Asian Association for Language Assessment

Speaking  is an essential part of real-life communication, but is frequently  omitted from language assessments because of difficulty with planning,  administering, or scoring these tasks. This workshop is intended for  anyone who is interested in developing the ability to assess language  learners’ speaking ability, whether for high-stakes assessments or  in-class grading. No experience with developing speaking or other  language assessments is assumed.

In the first portion of this workshop, participants will discuss the following topics:

1.    Overview and principles of speaking assessment
2.    Task formats that can be used to assess speaking
3.    Ways of developing speaking tasks
4.    Administering speaking assessments
5.    Adapting and creating rating scales
6.    How to score performances
7.    Basic overview of estimating reliability in speaking assessments

In the second portion of the workshop, participants will work in small groups on the following activities:

1.    Writing the specifications for a speaking assessment
2.    Writing prompts for use in the assessment
3.    Drafting a rating scale for use in the assessment

Participants will be able to share their work with other groups after  each activity. Participants are welcome to plan real-life assessments  for their language programs, but simulated assessment scenarios will  also be available for those participants who wish to use them.