Test of Speaking Skill

Test of Speaking Skill
Djiwandono:
Tes kemampuan berbicara dimaksudkan untuk
mengukur tingkat kemampuan mengungkapkan
diri secara lisan.
Tingkat kemampuan berbicara ini ditentukan oleh
kemampuan untuk menungkapkan isi pikiran
sesuai dengan tujuan dan konteks pembicaraan
yang sedang dilakukan, bagaimana isi pikiran
tersebut disusun dan diungkapkan dengan tata
bahasa yang wajar, pilihan kata yang tepat, serta
lafal dan intonasi yang sesuai.
Heaton:
• Reading aloud
• Conversational exchanges
• Using pictures for assessing oral production
• The oral interview
• Other techniques for oral examining
Reading aloud
Tests involving reading aloud are generally used
when it is desired to assess pronunciation.
One of the most common tasks is that of reading
aloud directions or instructions to a friend,
colleague, or fellow worker.
Reading aloud
Instruction:
First put the headset on. Make sure it is in its most

comfortable position with the headband over the
centre of the head. The microphone should be
about 1½ inches from the mouth.
To record, put the white switch to the position
marked Work. Put the red switch to Speak and
press the red recording button, which will now
light up.
Conversational exchanges
Test items in conversational exchanges are far
from communicative in any sense at all and do
not allow for authentic interaction of any kind.
Type 1
The testees are given a series of situations and
are required to construct sentences on the
lines of a certain pattern or group of patterns.
It is essential that two or three models will be
given to the testees so that they know exactly
what is required.
The testees read or hear the situation and then make the appropriate
responses as shown in brackets.
Examples:
Mrs. Green lives in a flat. She doesn’t like living in a flat and would like
to live in a small house with a garden. (She wishes she lived in a
small house with a garden.)
It’s raining heavily. Tom and Anna are waiting impatiently at home to
set off on their picnic. (They wish it would stop raining.)
1. Mr. Black has a small car but his neighbors all have large cars. He
would like a large car, too.
2. Anna hasn’t learnt how to swim yet but most of her friends can
swim.
3. Tom is waiting for Bill outside the cinema. The show is just about
to start but Bill has not arrived yet.
Type 2
This type of test item is similar to the previous
type but not as strictly controlled. No model
responses are given by the examiner and the
students are free to use whatever pattern they
wish.
A friend of yours has forgotten where he has put his glasses.
He cannot see too well without them. What will you say to
him? (Let me help you to look for them, etc.)
You are on your way to school when it starts to rain heavily.
Unfortunately you and your friend have no raincoats. There
is nowhere to shelter but your school is only a hundred
yards away. What do you say to your friend? (Shall we make
a dash for it?/ Let’s run the rest of the way.)
1. You are trying to get to the public library but you are lost.
Ask a police officer the way.
2. Your friend has just returned from a holiday abroad. What
do you say to him.
3. A waitress has just brought you the bill but has totaled it
up incorrectly. What do you say to her?
Using pictures for assessing oral
production
Picture, maps, and diagrams can be used in oral
production tests in similar ways as in testing
the listening skills.
The students are given a picture to study for a
few minutes, they are then required to
describe the picture in a given time (e.g. two
or three minutes).
Using pictures for assessing oral
production
Examiner:
Last summer Lucy spent a few days with her
uncle and aunt in the country. When it was
time for her to return home, her uncle and
aunt took her to the station. Lucy had made a
lot of friends and she felt sad on leaving them.
She got on the train and waved goodbye to
them… Now you continue to tell this story.
The oral interview
Supporters of the oral interview claim that the
examination at least appears to offer a
realistic means of assessing the total oral skill
in a ‘natural’ speech situation. Others,
however, argue that the examination
nevertheless is artificial and unrealistic:
students are placed not in natural, real-life
speech situations but in examination
situations.
Other techniques for oral examining
The short talk
In certain examinations students are required to
prepare a short talk on a given topic. They
may be allowed several days or only a few
minutes in which to prepare the talk and, in
some cases, they may be provided with notes
or reference material.
Group discussion
Group discussion can be used to provide an
opportunity for meaningful and active
involvement. Students are thus given an
opportunity to use what can be termed as
‘exploratory talk’: i.e. the language people use
when trying to communicate rather than
when they are engaged in the mechanical
production of verbal formulae or patterns.
Radioactivity from a nuclear power station accident will reach your area in a
few hours. There is a small but very safe nuclear fallout shelter nearby, but
there is room for only six people out of a total of twelve. Which six people
from the following list do you think it would be most useful to save in the
interests of future generations? List them in order of priority. (Note: M =
male; F = female.)
- a marine biologist, aged 56 (F)

- a physicist, aged 25 (M)
- a famous musician, aged 38 (F)
- a farmer, aged 32 (M)
- an electrician, aged 49 (M)
- a mathematics teacher, aged 34 (F)
- a well-known footballer, aged 22 (M)
- a doctor, aged 63 (F)
- a university student of sociology, aged 19 (F)
- a fireman, aged 33 (M)
- a factory worker, aged 28 (F)
- a garage mechanic, aged 27 (M)
Role play
Role play activities can also be used successfully to
test oral communicative ability. The students
involved are assigned fictitious roles and are
required to improvise in language and behavior. It
is advisable for the students to be given fictitious
names before the role play, as these usually prove
very helpful in encouraging them to act out the
roles assigned to them.
One student acts the part of a police officer,
another a bus conductor, a third a bus driver, a
fourth a passenger hurrying to visit a sick friend
in hospital, and a fifth a bystander who wants to
be helpful. The passenger hurries to get on the
bus and jumps on as it is moving off. The
conductor stops the bus and tells him that the
bus is full and that he must get off. The passenger
can see an empty seat and he begins to argue.
The bus is now in the middle of the road and is a
danger to other traffic. Act the roles given.
Conclusion
A comprehensive and balanced examination of
oral production might thus consist of:
- an oral interview involving two students;
- a short problem-solving activity involving the
comparison or sequencing of pictures, etc.;
- a longer activity comprising group discussion
(consensus-seeking activity) or a role play.
Scoring
• Heaton page 98.
• Heaton page 100.

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Test of Speaking Skill

First put the headset on. Make sure it is in its most

- a marine biologist, aged 56 (F)

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