Assessing Speaking

A PowerPoint presentation by Farida ben Abdallah, Trainee Inspector

Although there is a growing interest in assessing speaking in the EFL context, it is still one of the most problematic and intricate areas in teaching English not only because it is about assessing students’ speech production skills in a foreign language but also because of the inherent complexities of testing speaking in general.
In this PowerPoint presentation, Farida ben Abdallah outlines some of the major procedures related to the assessment of students’ speaking skills in the context of EFL in general and in the context of the Tunisian schools in particular. This PowerPoint presentation is here to serve as an initiator for an in-depth research about the many facets of assessing speaking. A more detailed article by Ferida ben Abdallah will be published in our next issue of the “Tunisian ELT Forum” in May 2010.

Here are links to some relevant articles and presentations:

• Notes on Assessing Speaking by Barry O'Sullivan
• Catching that elusive butterfly: assessing speaking in five easy steps
• Test Evaluation –assessing speaking
• In-class assessment of speaking through debates

Note: The presentation by Ferida ben Abdallah can also be downloaded from here