Topic 2.

Designing and evaluating speaking tests

1. How many types of speaking tests are there? What are they?
 There are 3 types of speaking tests, and they are interview, discussion or role-
play activities and individual long-turn tasks.
2. What are the disadvantages of an interview test?
 Drawbacks:
- The examiner is in control of the conversation.
- Display questions are not likely to generate extended and meaningful responses.
3. In an interview test, examiners are advised to use “global questions”. So, what
are “global questions”?
 They are questions that are popular and obvious for all students.
4. Why are the examiners advised not to ask more than one question at a time?
 Because the students may confuse if they have to answer a lot of questions.
However, it is acceptable if the accompanying questions are on the same subject
and to support the first main question.
5. List some problems with pictures in the individual long-turn tasks.
 Require background knowledge
 Have distressing, sensitive or violent topic Be abstract and symbolic
 Be unrealistic situations
 Be too similiar “compare and contrast” task-type