Testing Speaking Skills

The Taped Oral Proficiency Test: 
In that approach, the learners’ performances are recorded on tapes and then assessed 
later by the examiner. This method has some advantage and some disadvantages. 
According to Cartier (1980), one disadvantage of the taped test is that it is less personal; 
the examinee is talking to a machine and not to a person. Another disadvantage is that it 
has a low validity. Moreover, the taped test is inflexible; if something goes wrong during 
the recording, it is virtually impossible to adjust for it. On the other hand, there are some 
advantages of that type of test. It can be given to a group of learners in a language lab, it 
is more standardized and more objective since each student receives identical stimuli, and 
scoring can be performed at the most convenient or economical time and location. 

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I believe that the taped test method is very practical when it comes to testing large 
numbers of students where the examiner would not have enough time to assess each one 
of them individually. However, the problem lies in not having enough language labs in 
some institutions which, in turn, creates a big difficulty for testers. 
 
Conclusion: 
Previous literature on classroom testing of second language speech skills provides 
several models of both task types and rubrics for rating, and suggestions regarding 
procedures for testing speaking with large numbers of learners. However, there is no 
clear, widely disseminated consensus in the profession on the appropriate paradigm to 
guide the testing and rating of learner performance in a new language, either from second 
language acquisition research or from the best practices of successful teachers. While 
there is similarity of descriptors from one rubric to another in professional publications, 
these statements are at best subjective. Thus, the rating of learners' performance rests 
heavily on individual instructors' interpretations of those descriptors (Pino, 1998).
In spite of the difficulties inherent in testing speaking, a speaking test can be a 
source of beneficial backwash. If speaking is tested, unless it is tested at a very low level, 
such as reading aloud, this encourages the teaching of speaking in classes. 
In my opinion, testing speaking skills could be a very interesting experience, and 
it gives teachers an opportunity to creative in selecting the test items and materials. 
Moreover, it has a great impact on students by making them enjoy taking the test and feel 
comfortable doing so if the teacher chooses the materials that interest their students and 
that is suitable to their age and levels of knowledge. 

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