Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiger Beer]

How do you make the test for this?

I'm thinking of setting up 15-minute appointments for each student.. and then practicing the controlled conversations we were having in class.

Then grading them on that. What would be good categories to grade?

1) grammar
2) effort/enthusiasm
3) naturalness
4) ability to ask questions back
5) ? what else ?

I'm also thinking of a paper test as well.. with listening exercises (what are people talking about, etc.) - answer questions about the conversations, etc. But then the bad thing is they'd all have to be there at the start and patiently wait (and listen to) others going through the oral part of the exam.

[ajuma]

A few things you need to consider when using an oral test:

What are the goals of your class? Grammar? Vocab? Usefulness? Pronunciation?

How will you grade the student who uses incorrect grammar, but is easily understood compared to the student who uses correct grammar, but whos pronunciation is so bad that you can barely understand him/her?

Do you want the students to give "mechanical" answers from the book, or be more creative?

Will you tell the students beforehand what types of questions you will be asking?

A suggestion: I have my students do their oral tests in groups of 3 or 4 (4 is ideal, 3 will work). The have a week to prepare a conversation that includes the things we've covered in class, including saying hello, introductions, asking and answering questions and reasons for saying goodbye. (Pretty rude to say "Nice to meet you....Nice to meet you, too...Goodbye!!") I grade on use of new vocabulary, number of times they look at their paper (looking 3 times is -1 point), comfort level, creativity and "reality" (is the conversation REAL).

[Tiger Beer]

[Hope]

Possible evaluation categories:

-Pronunciation & Intonation
-Fluency
-Grammar & Word Choice (I am more lenient to students who use more complex sentences & vocab)
-Overal organization & clarity

Then I usually make additional remarks on effort, enthusiam, creativity, etc.

[Billy Pilgrim]

Really depends on the level of the students. My students cover a wide range of levels within the one class, which has always meant that the only way to fairly run a conversation course is to focus on certain grammatical aspects within a larger topic, and to encourage vocabulary building and use in conversation (I can't do free-talking, because the lower students can NEVER keep up, and it means that the better students don't need to study anything because they are already significantly better and can just bullshit away).

This semester, for example, one of the topics I have taught is reported speech - which is an EXCELLENT topic for mixed levels because it encourages all students to reach the same grammatical goal, requires listening practice, and is an important part of everyday conversation.

The test I'm doing now involves two students at a time. That way, I can test the students ability to formulate questions and answers without me having to repeat myself as much - I give an order ("Shut up"), the first student makes a question ("What did he tell/advise/remind/order/warn me to do?") and the second student answers ("He told you to shut up").

Most of my exams are based around situations like this - I instigate the situation, the first student has to be able to think of a question for that situation and student two the answer. Marking is usually done on these areas:

- speaking style (fluent/comfortable as opposed to stilted and slow)
- pronunciation
- grammar
- use of vocabulary (class vocabulary)
- interesting answers (students are often nervous and/or lazy and will answer in the shortest possible way in exams. it helps to have marks to encourage long answers for things like describing people etc.)
- listening (understanding my question the first time, reporting back accurately etc)

I don't particulary like asking students to make a conversation of their own for an exam, because (at least in the case of my school), all they do is write something stilted, memorise it for the exam and forget it as soon as the exam is over. I prefer a more fluid approach that mixes some stuff they can memorize (because it DOES calm them down to be able to draw on the great Korean skill of cramming) and other stuff that relies on what I say or do IN THE EXAM, meaning they can only study general patterns and responses and be prepared to modify them to incorporate certain vocabulary and tenses etc.

[Badmojo]

I always thought this was BS. The oral test for an oral class.

To me, the most important thing they do all year to show up to class, and give an effort to speak. If all your students do that, you're going to have good classes. The effort is more important than the results in these classes.

With that being said, "in and out" is my advice. They come in for two minutes, you ask them some question, then really grade them on what you saw through the 17 or 18 classes of the term.

This way you avoid scenarios like this: Student 1 never spoke all year, then all the sudden blows your mind in the oral test. Student 2, who's at a lower level, really tried all year but didn't do so well on the oral test. I know who I'm giving the 90% to and who's getting the 65.

[Billy Pilgrim]

[Badmojo]

[Billy Pilgrim]

[quote="Badmojo"]

[Tiger Beer]

I set up my conversation classes so that the final grade is based on:

30% Mid-Term Exam
30% Final Exam
20% Attendance
20% Participation (also wrote Homework & Quizzes in the syllabus - which I haven't given out for the conversation class).

The two exams are good as they'll remind me of who is who.. (I can't remember all of their names) and they'll be graded on their performance of that day. But at the same time, 40% goes to non-exam categories with a tremendous amount of flexibility on my part. Its entirely subjective how to give out points in the 'participation' department. So even if an enthusiastic hard-working weaker student messes up a bit on the mid-term.. and some unenthusiastic student who ordinarily doesn't care or put in much effort does great.. there is still a 20% flexibility leeway on my own part based on the weekly classes to sort out who gets the better grade in the end.

[tommynomad]

My mid-term exam is pretty rote. The kids come in groups of 4. They pull 5 answer cards out of a deck, and have to come up with 5 matching questions. Then they must answer, and convey the answer to me in the 3rd person.

My final is almost the opposite: any topic you like. 3 minutes speaking time. Use as much or as little from the textbook (Amer. Headway-ugh.) as you like. Points for clarity, effort & enthusiasm, preparation and eye contact.

Overall:
in-class participation: 35%
mid-term: 10% (but it gets cut to 0% if they can score higher on the final)
homework: 15%
final: 40%

I find that with this framework, the students who want to learn, do; and those who are killing time do just that: kill time. The result is lots of As and Fs, and very few Bs, Cs and Ds. (of course the golfers and soccer players get their Fs changed to Bs later by the admin, but that's not my problem).

[weatherman]

I usually have my conversation students come in pairs and role-play a conversation based on what we have been studying so far. I give out some examples to help guide them along. Some students really ham it up and have fun, others use the guide given too much and follow that. Over all, I grade more on merit and effort, and communicative ability than grammar.

[Ody]

my exams vary greatly from class to class.

my freshmen group will meet in my office in groups of 5; each session lasting 25 minutes. we will be playing games which are outlined in the review chapter of their book. they will need to come prepared to answer specified questions as well as being able to exhibit knowledge of the covered vocabulary. i'll be grading them on their performance with a heavy emphasis on participation.

' gotta pull those buggers outa' their shells!!

[wild sphere]

[Badmojo]