)
Discussion
Conversation
Service encounter
Interview
Format 1 – interview
useful techniques are:
4. Invitation to ask questions :“Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”
6. Abrupt change the topic: to see how the candidate deals with this
8. Role play: this allows the ready elicitation of other language functions
9. Interpreting: you can see the example how to conduct this on page 120
10.Prepared monologue
11.Reading aloud
Format 2 – Interaction with fellow candidates
Possible techniques:
1.Discussion: Tasks may require the candidates to go beyond discussion and, for
example, take a decision
2.Role play: Role play can be carried out by two candidates with the testers as an
observer
Set only tasks and topics that would be expected to cause candidates no
difficulty in their own language
Put candidates at their ease so that they can show what they are capable of
Rating scales may be holistic or analytic. Skills required from ss to show are:
The training of interviewers has already been outlined. Where raters are
involved in the rating of responses to audio-or video-recorded stimuli
Great care must be taken to ignore personal qualities of the candidates that
irrelevant to an assessment of their language ability
Conclusion