Evaluating

Speaking

It’s easy to testListening and Reading

• Multiple Choice• True / False• Fill in the

blanks• Matching

But what aboutSpeaking

Do you know how to evaluate speaking? I assess my students speaking skills by.. ________________________________.The criteria I used to assess students communication skills are _____________.The problems and challenges I have with evaluating my students skills are _______.

Traditional speaking assessments Not done at all due to limited time

constraints and knowledge of testing. Artificial with limited feedback. The criteria to assess students’

communication skills are vague and subjective, leading to inconsistencies.

No uniform assessments done between levels in language programs.

Limited teacher collaboration.

Ficus on Language Structures 1. Linguistic Competence: Uses grammar accurately with variety? Adequate vocabulary? “Clear” pronunciation?2. Functional Competence: Answers the question completely and logically?3. Strategic Competence: Can use repair strategies when conversation breaks down? 4. Sociolinguistic/Cultural Competence: Uses language appropriate to the situation?

in order to communicate effectively and be understood speakers…. Individual sounds – consonants, vowels,

diphthongs such as in day and triphthongs such as in here.

The stressed and weak sounds in words; for example, the second syllable of 'banana' is stressed and the first and third are weak.

The stressed and weak words in speech; for example, in the order "Go to bed!" 'Go' and 'bed' are stressed and 'to' is not.

The intonation patterns in speech, falling, rising, flat, etcetera

The features of connected speech, i.e. things that happen when we connect sounds together.

For example doesn’t, linking sounds such as the /j/ in 'I am', lost sounds such as the /t/ in 'I don’t know', and changed sounds such as the /t/ in 'white bag' changing to a /p/.

Following the rules of language

Ability to understand and follow the rules of language at a word, sentence and text level:

Choosing the right vocabulary. Speakers need to think about the meaning of a word, its connotations, the level of formality, the type of register and genre, and the words it normally goes with (collocations).

Using grammar structures to put clauses and sentences together.

Using features of discourse to give long and short turns cohesion and coherence. For example, speakers need to use referencing "This is the problem" and connectors "so...".

Communicative functions Speakers need to be able to recognize,

understand and use the communicative functions of speech.

This includes: Understanding the communicative functions of

vocabulary and grammar. why this is a normal exchange?:

A: "Did you walk the dog today?" B: "I’ve been in bed all day with a cold.“

Or what a speaker means when he says: "Do you know who I am?"

Understanding the functions of intonation and moving stress.

For example, intonation and stress can show attitude: "Oh, really?“

Emphasis: "I said three bananas", and structure, e.g. a falling intonation at the end of a list of items.

Recognising features such as repetitions, re-phrasing, pauses, and noises and understanding their function.

Recognising non-linguistic features such as changes in volume and tone.

Social meaning of speech

This includes thinking about: When to use formal and informal language. What connotation language might have, for example

the difference between thin, slender and skinny. How direct they can be, for example when to

say; "Help me with this." and when to say; "Would you mind helping me, please?“

What social factors are important, e.g. social status, age, gender.

The rules to start, maintain, manage, and close conversations.

Common Speaking Tasks in Language Classrooms Classroom participation Pronunciation Vocabulary Weekly digital voice journals with Audio/video prompts Class presentations/debates Questionnaires/ fieldwork Group oral testing and peer evaluations

How to evaluate PronunciationHow can I assess a student’s pronunciation concisely without giving a “made up” grade?•Narrow the focus area or items to make it meaningful and measurable.

How can I measure a student’s ability to use word stress correctly?

• Written: Write how many syllables are in this word and indicate word stress: peninsula 4 | 2 • Speaking: Look at this picture/map and describe five geographic features of this area.

Using language cards to measure speaking skillsFocus on the use of grammar andvocabulary in short sentences.

Worried (present possibility)

The man _______ . . . The woman ____ . . .

The man might be worried because his

girlfriend found his cellphone unlocked.

The man might have something compromising in it.

His girlfriend might be jealous.

Assessment Criteria:

• Grammar Accuracy (modal of present possibility) 3 -2- 1- 0•Grammar Variety (modal of present possibility) – 3- 2- 1- 0• Task (complete three ideas) - 3 -2- 1- 0• Word Choice - 3- 2- 1- 0•Pronunciation (Word Stress/Adjectives) – 1 0

How to develop a grading scale…1. Determine what skills need to be evaluated.2. Develop clear criteria for judging students' work.3. Collaborate with others to build consistency throughout your program.4. Expect to learn by trial and error.

What is a RubricIt is set of scoring guidelines that evaluate students' work and provide a clear teaching directive.

Rubrics are a powerful, authentic tool used to assess students' work. This scoring tool lists specific criteria for a project or piece of work. The criterion helps students to have a concrete understanding and visualization of "what counts".

Formats of a rubric may include analytical and holistic..Analytical Rubrics

•Break down the various objectives of the final product into specified components•Evaluate individual components independently•Possess extra details that allow multiple grades to emphasize the same criteria

Holistic Rubrics• Assess students' work globally "as a whole“• Often use anchor points that assign value to

specific descriptions or performances which contribute to the whole

• Have fewer details to analyze, and are easier to integrate into the schema of younger students

• Do not provide detailed information about students' performance in specified areas within the assignment

Weighted Rubrics

• Typically are a form of an analytical rubric.

• Judge certain concepts more heavily than othersFor example, if a teacher stresses the plot of a story, he or she might consider weighing the plot segment of the rubric more heavily than the setting, character, or mechanics.

• Focus attention on specific aspects of an assignment

Why Use Rubrics?

They make assessing the students' work efficient, consistent, objective, and quick.Rubrics provide students with a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Students have concrete directions about what makes a good project, a good speech,roleplay etc..

Rubrics provide students with valuable information about the degree of which a specific learning outcome has been achieved. They provide students with concrete feedback that displays areas of strength and areas in need of improvement.

Important Characteristics of RubricsA well-done rubric is both an instructional tool and an assessment mechanism. Here is a list of characteristics to strive for to create a purposeful rubric.

CriteriaAn effective rubric must possess a specific list of criteria, so students know exactly what the teacher is expecting.

GradationsThere should be gradations of quality based on the degree to which a standard has been met (basically a scale). The gradations should include specific descriptions of what constitutes "excellent", "good", "fair", and "needs improvement". Each gradation should provide descriptors for the performance level. Typically there are 4-6 gradation levels on a rubric.

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/

Practice 1Listen to the following

presentations and evaluate the students without using

a grading rubric.

Step 1. Listen and take notesStep 2. Grade student’s performanceStep 3. Provide feedback

Practice 1

Now use a rubric and compare

Conclusion

Evaluating speaking may be troublesome at some point, for this it’s necessary to stablish what you want to evaluate; at the same time ask students to participate in the elaboration of the testing rubric in order for them to set their own goals and set standards for themselves.By doing this you will avoid arbitrary and biased oral evaluations.

THANK YOU!