The Oral Skills In The Classroom

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

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FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA

Máster Universitario en Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en la Enseñanza y Tratamiento de Lenguas.

Tarea 4.

Autor: Antonio Martínez Martínez

Equipo Docente:

Profª. Dra. Noa Talaván Zanón

Prof. D. José Javier Ávila Cabrera

Murcia, mayo 2013.

Index.

Page:

Introduction. …………………………………………………..

Testing types. ………………………………………………….

Tools for the assessment of the oral skills using computer-based technologies. ……………………………………………

Blogs, wikis and websites: computerized formats of traditional tests. ………………………………………..

Advantages of tools using computer-adaptive tests to assess the oral skills. …………………………………..

Automated scoring. ……………………………………

Tools for the assessment of the oral skills in the classroom. ……………………………………………...

Conclusion. …………………………………………………….

Bibliography. ………………………………………………….

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Introduction.-

When teachers use the technology, language assessment can be linked to real world communication. Furthermore, if it is the technology students use in their everyday life (computers, mobile phones, chat, social networking sites, etc.), and the activities are centred on their interests and needs, then the methods used for language testing can be authentic, valid and reliable (Bahrani, 2011; Jamieson, 2005), the three main features to be observed in the assessment process of the language skills (Hatch and Farhadi, 1982; Hughes, 2003; Creswell, 2003; cited in Bahrani, 2011).

Through computer-adaptive test and technology-based assessment methods, language teachers can adapt the content and difficulty of the items in the test to the test-takers’ abilities (Jamieson, 2005), and together with the use of activities representing real world communication in the foreign language (TLU; Bachman & Palmer, 1996; in Jamieson, 2005), teachers can assess and measure the students’ language proficiency and skills, focusing on their creativity; the use of the language learnt in real life situations; and the integration of the language skills. In addition, the atmosphere created will reduce the affective filter and increase their motivation (Bahrani, 2011).

Jamieson (2005) highlights two techniques in the selection and adapting of the items to the test-takers: 1) a previous survey to determine content selection, and 2) a screening test to allocate their ability level and the suitable difficulty.

As performance tests have been from the beginning "by definition criterion referenced" (Fulcher, 2008: 157; cited in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011) and the focus on "exactness" (Jin, Mak, & Zhou, 2011; cited in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011) has been one of the main requests in scoring speaking performance, the current result is the great development that automated scoring of speaking performance has undergone (Xi, 2010; cited in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011).

"The scoring of writing by computer" was thought to be the most likely advancement in technology regarding language assessment in the near future (Weigle, 2002; in Jamieson, 2005: 236). However, in the field of research in language testing and assessment, "automated scoring of constructed response tasks" is currently reaching real importance, above all as being helped by "automatic speech recognition and processing technologies" and the "advances in natural language processing (NLP)" (Chapelle & Chung, 2010; cited in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011: 167). In addition, computer-based technologies have greatly influenced "language assessments" (Chapelle, 2008; Chapelle & Douglas, 2006; cited in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011: 167).

Testing types.

Based on "who collects responses" and "scoring", these testing types can be considered: direct, semi-direct and automated (see Figure 1 below). The first type belongs in the "traditional paper-and-pencil tests" (Buck, 2001; in Jamieson, 2005: 230) and is not the object of this paper.C:\Documents and Settings\ANTONIO MTNEZ\Escritorio\Test types.png

Figure 1. Credits: picture adapted from here (p. 4).

Tools for the assessment of the oral skills using computer-based technologies.

Going from the computerised formats of traditional types and constructs (Jamieson, 2005) to the most appealing sites, applications and programmes, both for test-takers and testers, a series of tools for the assessment of the oral skills using computer-based technologies will be analysed.

Blogs, wikis and websites: computerised formats of traditional tests.

A myriad of sites, mainly blogs, wikis and websites, like those suggested by Jamieson (2005) Dave’s ESL Cafe; ForumEducation.net; Netlanguages.com; or others like Let’s TIC English; Busy Teacher; or ASCD edge, to mention only a few, offer multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, quizzes, webtasks and webquests where the user can take semi-direct tests on listening and also on vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and writing. The teacher assigns the tasks, which the students will carry out, and in most of the cases the scoring will be automatic, or the teacher can use the resulting products to assess them and provide feedback. Finding the most suitable activities and adapting them takes a long time and, also, it is difficult to find all the assessment items in one site, which makes planning even more difficult and time consuming. So, it must be really worthy and offer "significant advantages" (Buck, 2001: 255; in Jamieson, 2005) to use these tools.

Advantages of tools using computer-adaptive tests to assess the oral skills.

Figure 2. Credits: picture taken from here.

Tools like Longman English Assessment – see Figure 2, above - (Jamieson & Chapelle, 2002; Chapelle, Jamieson & Hegelheimer, 2003; in Jamieson 2005) and (http://www.lancs.ac.uk/researchenterprise/dialang/about) incorporate the two techniques proposed by Jamieson (2005) to adapt the test items for each test taker in computer-adaptive tests for each skill area: listening, grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing, which provide the learners with "an interesting experience", information about their "level of proficiency" and feedback regarding how to improve their English (p. 232).

Automated scoring.

Through automated scoring, research shows that it provides results and feedback in a more analytical and objective way than humans do, and achieves scores which can be compared to those attained by careful and expert human raters. It means that, in assessing test takers’ language skills, some current automated systems can perform like a human rater, but with the precision, consistency and objectivity of a machine.

The currently main references in the development of automated scoring of speaking performance are Versant (Bernstein, Van Moere, & Cheng, 2010; in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011), Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) and SpeechRater (Xi, Higgins, Zechner, & Williamson, 2008; Zechner, Higgins, Xi, & Williamson, 2009; in Jin, T., Mak, B., & Liu, L., 2011).

Regarding the test takers’ spoken language ability, Versant testing system (see Figure 3) includes core skills and adapted tasks, as well as measurable criteria in the assessment process. Also, through the scores the test-takers’ speaking ability can be predicted with substantial correlations, which validates such predictions (Bernstein, et al., 2010).

Figure 3. Credits: picture taken from here.

Pearson Test of English Academic is an objective and reliable system that scores the speaking skill automatically using their own technology, called Pearson’s Ordinate, after several years of research concerning linguistics, testing theory, statistical modeling and speech recognition. A built-in speech processing system in this technology is aimed at analysing and automatically scoring the speech coming from both native and non-native speakers of English. After a complex process, the test-taker’s spoken performance is assessed by the system using statistical modeling technologies.

As far as SpeechRater, two main features can be highlighted, on the one hand, the relevant dimensions shown in the construct in order to find measurable features (multidimensional) for which extended speaking tasks and analysing human rating scales are used; on the other hand, it provides quantification terms of some measurable features to be combined to the speaking scores (highly correlated).

ETS is a website which provides a wide range of services in the field of educational research, among which English language learning and assessment are found.

These tools are highly advanced in technology and the research that informs them is wide and deep, as well as owned by private companies, which justifies that they are not free of use. This prevents individual teachers from their use in the classroom.

Tools for the assessment of the oral skills in the classroom.

The proposal is a suite of software and applications, which combine some of the advantages and beneficial features of the tasks and assessment systems mentioned so far.

Rich Internet Applications (RIA) (http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/ria/).

It is a free website whose goal is "to create tools (see Figure 4 below) that are informed by language acquisition research, and engage language learners in active learning" (CLEAR, 2013). The programs are free to use and the project is funded by a US Department of Education grant and managed by the Center for Language Education And Research at Michigan State University.

Figure 4. Credits: picture taken from here.

Once the teacher is registered s/he can choose from the applications available to produce interactive worksheets; to encourage the learners’ production of oral and/or video recordings and their placement in Audio or Video Dropbox; to create fun quizzes which promote oral interaction; or to combine all of those items using MashUps.

The application can be used to assess the oral skills as shown following:

Credits: pictures taken from here.

Lingt Language (http://lingtlanguage.com)

This is a free and very user friendly website for the students to use, as they do not need an account. Teachers can use text, pictures, audio and video to assign the computer-based tasks and questions they want their students to hear and respond to. Once the students have read and heard them, they can record their responses and submit them using an email address. Students can listen to what they recorded and rerecord it again if need be. When the teacher views and hears the students’ responses, then s/he can record or type in feedback for each individual student and send it to their email. 

Edmodo. (http://www.edmodo.com/?language=es)

As the learners have their own choice of technology and they are very keen on social networking, teachers can "reflect real world communication" (Bahrani, 2011: 296) using Edmodo chats both for language learning and assessment.

Other tools.

The "authentic input" (Wagner, 2010: 280) found in video and multimedia tools is very useful for the assessment of listening and speaking which, together with the encouragement of the learner interaction and collaboration, can result in a more useful and fruitful practice for learners at a particular level (Chapelle and Jamieson, 2008). Mostly, if good use is made of the interactive and collaborative nature of Web 2.0, whose technology has these tenets built in to authentic real world activities, such as blogging, podcasting and wikis.

The results derived from the research carried out and analysed in Talavan (2010) show that a didactic use of subtitles and subtitling is motivating and noticeably improve the students’ oral understanding (listening).

Apart from the websites mentioned in this paper in section 3.1., other tools that can be integrated and used in the assessment of oral skills are: VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com); Voxopop (http://www.voxopop.com); Audacity (http://audacity.es/)

Conclusion.

Based on the testing types of the kind semi-direct (human and/or computer judge/s) and automated (only computer judges), three categories of tools for the assessment of the oral skills have been analysed in this paper: 1) free sites (websites, wikis or blogs) offering a wide range of exercises, quizzes and tasks that can be used in a semi-direct assessment process (section 3.1.); 2) automated scoring, consisting of highly developed technology software and programmes, usually owned by private companies and institutions, and not at reach of individual teachers due to their cost (sections 3.2. and 3.3.); and 3) a suite of free software and applications in which a mixture of the two previous categories can be found (section 3.4.).

The main advantages of the latter type is that the activities can be adapted and personalized to match the features stated in the introduction section, as well as to the learners’ interests and needs, using technology of their choice and that is part of their everyday life (for instance, microblogging and social networking).