scholarly journals The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma Ounis

Since “English has become the lingua franca for academic interaction of learners and academics” (Koo, 2009, p. 77), the development of the EFL learners’ oral performance proficiency constitutes the central interest of current English language teaching methodologists and practitioners. The importance of speaking as a productive skill has been echoed in the literature. Indeed, it is viewed as a crucial “part of the curriculum in language teaching … and …an important object of assessment as well” (Luoma, 2004, p. 1). Thus, the prime aim of this study is to explore the prevailing conceptions and actual practices of the assessment of EFL learners’ speaking skills at the tertiary level. The respondents of the current research were 20 instructors who taught at the Higher Institute of languages in Gabes and at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Sfax, Tunisia. To collect the necessary data, a questionnaire survey was utilized. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS package. The findings revealed that the teachers’ conceptions of assessment are directed towards the development of the learners’ speaking skills. Despite the existence of a number of hardships, the teachers’ classroom teaching practices revealed a compete reliance on authentic, ongoing, organized and thoughtful oral language assessment procedures which were meant to sustain and boost the learners’ oral skill achievements.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 247-254
Author(s):  
Ehatasham Ul Hoque Eiten ◽  
M Hasan Parvez ◽  
Kaish Q Khan

Purpose: Present-day English language teaching in Bangladesh, despite adopting Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), focuses more on accuracy (i.e. grammar) than fluency which is proved as a weak strategy. Fluency acquisition in speaking includes pronunciation, but focusing on pronunciation first, slows down the process of becoming a fluent speaker. Methodology: As code-switching exists at the tertiary level in Bangladesh and because of the tremendous fascination of Bangladeshi students towards Bengali, code-switching can be utilized as a tool to improve fluency in spoken English. Thus, this research proposes an alternative to existing approaches. Result: Once desired fluency is achieved; grammar and pronunciation will be emphasized respectively to attain proper speaking skills. The success of this process can be studied in three phases. In the first phase, it examines whether allowing code-switching while speaking English helps Bengali students achieve fluency or not. Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of the Conscious Use of Code-Switching to Improve Fluency in Spoken English of Bangladeshi Students is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149
Author(s):  
G. Akhmetova ◽  
◽  
A. Bizhkenova ◽  

The present research paper discusses the issues of identifying common lexical and semantic mistakes in Kazakh pre-intermediate EFL learners studying in homogeneous groups at university. Words are viewed as powerful tools and when used correctly, words may evoke different feelings and emotions and cause various actions. It’s important to learn how to spot difficult words, correct them timely, and master lexical competence teaching to use the words correctly. The data of the study were collected by learner’s EFL teacher from their final essays. Thirty-one essays were used as the instrument of the study to obtain real language from the participants. The authors of the study hope that the results of the conducted research would contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon of lexical and semantic errors in English language teaching which will help teachers to elaborate the differentiated tasks and ways of explaining new vocabulary preventing students’ misunderstanding. Furthermore, the results of the presented research can serve as guidance and be used in compiling EFL textbooks for Kazakhstani students. As a result, researchers managed to classify lexical and semantic errors in English language teaching, identified frequent errors, and described their causes. The findings of the research illustrate that the participants of the study make errors of word choice and incorrect collocations the most. Moreover, incorrect usage of the preposition and literal translation from L1 are included in the frequent mistakes


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-156
Author(s):  
Izzuddin A

A number of modern Islamic Boarding Schools (IBS) have long implemented a unique English Language Teaching (ELT) strategy in improving their students’ English-speaking skills. In IBS, for example, head of language department requires the students to communicate in English in daily activities, and punishment is imposed to those who do not speak English. However, there was no specifically academic term used to describe such strategy, nor was there a study to investigate the effectiveness of the strategy. This essay investigates what IBS-applied ELT strategy is, and to what extent it is effective in improving speaking skills of the students. It is found that IBS has made use of a behaviour modification as ELT strategy. The behaviour modification is able to encourage students to communicate in English in their daily activities. It also leads students to acquire accuracy, complexity and fluency in speaking.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-154
Author(s):  
Naushin Nazifa Islam

Along with the subsequent development in the field of English Language Teaching, the idea of methods has been criticized for not being sensitive to the contextual factors and also for being imperialistic in nature. The linguistic and cultural dimensions of archetypal methods establish the culture and language of the native speakers as the only erudite variety by promoting monoculturalism and monolingualism. Furthermore, even in Bangladesh, it can be seen that CLT has been applied as a method to teach English as a foreign/second language since the mid-nineties, but it has not brought any significant changes. Therefore, to overcome the obstacles and limitations experienced by the application of the prototypical methods, the notion of postmethod pedagogy has been introduced which focuses on the significance of contextualized materials to bring authenticity in English language classrooms, which in turn ensures learners’ motivation and successful intake of the lesson. At the same time, it also emphasizes the importance of teacher and learner autonomy. Hence, this research paper explores the scopes of the implementation of postmethod pedagogy and its effectiveness at the tertiary level English language classrooms in Bangladesh.    


EDULANGUE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Syarifudin Syarifudin

Due to the central role of speaking skill and its escalating demands of instruction in various levels of education in Indonesia, a myriad of teaching approaches and strategies have been applied to equip learners with the competences enabling the development of this skill. As a widespread approach to English language teaching (ELT),  which  gains  its  popularity  within  the context  of  EFL, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is geared towards learners’ communicative competence comprising of grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence as the underlying abilities of speaking proficiency. The development of these competences can be better facilitated when learning takes its place both in and outside classrooms as the latter provides potential promises for learners’ speaking proficiency development. For this reason, this paper presents learners’ challenges for learning speaking, the model activities in and outside classrooms, the importance of speaking instruction and the components of communicative competence and speaking proficiency.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 482
Author(s):  
Dhinar Arienintya

<p>EFL learners in Indonesia are varied in terms of their age, gender, and origin (places to live). They eagerly learn English productively by speaking although, most of the time, most of them mispronounce some words. Even worse, they still mispronounce a word after having given or heard the correct pronunciation. If this happens to learners whose major is not English, it is perhaps not a big problem; however, it should be a problem that should be immediately fixed by the lecturers if it happens to learners whose major is English. Many of the learners of English Language Teaching still frequently make mistakes in pronouncing English words, especially in giving stress in each word. It may happen due to the influence of their L1 and L2, the lack of knowledge in giving stress, or both. The participants of this study will be the freshmen of English Language Teaching of the Department of English Language and Literature of Universitas Negeri Malang attending Basic Reading Class. The design of this research is descriptive in which questionnaire and recording will be used as the instruments in the data collection. The result of this study is expected to answer whether or not L1 and L2 influence English stress shift production of the EFL learners in Indonesia.</p><p> </p><strong>Keywords: </strong><em>Stress shifts, pronunciation, EFL learners in Indonesia</em>


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Mifta Lasintia ◽  
Prihantoro Prihantoro ◽  
Sarwo Edy ◽  
Desti Ariani

This study aimed at investigating the realization of English language teaching strategies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) students, especially in terms of the implementation of teaching strategies. This study took place at SMPLB of Curup, Bengkulu, Indonesia. There was only one English teacher who taught ASD students, and the teacher was involved as the subject of this study. The data were garnered form interviews and document analysis. The data were further analyzed using an interactive model extending to data collection, data condensation, data display, and drawing conclusions. The results showed that the teacher used three strategies in teaching children with autism, namely developing oral language comprehension, echolalia, and communication skills enhancement through the PECS method. In addition, the teacher also modified the form of the strategy according to the needs of students with autism.


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