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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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 Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:12 pm Post subject: Setting up a Speaking Performance Test |
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I'm going to be setting up a performance test for Grade 1 and Grade 2 middle school students, and it's going to be worth a significant portion of the students grade.
There are 40 students in each class with two teachers available. The test will probably be graded on an A - D scale with quotas for each one.
The test is going to be based on my lessons, so I'd really like the students to take it seriously and I want to do it properly. I was thinking of setting up the test somehow with modified communicative activities that I use in class.
Do any teachers on this board have experience with this, or can any teachers help me out or point me to some resources?
Thanks. |
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gsxr750r
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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| I have classes of 30 to 35, and I test them individually for 3 to 5 mins each. It takes just under 3 hours to do this. It can go a lot faster if you make them choose a partner, have them practice together days in advance, and then test the two together at the same time having a conversation. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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I have a rubrik here. Write in or type in the student's names beforehand. It is in hansoft though...
http://www.esnips.com/doc/f6ce3601-b485-4101-abb2-ead08d260441/rubric---evaluation
Usually they come in 2s or 3s or 4s depending on the time squeeze. I have 3-5 questions to ask them, using photos or something visual as a prompt to elicit language (very necessary).
Check their grade based on the rubrik. No fuss, no muss.
DD |
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Chicoloco
Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Location: In the ring.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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I have to test 900 middle school kids twice a semester. 
They have to describe two photos for a total of 3 minutes.
The first photo is one that they have seen in advance (I have it uploaded onto the school website about two weeks before the test).
They have to talk about it for around 2 minutes
The second photo is one that they haven't seen before. I give them a minute to think about what they are going to say and then get them to speak for about 1 minute.
That usually gives me a good idea of their speaking level.
As for the photos themselves, it depends on the grade but things like a shop scene, a camping photo or a sporting photo gives them lots to work with.
Deubel's rubrick looks handy. |
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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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| ddeubel wrote: |
I have a rubrik here. Write in or type in the student's names beforehand. It is in hansoft though...
http://www.esnips.com/doc/f6ce3601-b485-4101-abb2-ead08d260441/rubric---evaluation
Usually they come in 2s or 3s or 4s depending on the time squeeze. I have 3-5 questions to ask them, using photos or something visual as a prompt to elicit language (very necessary).
Check their grade based on the rubrik. No fuss, no muss.
DD |
Great stuff DD, thanks.
One question:
- I was thinking of giving the students a situation (in Korean), they must solve in English. For instance, they would have to fill out an order form or receive directions or solve some kind of problem by asking questions. Have you ever tried this? |
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ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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When I worked at a private English school in London we did a speaking placement test using questions.
We would start with really basic questions using the basic tenses e.g present, simple future and as we went along the questions and tenses used got more difficult.
ilovebdt |
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gsxr750r
Joined: 29 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:16 am Post subject: |
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| ilovebdt wrote: |
When I worked at a private English school in London we did a speaking placement test using questions.
We would start with really basic questions using the basic tenses e.g present, simple future and as we went along the questions and tenses used got more difficult.
ilovebdt |
Very interesting, as that sounds almost exactly like what I do now. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
ilovebdt wrote:
When I worked at a private English school in London we did a speaking placement test using questions.
We would start with really basic questions using the basic tenses e.g present, simple future and as we went along the questions and tenses used got more difficult.
ilovebdt
Very interesting, as that sounds almost exactly like what I do now |
One of my first ESL teaching gigs was at a private language school in the Czech Rep. Basically ran the school, curriculum, etc...... Very busy I was but my boss really looked after me and we remain like family.
But I always had new students enrolling and they had to be placed in the right leveled class. I could hardly spare a few minutes. So I designed a test like the one above (sort of inspired through a Cambridge placement test example but without the use of a picture). I could test them in a few minutes. Lost that test which really worked well but here is another I threw together recently. Almost the same as you both described.
http://www.esnips.com/doc/59607a9e-41c5-4434-be03-a23e4190bacc/placement-speaking-test
DD |
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