The assumption is made in this chapter that the objective of teaching spoken language is the development of the ability to interact successfully in that language, and that this involves comprehension as well as production. It is also assumed that at the earliest stages of learning formal testing of this ability will not be called for, informal observation providing any diagnostic information that is needed.

The basic problem in testing oral ability is essentially the same as for testing writing.

1. We want to set tasks that form a representative sample of the population of oral tasks that we expect candidates to be able to perform.

2. The tasks should elicit behaviour which truly represents the candidates' ability.

3. The samples of behaviour can and will be scored validly and reliably.

Following the pattern of the previous chapter, we shall deal with each of these in turn.

Representative tasks

Specify all possible content

We will begin by looking at the specified content of the Cambridge CCSE Test of Oral Interaction, covering all four levels at which a certificate is awarded.

Operations

Expressing: likes, dislikes, preferences, agreement/disagreement, requirements, opinions, comment, attitude, confirmation, complaints, reasons, justifications, comparisons

Directing: instructing, persuading, advising, prioritising

Describing: actions, events, objects, people, processes

Eliciting: information, directions, clarification, help

Narration: sequence of events

Reporting: description, comment, decisions and choices

Types of text Discussion

Addressees ‘Interlocutor’ (teacher from candidate's school) and one fellow candidate

Topics Unspecified

Dialect, Accent and Style also unspecified

It can be seen that the content specifications are similar to those for the Test of Writing.