How to Test Speaking Skills in Japan

53 Chapter 5: Identify & define your evaluation criteria

So, what do you think? To exemplify the thought process in volved with adapting someone else’s descriptors, I’ll share a few of my own thoughts in connection to my university conversation class es In Weir’s definition, fluency is all about the ability to maintain natural delivery and a flow of speech without hesitation or self-repe tition In other words, the slower and choppier the pace, the lower the score Pauses and hesitations are key—these are the hooks you’ll notice when assessing this construct So far I like this definition a lot because of its practicality; in other words, I can understand what I’d be looking for in a student performance if I adapt this point of view Regarding the number of rating scale levels, however, I would probably end up going with five because that matches up better with the official grade range (S, A, B, C, F) where I work I person ally like that symmetry I also think that five provides more rungs on the ladder, so to speak—more levels provides a clearer feeling of pro gression Four levels is certainly fine, but I know if I followed Weir’s definition verbatim, most of my students would get a score of 3 As a result, I’d be concerned about them getting stuck at this level and losing motivation because they felt they had not progressed In ad dition, I like to think that five levels would add a bit more variety to the marks Finally, one thing I really like is how the top level avoids the like a native speaker trap with the phrase occasional halting This makes the top level a realistic goal for many students, something I think is very important My personal view is that it’s best to make the top level of a scale challenging, but not unreachable So again, this is just my take on Weir’s definition of fluency I generally like it overall, and I would probably use it, but I might make a few changes to the wording (to make it easier to under stand) and also to the number of levels In the end, the key point when adapting is to do so consciously; put some thought into it, and you’ll be fine