Education of the republic of uzbekistan kokand state pedagogical institute named after mukumi the faculty of foreign languages

Assessment Criteria

1. 
   Grammar
   

1. 
   range
   
2. 
   accuracy
   

2. 
   Vocabulary
   

1. 
   range
   
2. 
   accuracy
   

3. 
   Pronunciation
   

1. 
   individual sounds
   
2. 
   stress and rhythm
   
3. 
   intonation
   
4. 
   linking / elision / assimilation
   

4. 
   Fluency
   

1. 
   speed of talking
   
2. 
   hestitation while speaking
   
3. 
   hesitation before speaking
   

5. 
   Conservational skill
   

1. 
   topic development
   
2. 
   initiative (in turn taking, and topic control)
   
3. 
   cohesion
   
4. 
   conversation maintenance (clarification, repair, checking, pause fillers)
   

6. 
   Sociolinguistic skill
   

1. 
   distinguishing register and style (e.g. formal or informal, persuasive or conciliatory)
   
2. 
   use of cultural references
   

7. 
   Non-verbal
   

1. 
   use of cultural references
   
2. 
   gestures, facial expressions
   

8. 
   Content
   

1. 
   coherence of arguments
   
2. 
   relevance
   

an investigation of ‘fluency’ alone, 12 different variables were looked at, ranging from ‘words per minute’ to ‘mean pause time at T-Unit boundaries’. The amount of explanation needed for the terms on the list will of course depend on the teachers.

d. Viewing and comment (10-15 minutes)

The teachers are then shown another clip of students talking, and are asked to think about the usefulness and relevance of the criteria on the list for assessing the students’ speaking skills, adding or deleting as they think necessary. The objective of this stage is to consider further the criteria they think are relevant for assessing speaking skills, and also, by getting them to relate their views to the terms on the list, to give them a common vocabulary to aid discussion of differences of opinions. I have found teachers tend to be less talkative here, since it is a point of mental reorganization for them as they try to relate their own feelings and experience with the list.

Stage 2: Assessment and the content

1. 
   Introduction (5 minutes)
   

By this stage, the question of context should have arisen several times (e.g. in the form of comments beginning ‘Well, it depends on why… /what… /where… /how… ‘). The presenter now recalls various examples of these and notes how they show the importance of the context in deciding the choice of assessment criteria.

2. 
   Examples (10-15 minutes)
   

Teachers are then given the hand-out with the examples of different selections and weightings of criteria together with descriptions of the relevant contexts (see below). Note that the number under the ‘Weighting’ column does not represent maximum marks for that criterion, but its value relative to the other criteria. For example, each criterion might be given a mark out of ten, and each score would be multiplied by its weighting number before being totaled up. Teachers can then be encouraged to ask any questions about the criteria, the context and the relationship between the two. For example: ‘Why did you include listening comprehension in the placement test, but not in the end-of-term test?’ It would, of course, be wise for you as presenter to use your own examples (criteria you have used yourself) so that you are more likely to be able to answer such questions.