Assessing speaking skills: a workshop for teacher development

Knight, Ben

doi:10.1093/elt/46.3.294

Cited by 28 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…While Brown (2004) argues for grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, pronunciation, and task (pp. 172-173), Ben Knight (1992) stresses the insertion of the following assessment criteria: grammar (range and accuracy), vocabulary (range and correctness), pronunciation (individual sound, stress and rhythm, intonation, linking, elision and assimilation), fluency (the use of hesitation markers and temporal variables), conversational Skill (ensuring topic development, taking initiatives, being consistent, keeping conversation going), sociolinguistic skill (appropriate use of register and style, use of cultural references), non-verbal (maintaining eye contact, relaxed body posture, appropriate use of gestures and facial expressions) and content (consistency in terms of arguments and relevance).…”

Section: International Journal Of English Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level

Ounis¹

2017

IJEL

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Since "English has become the lingua franca for academic interaction of learners and academics" (Koo, 2009, p. 77), the development of the EFL learners' oral performance proficiency constitutes the central interest of current English language teaching methodologists and practitioners. The importance of speaking as a productive skill has been echoed in the literature. Indeed, it is viewed as a crucial "part of the curriculum in language teaching … and …an important object of assessment as well" (Luoma, 2004, p. 1). Thus, the prime aim of this study is to explore the prevailing conceptions and actual practices of the assessment of EFL learners' speaking skills at the tertiary level. The respondents of the current research were 20 instructors who taught at the Higher Institute of languages in Gabes and at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Sfax, Tunisia. To collect the necessary data, a questionnaire survey was utilized. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS package. The findings revealed that the teachers' conceptions of assessment are directed towards the development of the learners' speaking skills. Despite the existence of a number of hardships, the teachers' classroom teaching practices revealed a compete reliance on authentic, ongoing, organized and thoughtful oral language assessment procedures which were meant to sustain and boost the learners' oral skill achievements.

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Section: International Journal Of English Linguisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level

Ounis¹

2017

IJEL

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“…There are many challenges in the assessment of oral skills in a second-language including: defining language proficiency, avoiding cultural biases, and attaining validity (Sánchez, 2006). Assessment of speaking skills often lags far behind the importance given to teaching those skills in the curriculum (Knight, 1992). Assessment drives university teaching in Pakistan.…”

Section: Assessment Of English Speaking Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The teachers are not properly trained to conduct oral assessments in Pakistan. The teachers are either reluctant to test oral ability or lack confidence in the validity of their assessments (Knight, 1992). The lack of public trust on oral examination makes the situation more complex (Bashir, 2011).…”

Section: Challenges About Assessment Of Spoken Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing English speaking skills of prospective teachers at entry and graduation level in teacher education program

Sarwar

Alam

Hussain

et al. 2014

Language Testing in Asia

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The development of Spoken English in Pakistani teachers training institutions working in public sector has never been assessed. This study explores the extent of improvement in English speaking skills among prospective teachers of one year teacher education program at three public sector universities in Punjab, Pakistan, where English is the medium of instruction, like all other public sector universities in Pakistan. The sample for this study consisted of 206 prospective teachers (131 entry and 75 graduation level). The unequal number of prospective teachers at entry and graduation level was due to difference in intake. The prospective teachers were called one by one and were assessed using the Fairfax County Rating Scale. The data were analyzed quantitatively. It was concluded that no significant improvement occurs in the English speaking skills of the prospective teachers during the teacher education program offered in departments of Education working in the public sector universities.

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“…However, in assessing speaking skills, teachers usually use an assessment rubric. One of the assessment rubrics comes from Knight (1992), he points out that there are eight lists of assessment criteria, such as a) grammar, b) vocabulary, c) pronunciation, d) fluency, e) conservational skill, f) sociolinguistic, g) non-verbal and h) content.…”

Section: Code-switchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focusing on Code Switching: Educators’ Perceptions in Assessing Learners’ Foreign Language Proficiency

Rustiyani¹

2020

Proceedings of the Twelfth Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2019)

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In Indonesia, educators usually apply more than one code in the EFL classroom as an alternative way to support language learning activities. This issue is known as codeswitching. This research focused on investigating educators' perceptions of assessing learners' foreign language proficiency. Particularly, it aimed at finding the educators' attitudes toward code-switching, factors influencing the educators' codeswitching within the class and the functions of the educators' code-switching toward learners' foreign language proficiency. This research employed a qualitative method. Observations and questionnaires were carried out to obtain the data. Those data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis following Knight's (1992) framework for assessing speaking skills. Participants of this research were ten educators in Senior High School selected by purposive sampling. The analysis shows that educators have a positive attitude toward code-switching, employ code-switching to convey meaning. The analysis also shows that learners' foreign language proficiency can easily improve through their understanding of switching as an appropriate way to explain materials, teach new vocabularies and encourage learners' participant in classroom activities. This study contributes to how code-switching is applied for effective teaching and learning.

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Assessing speaking skills: a workshop for teacher development

Cited by 28 publications

References 8 publications

The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level

The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level

Assessing English speaking skills of prospective teachers at entry and graduation level in teacher education program

Focusing on Code Switching: Educators’ Perceptions in Assessing Learners’ Foreign Language Proficiency

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