The Relationship between the evaluation of EFL speaking skills and learners attitudes and performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT In most EFL classrooms, the speaking skills are practised in the classroom but are frequently not tested for practical reasons related to the subjective nature of the scoring and the time required. Consequently, students do not concentrate on the speaking skills and consider the time spent on practising these skills to be useless since they will be assessed neither in the periodic tests nor in the final examination. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the speaking skills should be assessed in language testing. In this study, the relationship between the evaluation of the speaking skills and learners' performance and attitudes towards those skills was examined. In addition, the study investigated whether gains in learners' oral performance was related to their proficiency in grammar. The subjects consisted of 20 students studying at the Department of Basic English at the Middle East Technical University. Subjects were administered a `Paired Communication` pre- and post-test and an `Interest and Value` Questionnaire. The pre- and post- tests were role-play tests in which two students were required to carry on a conversation based on the instructions given on the situation cards. The Interest and Value Questionnaire measured the subjects'attitudes towards specific speaking activities at the beginning and the end of the study. The pretest scores were used to assign students to the experimental and control groups by matching with random sampling. The experimental group was subjected to frequent testing (once every two weeks) and students were informed of their grades. On the other hand, the control group received no speaking quizzes. To compare the performance of the subjects in the experimental group with that of the subjects in the control group post-test scores were used. The data was analyzed using a matched pairs t-test. The analysis revealed significant differences (p<.005) between the experimental and control groups with the experimental group demonstrating superior performance. The attitudes of the experimental and control groups towards the speaking skills were measured using an Interest and Value Questionnaire. The data was analyzed by using another matched pairs t-test. A significant difference (p<.005) was observed with the experimental group showing more positive attitudes towards the speaking skills. In order to determine whether there was a relationship between the grammar proficiency level of the learners and improvement in the speaking test, the gain scores from pre- to post-test were compared with the learners' proficiency in grammar. The learnerswere categorized as `more proficient` and `less proficient` in grammar skills. The results of a 2-way ANOVA indicated that such a relationship did not exist although the testing treatment was effective (p<.01) on learners' performance in the speaking skills. The study concluded that the evaluation of the speaking skills was a significant factor affecting learners' attitudes and performance in those skills. It was further concluded that proficiency in grammar skills was not related to learners' improvement in the speaking skills.