Page 195 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Assessing Speaking and Interaction

emotions, etc.). Besides preparing specially designed oral assessment tasks,
the teacher can gain valuable information about YLs’ speaking and interac-
tionabilitiesonanongoingbasisthroughobservationofeverydayclassroom
communication.

Types of Oral Assessment Tasks
Most speaking assessment tasks for YLs may be categorised as language elic-
itation tasks since they need considerable support to be able to participate
in oral communication. One way of preparing them for oral assessment is
to use regular classroom activities as speaking assessment tasks, bearing in
mind the basic assessment principles. When designing speaking assessment
tasks for YLs, we need to consider several important aspects (McKay, 2006).
First of all, tasks should be closely linked to their classroom and real-life expe-
riences, and the topics included should be familiar to them. Secondly, tasks
need to be meaningful with a clear purpose, reflecting a genuine need for
participation. An important element is also visual support, such as pictures,
real objects, puppets, or body language. Effective speaking assessment tasks
will also have a clear structure, a beginning and end, and will involve learn-
ers actively. It is especially important to introduce the task by involving the
learners in the context, for example by asking a few general questions about
them. Finally, teachers need to have clear assessment criteria for assessing
speaking in the form of rating scales with descriptors for the different levels.
At the same time, YLs also need to be presented with clear and comprehen-
sible criteria adapted to their level and shown before the assessment takes
place.
In preparing speaking assessment tasks for YL, we also need to consider
the learner’s general language competence, as well as the type and extent of
support necessary. Common speaking assessment tasks for YLs are picture-
cued tasks, story-telling.

Picture-Cued Tasks
In picture-cued tasks, in which learners are usually asked to describe a pic-
ture, the teacher needs to pay special attention to the task introduction. One
way of starting the task is to ask learners some opening questions, such as
‘Do you like this picture?’, ‘What do you like in it?’ Another important aspect
to consider is the amount of support provided by the teacher, ranging from
very little or no support to substantial support, especially in the case learn-
ers are only able to produce one-word or non-verbal responses. Table 13.3
gives an example of a rating scale for assessing YLs’ speaking skills ranging

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