In-person interactions between faculty and students personalize the learning experience and are the hallmark of primarily undergraduate institutions. These invaluable student--faculty interactions were disrupted during the 2019 SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic and led to a rapid, unprecedented shift to distance-learning. Within the space of virtual…

Oral language exams at university often consist of an individual or group conversation with the examiner about topics dealt with during the semester. A question-and-answer format is applied and vocabulary and structures tested. As a consequence, the oral exam does not reflect action-oriented approaches that often form part of classroom activities…

This paper introduces and discusses issues related to the challenge of obtaining more valid and reliable assessment and positive backwash of direct spoken English language performance of students in real-life situations. For this purpose, the paper is divided into four sections. The first section is the introduction to the article. The second part…

This article describes and analyses the development of a new test of aviation English by the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA), as well as the overall situation in Finland as regards the testing of aviation English. The article describes the FCAA development project and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the new test and the whole…

Presents a practical oral testing model that fits speaking tests into the syllabus and course grade, links teaching and testing approaches, tests interactive and individual performance, uses new and old materials, and compares impromptu and prepared performance. (Author/CB)

Outlines an oral interview format and scoring system for use with foreign language students during their first and second semesters of language study. (EKN)

This project extended the application of a model for development of semi-direct tests of oral proficiency, originally developed for Chinese, to a diverse set of less commonly taught languages spanning various language families and representing diverse cultural backgrounds. This second, final report covers development of tests for Hebrew, Hausa,…

Prochievement tests, hybrids of proficiency and achievement tests, assess students' linguistic and communicative competence and provide a means for formative evaluation of student progress. Assessing Spanish listening comprehension/speaking proficiency, creating listening/oral proficiency test formats, and scoring are described. Guidelines for…

Discusses the issue of oral communication tests through an account of an oral test administered to nearly 1,000 students at Yarmouk University Language Center. The ways in which the institution attempted to overcome problems in the oral test's feasibility, validity, and reliability are presented. (Author/CB)

The oral interaction examination used by Britain's Royal Society of Arts for testing communicative use of English as a foreign language is described. The underlying principles of the test, its structure, administration, issues of reliability and validity, and scoring are outlined. Three components of the test itself are included. One component is…

This paper examines the rating scale data of oral proficiency tests analyzed by a Rasch Analysis focusing on an item map and factor analysis. In discussing the item map, the difficulty order of six items and students' answering patterns are analyzed using descriptive statistics and measures of central tendency of test scores. The data ranks the…

Two Toronto community English-as-a-second-language (ESL) programs used oral interview tests to place adults in appropriate programs. Instruments used included: Foreign Service Oral Interview; Ilyin Oral Interview; object-oriented testing; group testing; performance in authentic situations; Ontario Test of English as a Second Language; and George…

The purposes and methods of testing in bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education are discussed. Different instruments, including specific published tests, are listed and described briefly. They include language proficiency assessments, achievement tests, and assessments in special education. Introductory sections address topics…