Testing Speaking Skills

Difficulties in testing the speaking skills: 
Speaking is probably the most difficult skill to test. It involves a combination of 
skills that may have no correlation with each other, and which do not lend themselves 
well to objective testing. In ( Kitao & Kitao, 1996), it was mentioned that there are not 
yet good answers to questions about the criteria for testing these skills and the weighing 
of these factors. 
It is possible to find people who can produce the different sounds of a foreign 
language appropriately; hence they lack the ability to communicate their ideas correctly. 
This is one of the difficulties that testers encounter when testing the oral production of 

---

3 
learners. However, the opposite situation could occur as well; some people do have the 
ability of expressing their ideas clearly, but at the same time they can not pronounce all 
the sounds correctly.
Another difficulty is the administration of speaking skills testing. That is because 
it is hard to test large numbers of learners in a relatively short time. Therefore, the 
examiner of an oral production is put under great pressure (Heaton, 1988). 
The next difficulty discussed here is that speaking and listening skills are very 
much related to each other; it is difficult to separate them. In most cases, there is an 
interchange between listening and speaking, and speaking appropriately depends on 
comprehending spoken input. Therefore, this has an impact on testing speaking because 
the testers will not know whether they are testing purely speaking or speaking and 
listening together. 
Finally, the assessment and scoring of speaking skills is one of its biggest 
problems. If possible, it is better to record the examinees’ performance and the scoring 
will be done upon listening to the tape. 
The aspects of speaking that are considered part of its assessment include 
grammar, pronunciation, fluency, content, organization, and vocabulary. (Kitao & Kitao, 
1996). 
Depending on the situation and the purpose of the test, testers need to choose the 
appropriate methods and techniques of testing. The next section will discuss some of 
these methods.