Oral Assessment Procedures - Pearson ELT

1 Copyright by Pearson Education, Assessment ProceduresEvaluating oral ProficiencyIt is important to assess students listening and speaking skills in settings that are relaxed and tension-free. For all practical purposes, this means that students need to remain unaware that they are being evaluated on their oral performance. This can be achieved by involving the students in a variety of oral activities and by circulating around the room to listen to them as they work through the activities. Activities that work well include information gaps, retelling stories, summarizing, games, and role-plays, as well as the presentation of projects and oral reports, and discussions resulting from envelope activities, in which students in groups draw a slip of paper out of an envelope and talk about the topic written on the slip of paper.

2 To monitor the students performance in such a way that they remain unaware of Assessment , walk slowly around the room as students carry out their communicative tasks. You may want to have a pencil and notebook with you, but it must not be obvious that you are either taking notes or using a rubric or checklist to assign a grade based on what you are hearing. Pause, standing to the side of the student or pairs of students you are evaluating. You may even want to turn your back on the student you are actually listening to, so that the student remains involved with the task and does not focus attention on you or stop because you are listening. In one-on-one oral interviews, students are of course aware that they are being assessed.

3 You may want to interview just a few students each day over a period of days, or you may want to interview all of your students on one day, while other students are doing work for extra credit, reading, or completing homework assignments. Using Rubrics and ChecklistsRubrics and checklists are effective ways to keep track of students performance. Rubrics are sets of descriptions of criteria used for Assessment , together with a rating appropriate for each description, presented in chart form. (See a rubric for listening and speaking, as well as other rubrics, on pages xvi-xvii.) Rubrics are more descriptive than simple letter or number grades, and serve as feedback for students (and their parents).

4 Using the rating scale for each rubric, students can keep track of their own progress in listening and speaking, reading, writing, and vocabulary and grammar. Here are two checklists of different types to help assess oral performance. Checklist 1 is a simple way to track performance at a glance. Write students names at the top, and the questions or task types (listen and draw, listen and answer, describe a picture, dialogue playing a game, role-play, interview, oral report, project) in the vertical column. Write G for very good, S for satisfactory, or U for unsatisfactory in the square under each student s name, according to your Assessment of his or her oral performance of a task. Checklist 2 is another way to evaluate oral proficiency.

5 This checklist takes into consideration a number of elements not necessarily included in a rubric, and provides opportunities for more detail regarding a student s oral performance. Depending on the task you are evaluating, you may not need to fill in every category; check the appropriate boxes and fill in needed by Pearson Education, Assessment Checklist 1 The Student oral Assessment ChecklistStudents NamesUnit _____G = very good S = satisfactory U = unsatisfactoryQuestions/tasksCopyright by Pearson Education, Assessment Checklist 2 Student s name Date Class Type of taskReceptiveProductive listen and check answer questions listen and circle conduct an interview listen and draw do a role-play listen and fill in the blank give an oral report listen and mark true/false look and describe listen and match participate in a group discussion listen and point present a project listen and stick retell a story or textListening and speaking objectives for Unit Use of vocabulary and grammar1 point = lowest score 5 = highest scoreto ask for and give advice12345to ask and give information12345to describe a sequence of events12345to describe objects12345to describe people12345to describe places12345to

6 Explain and give examples12345to explain and show cause and effect12345to express agreement and disagreement12345to express likes and dislikes12345to express an opinion12345to greet someone and introduce oneself12345to summarize12345to support an opinion with reasons12345to tell a story12345