How to Test Speaking Skills in Japan

56 Part 2: How can we mark & administer speaking tests? Grammatical Accuracy 4. Very few grammatical errors evident. 3. Some errors in use of sentence structures and grammatical forms but these do not interfere with comprehension.

2. Speech is broken and distorted by frequent errors. 1. Unable to construct comprehensible sentences.

Your turn : Take a few minutes to reflect on these Vocabulary and Grammatical Accuracy rating scales How would you adapt them for your students?

When looking at these definitions of Vocabulary and Grammat ical Accuracy , what strikes me is the similarity between them For example, what is the difference between vocabulary “inapropriacy” and a “grammatical error”? Not so much in my mind Personally, I would be hard-pressed to assess the difference However, if you are crystal clear on this distinction and can explain it to your students so they understand it too, then great—you’re all set In my experi ence, vocabulary is more a question of the degree to which you used language from Unit 2 (or whatever) This definition can go by other names as well, such as Content or Required Vocabulary Grammar is then about the accuracy of spoken language In other words, in one construct I’m looking for students to demonstrate they can use studied vocabulary and language patterns from our textbook, while in the other I’m assessing how accurately they used it I like this combination because I know it will push everyone to really focus on the material and practice it well in class in order to do well on the exam In the end, as long as the constructs you choose are clearly distinct, you’re good; if not, then you may have trouble marking your oral tests consistently