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Applied Linguistics 1990 11(2):200-219; doi:10.1093/applin/11.2.200
© 1990 by Oxford University Press
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Articles

Large-scale Oral Testing

CLIFFORD WALKER

West Sussex Institute of Higher Education

The ability to speak English is a valued skill in English-medium universities overseas and is a major aim of their English for academic purposes (EAP) programmes. But it is rarely tested in these institutions because the task is considered too difficult with such large numbers of students. Failing to test the speaking skill results in inaccurate assessment of students and negative washback effects on the teaching of oral skills.

An oral examination was established at Yarmouk University in Jordan to test the two thousand students who pass through its service English programme each year. Practicality was achieved by allotting the oral examination only as much time as was spent on the setting, administration, and marking of the service English programme written examination. The content was based on a description of the programme objectives and resulted in a two-stage interview.

Inter-tester reliability is widely regarded as a potentially serious problem in oral tests and considerable efforts were made to achieve an adequate level. The test format was standardized. The evaluation criteria were made appropriate and explicit. The number of bands was limited. Testers were trained through detailed description of test documents, exemplification of the band description using video, observation of live interviews, and supervised practice in evaluation. Testers were observed by moderators during the examination. The test results were analysed statistically to identify which testers differed from their peers and by how much. The statistical analysis indicated that adequate intertester reliability was achieved. It is concluded that large-scale testing of oral communication is a practical proposition.


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 Language TestingHome page
B. O'Sullivan, C. J. Weir, and N. Saville
Using observation checklists to validate speaking-test tasks
Language Testing, January 1, 2002; 19(1): 33 - 56.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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