How to Test Speaking Skills in Japan

54 Part 2: How can we mark & administer speaking tests? Pronunciation

4. Occasional errors of pronunciation: a few inconsistencies of rhythm, intonation, & pronunciation, but comprehension is not impeded. 3. Rhythm, intonation, & pronunciation require more careful listening; some errors of pronunciation which may occasionally lead to incomprehension. 2. Comprehension suffers due to frequent errors in rhythm, intonation & pronunciation. 1. Words are unintelligible.

Your turn : Take a few minutes to reflect on this Pronunciation rating scale How would you adapt it for your students?

Weir’s definition of pronunciation consists of three overlapping yet different aspects: rhythm, intonation, and “pronunciation” Hmm… This is a bit tricky, in my opinion, because while quite similar, these are all not exactly the same thing Rhythm deals with pace, while intonation is about voice inflection and how “friendly” it sounds “Pronunciation”, I assume, is about how accurately the students pronounce their words… but perhaps this is referring to accent? If so, that could be clarified, I think If you go with this definition, what do you do if a student has very good rhythm but speaks with a very thick Japanese accent? Or what if their accent is near-perfect, but they have a flat, uninterested voice with almost no inflections? Does a student need to nail all three of these points in order to reach the top level? That is not made clear here I bring this up to caution you on the common tendency to de fine constructs in ways that incorporate more than one element It is not wrong to do so, of course, and if you really understand what you’re doing, then great However, for those of you just getting