Assessing Spoken Production

Spoken production is assessed using a scale that aids the rating process. The scale increases the reliability with which different assessors will arrive at the same judgment about a learner’s current proficiency. Teachers can use scales adapted from large-scale assessments, or devise their own for specific uses in a local context. There are two broad approaches to scale development, the intuitive and the empirical. Both have advantages and weaknesses that must be evaluated given its intended use and learner group. However, a scale should have properties that support the development of teaching teams, and the articulation of explicit curriculum goals. This tends to favor locally designed scales that are sensitive to a specific learning ecology. When teaching teams articulate learning goals in scale descriptors it is possible to enhance task-based learning, learner awareness, and independence.