Testing Speaking Skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Testing Speaking Skills - Assignment Example Speaking skills comprise the ability to understand the content of what is taught or spoken by the second person and providing the right response in terms of language and grammar. The difficulty in testing speaking skills is when large number of students needs to be addressed and tested. Test speaking is an arduous task. There is no question about that. And when the number of students to be tested is large, the problem is compounded both in terms of the content of the test and the time to devote to each student. It is well nigh impossible to test a large number of students by one or a handful of teachers. It may not be possible to hire a large number of teachers for the purpose if certain techniques, such as the computer, are adopted that could mitigate the problem to a good measure. (Oral Skills). There are certain dos and don'ts for testing. Testing must be planned in advance. There must be a good time gap between planning the test and carrying out the testing of speaking. In the meantime, there must be time for modifications or corrections. There must be a method for testing. The method must be selected keeping the students and the syllabus in mind. Then the person conducting the test must bear in mind that no testing is without anxiety. There must be some room for the tested to face and overcome anxiety. These are the dos. The don'ts are: never add any question outside the syllabus. If there are some tricky questions, keep the students informed that certain questions are bound to be testy, but they are within the syllabus. Do not ask more questions than the time set for answers (Functional Testing). Use the Computer The computer era has firmly set its grip over every individual and organization. The time has come when large number of students can be tested for speaking skills based on the use of the computer. However, the computer is just a machine. It is up to the teachers to use software with the questionnaire and audio receptivity to perform tests successfully on the large number of students. The computer can be effectively used for testing speaking skills. It is one medium that can be used in effectively teaching large number of students, and also testing large number of students. And this can be done in comparatively short duration of time. The content must be planned and drawn up appropriately so that students are able to get it on screen with a few