LANGUAGE TESTING

“DESIGNING SPEAKING TASK”

The Lecturer : Agus Hidayat, M.Pd

Arranged by :

ANNISA BADRIATUL AINI 2111040012

ANNISAA AZZAHRA 2111040014
M. BAGAS WIJAYA 2111040180

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND

TEACHER STATE ISLAMI UNIVERSITY OF RADEN INTAN LAMPUNG

2023 / 2024
 FOREWORD

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb

Alhamdulillah, we would like to thank the presence of Allah SWT, because without His
mercy and grace we could not finish this paper properly. First of all, we would like to thank
Mr. Agus Hidayat, M.Pd as a lecturer who guides us in this course. In this paper we will
explain about "Designing Speaking Task". We Tim to full fill the task of the Introduction to
Language Testing course. Hopefully by making this paper, the knowledge contained in it can
be useful for many people. Aamiin Maybe in the making of this paper there are errors that we
do not know. Therefore, we ask for suggestions and criticism from friends and lecturers in
order to achieve a perfect paper.

Wassallamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Bandar Lampung, 18 November 2023

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... ii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1

A. Background ................................................................................................................ 1

B. Problem Statement ....................................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 2

A. Introduction to Designing Speaking Task ..................................................................... 2

B. Steps of Designing of Speaking Task ........................................................................... 4

C. Types of Designing of Speaking Task .......................................................................... 6

CHAPTER III CONCLUSSION ...................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER IV BIBIOLIGRAPHY ................................................................................... 11

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background

Designing a speaking task is an important process in the context of language teaching

which aims to create activities or situations in which students can develop and test their
speaking abilities. Through various forms of assignments, such as presentations,
interviews, or group discussions, the main goal of speaking assignment design is to
improve students' communication skills. By establishing a relevant context and clear
learning objectives, speaking assignment design also aims to stimulate students' critical
and analytical thinking, develop presentation skills, and strengthen social and
collaboration skills.

In addition, speaking task design serves as a means to improve mastery of sentence

structure and grammar, provides opportunities to develop interviewing skills, and
overall, increases students' confidence in communicating, especially in public. Thus,
speaking task design becomes a key element in creating a holistic and effective learning
experience in the development of speaking skills.

B. Problem Statement
Based on the background of the study above, the research problem is stated as the
follows:
1. Get to know what is designing a speaking task
2. How to process designing of speaking task
3. What types of designing of speaking task

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 CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. Introduction to Designing Speaking Task

Speaking is one of the four language skills. Together with writing, they are
categorized as productive skills, namely, ability to produce language orally (for
speaking) and in written form (for writing).
Related to the task for communication, according to Dian Mega Putri, M. Zaim,
Desmawati Radjab related speaking task can be defined as activities which engage
speakers in using language in order to achieve a particular goal in a particular speaking
situation. The emphasis of speaking task is on goal-oriented language use and meaning
rather than form. There are some types of speaking task namely open- lended (giving
description, narrating,instructing, comparing, explaining,making justification, making
prediction and decision) and structured-task (reading aloud, sentence repetition,
sentence completion, factual short-answer, reacting to phrases).
Fachrurrazy and Shintha (4.14) stated that speaking often cannot be separated
from other language skills; Therefore, the design of speaking tasks is often combined
with listening, reading, or writing, but the main focus remains on speaking.
The micro skills and macro skills which are combined with the activities in the
elicitation techniques provide the basis for designing speaking tasks.
Because when we combine micro skills (such as how to pronounce words and
grammar) with macro skills (such as how to structure a speech and organize ideas), and
engage in elicitation techniques (asking questions or asking to speak), it creates the
basis for creating a speaking task. This combination helps in the overall development of
speaking skills. Micro and macro skills work together to form better overall speaking
abilities. Elicitation technique activities help us better understand students' speaking
abilities, so that speaking assignments can be designed according to their needs. In
other words, this approach helps students not only speak well in terms of grammar and
pronunciation, but also in structuring speeches and conveying ideas in an organized
manner.
According to Brown and Abeywickrama (2010: 185-186) in book Assessment In
Language Teaching by Fachrurrazy and Sintha Ternadewi (4.7-4.8) micro skills and
macro skills of oral production. They are quoted below

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 Macro Skills
1. Produce differences among English phonemes and allophones
2. Produce chunks of language of different lengths
3. Produce English stress patterns, words in stressed and unstressed positions,
rhythmic structure, and intonation contours
4. Produce reduced forms of words and phrases
5. Use an adequate number of lexical units (words) to accomplish pragmatic
purposes
6. Produce fluent speech at different rates of delivery
7. Monitor one's own oral production and use various strategic devices - pauses,
fillers, self-corrections, backtracking - to enhance the clarity of the message
8. Use grammatical word classes (nouns, verbs, etc.), systems (e.g. tense,
agreement, pluralization), word order, patterns, rules, and elliptical forms
9. Produce speech in natural constituents: in appropriate phrases, pause groups,
breath groups, and sentence constituents
10. Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms
11. Use cohesive devices in spoken discourse

 Micro Skills
12. Appropriately accomplish communicative functions according to situations,
participants, and goals
13. Use appropriate styles, registers, implicature, redundancies, pragmatic
conventions, conversation rules, floor-keeping and -yielding, interrupting, and
other sociolinguistic features in face-to-face conversations
14. Convey links and connections between events and communicate such relations
as focal and peripheral ideas, events and feelings, new information and given
information, generalization and exemplification
15. Convey facial features, kinesics, body language, and other nonverbal cues along
with verbal language
16. Develop and use a battery of speaking strategies, such as emphasizing key
words, rephrasing, providing a context for interpreting the meaning of words,
appealing for help, and accurately assessing how well your interlocutor is
understanding you

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 The micro skills deal with the aspects of language, such as "phone1nes,
morphemes, words, collocations, and phrasal units". The macro skills deal with larger
language elements, including "fluency, discourse, function, style, cohesion, nonverbal
communication, and strategic options" .

B. Steps of Designing of Speaking Task

Designing a speaking task involves several key steps to ensure the task is effective
and in line with the desired learning objectives.
Arthur Hughes (2020) conveys detailed steps in designing a speaking assignment.

1. Determine Learning Objectives

Explain clearly what you want to achieve through the speaking assignment. This
goal must be appropriate to the student's level of ability, such as clear pronunciation,
speaking fluency, and appropriate use of vocabulary.

2. Know the Audience and Context

Get to know the level of ability, interests and needs of participants. Consider their
characteristics to design relevant and engaging assignments.

3. Choose an Interesting Topic

Choose topics that are interesting and relevant to students. This can increase
motivation and engagement in speaking tasks.

4. Design the Task Structure

Determine the appropriate type of speaking assignment, such as a presentation,
discussion, or role play. Design the task structure clearly. Adapt the format to the
learning objectives and participants' needs.

5. Develop Clear Instructions

Give clear instructions to students about what is expected of them. Include
guidance regarding timing and assessment criteria.

6. Other Skills Integration

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 Consider how speaking tasks may relate to other language skills, such as
listening, reading, and writing.

7. Provide Model or Example

Show examples of assignments or good speaking models. This helps students
understand expectations and provides inspiration.

8. Collaboration Facilitation
Design assignments that encourage cooperation between students. Collaboration
can increase interaction and joint learning.

9. Provide Feedback
Design feedback mechanisms, both from teachers and fellow students. Feedback
helps improve and develop skills.

10. Revisions and Adjustments

After implementation, evaluate tasks and get feedback. Revise and adjust the
assignment design based on those experiences.

11. Shared Reflection

Invite students to reflect together about their experiences in the speaking
assignment. Discuss what was learned and ways to improve going forward.

12. Development Continuity

Consider how this speaking assignment could be part of a series of speaking skills
development, ensuring a continuous learning experience.

By following these steps, designing speaking assignments can become more

structured and effective for the development of students' communication skills

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C. Types of Designing Speaking Task

Five categories of task types as proposed by Brown and Abeywickrama (2010:

184-185) in book Assessment In Language Teaching by Fachrurrazy and Sintha
Ternadewi (4.14-1.22), i.e. imitative, intensive, responsive, interactive, and extensive.
a. Imitative Speaking
The first is imitative tasks. This is the simplest type of speaking tasks, in which
an examinee is required to repeat or imitate a word, a phrase, or a sentence uttered by
the examiner. This type is appropriate for testing micro skills 1, 2, and 3 (imitating
English phonemes, language chunks, and stress/intonation patterns). Imitative speaking
task is an appropriate task for assessing pronunciation, stress, and intonation.

Examples of imitative type of speaking assessment are as follows:

1. Ability to pronounce certain phonemes:

Read the following sentences with the correct pronunciation.
- She collects sea shells on the shore near the ship
- Please take a seat behind the police.
- Mr. Brown was found to count the cows.

2. Ability to distinguish two phonemes in minimal pairs:

Repeat after me.
- bit – beat
- cot – caught
- dock - dog

As indicated in the instructions, the above examples can be conducted using

repeat-after-me technique (which involves listening), or if the examinee is provided with
a written text to be read aloud, they involve reading. The scoring can be done simply by
counting the correct/wrong answers.

b. Intensive Speaking
The second is intensive tasks. This type requires an examinee to produce short
utterances to demonstrate ability to use certain grammar points, such as micro skill 10
(expressing different grammatical forms), or to read aloud a text. Intensive speaking
type includes the uses of directed response task, readaloud task, question-answer or

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stimulus-response task, picture-cued task, and translation task (Brown and
Abeywickrama, 2010: 189-201).

Some examples

1. Using Directed Response Task (Involving Listening)

Ability to respond to instructions
Do what I ask.
1. Please greet your teacher.
2. Ask the time to him.
3. Tell me how you came here.

The scoring rubric for this task can be:

2 = acceptable expression and pronunciation

1 = partially acceptable expression and pronunciation

= silence, seriously incorrect expression and pronunciation

2. Using Translation Task (involving listening)

Ability to translate a phrase/sentence into English

Translate the following sentences into English.

a. Selain bahasa Inggris, saya juga bisa bahasa Jepang.

b. Hai, sudah lama kita tidak ketemu, ke mana saja anda selama ini?
c. Selamat ya atas kelulusannya.

In this task, the examinee is required to translate a phrase or a short sentence from
his/her first language into English, not the other way around, because we want to know
the examinee's use of English. (Note: If the examiner says the utterances in English and
asks the examinee to translate them into his/her first language, the test becomes listening
comprehension test.)

The scoring of the translation task can be:

2 = acceptable meaning and correct grammar

= acceptable meaning with incon·ect grammar

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= no or unintelligible response

We can use a longer translation or an oral interpretation task, but it is more

complex and requires higher ability of English; therefore, longer translation will be dealt
with in the extensive speaking (last task type).

c. Responsive Speaking

The third is responsive tasks, in which an examinee is required to give short

responses to a question or statement, or to make a short conversation. Responsive
speaking type deals with interactions which include the uses of longer question-answer
task, instruction and direction task, and paraphrasing task (Brown and Abeywickrama,
2010: 201-204).

1. Using Longer Question-and-Answer Task (Involving Listening)

a. Ability to give longer responses

Give response to my instruction.
1) Please tell me your strategies in learning English.
2) How would you compare your hometown and this city (e.g. Jakarta)?
3) Tell me your unforgettable experience in your senior high school.

b. Ability to make a transaction using three or more tasks on a given situation

Let's imagine that you want to buy a pair of shoes. I (the examiner) will act as the
seller, and you (the examinee) as the customer, okay? Let's begin

Seller (tester) : Yes, what can I help you?

Customer :
Seller : Come here and have a look. What size do you wear?
Customer :
Seller : We have several of that size. What color would you like?
Customer :
Seller : Wait a minute. Here you are. Try them on. Well, they look good on you.
Do you want to take them?
Customer :

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 Seller : The price is Rp. 300,000, but I give you 10% discount.
Customer :
Seller : (After wrapping the shoes) Here are your shoes.
Customer :

The examiner reads the instruction and the "seller" parts of the conversation. The
examinee is asked to give oral responses without having the written text. The score is
determined using the criteria of grammaticalness and appropriateness of the responses,
for example:
3 All of the responses are appropriate and grammatical
2 All of the responses are appropriate, but there are some errors in grammar
1Some of the responses are not appropriate
0No response

d. Interactive Speaking
The fourth is interactive tasks, which is similar to the responsive task type, but it
is a longer and more complex interaction. The interactive task type includes an interview,
transactional language (which has the purpose to get things done), and interpersonal
exchange (which has the purpose to maintain social relationships). This type is
appropriate for tasks of macro skills.
Interactive speaking is longer and more complex if compared with responsive speaking.
Interactive speaking includes interview, discussion and conversation, role play, and
games (Brown and Abeywickrama (2010: 207- 216). They are illustrated below.

e. Using Interview Task

The fifth is extensive tasks, which includes tasks in the forms of speeches, oral
presentations, and story-telling. This type is also suitable for testing macro skills.
Interview is a very common task type to assess speaking. It is conducted between
an interviewer and one or more interviewees for a duration of 10 to 15 minutes. An
interview is usually structured, and controlled by the interviewer. The objective of
interview is to measure the language proficiency of the interviewee. Interview should be
distinguished from interrogation.

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 CHAPTER III
CONCLUSSION
A. Conclusion

The micro skills and macro skills which are combined with the activities in the
elicitation techniques provide the basis for designing speaking tasks. The micro skills
deal with the aspects of language, such as "phone1nes, morphemes, words, collocations,
and phrasal units". The macro skills deal with larger language elements, including
"fluency, discourse, function, style, cohesion, nonverbal communication, and strategic
options".

Designing a speaking task involves several key steps to ensure the task is effective and in
line with the desired learning objectives, that are:
- Determine Learning Objectives
- Know the Audience and Context
- Choose an Interesting Topic
- Design the Task Structure
- Develop Clear Instructions
- Other Skills Integration
- Provide Model or Example
- Collaboration Facilitation
- Provide Feedback
- Revisions and Adjustments
- Shared Reflection
- Development Continuity

By following these steps, designing speaking assignments can become more structured
and effective for the development of students' communication skills.

There are 5 big task types for assessing speaking. They are imitative task type, intensive
task type (e.g. directed response task, read-aloud task, simple question-answer task,
picture-cued task, and translation task), responsive task type (e.g. longer question-answer
task, giving instruction or direction task, and re-/paraphrasing task), interactive task type
(e.g. interview task, role play task, discussion or conversation task, and game task), and
extensive task type (e.g. oral presentation task, picture -cued storytelling task, retelling a
story and news event task, and extended
translation or interpretation task).

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 CHAPTER IV
BIBIOLIGRAPHY
Fachrurarrazy dan Sintha Tresnadewi. Assessment in Language Teaching : Universitas
Terbuka

Hughes, Arthur dan Jake, Arthur. Testing for Language Teacher. Cambridge : Cambridge
University Press, 2020

Putri, Mega, Dian dan Zain M “An evaluation of speaking tasks in students’ book for senior
high school grade X semester I” Journal of English Language Teaching

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