Minimizing Subjectivity in
Assessing Speaking
Issy Yuliasri
Speaking, as one
of the four language skills, has been recognized as the most difficult to
assess. As Harris (1975) points out, “No language skill is so difficult to
assess with precision as speaking ability ….” (Harris, 1975:p.81) Kitao and Kitao (2002) also
suggest: Speaking is probably the most difficult to test. It involves a
combination of skills that have no correlation with each other, and which do
not lend themselves well to objective testing. There are not yet good answer to
questions about the criteria for testing these skills and the weighting of
these factors …. (Kitao & Kitao:
2002)
In spite of the
fact that speaking is difficult to assess, there has been wide agreement that
assessing speaking ability is assessing the real speech. Messerklinger
(1997) points out that it seems best to test speaking by asking students to
speak. Despite the common agreement that it is the real speech to be assessed
and evaluated, there are concerns on how to get the students to speak and how
to evaluate so many things at once. There is, as Madsen (1983) states, some
disagreement on just what criteria to choose in evaluating oral communication.
Even when a criterion is widely agreed upon, such as fluency, there is some question about how to measure it. Is it the
quickness of response, the amount of information conveyed per minute, or simply a general impression of fluency that we
look for? Another complication is the range of oral communication from the
beginning level of pronunciation and vocabulary identification to the advanced
applications of speaking as used in specialized professions.
Thus, with such
complexity of assessing speaking, objectivity is a challenge. This paper tries
to discuss some ways of minimizing subjectivity in assessing speaking by
applying continuous, alternative assessment in which students are given a
variety of tasks with the use of different instruments to assess. A study on the
use of a teacher-modified rating scale for peer assessment in speaking class
will also be briefly presented.
------- ---- -------
Yuliasri,
Website: www.geocities.com/eltindonesia
Email:
eltindonesia@yahoo.com