Towards a framework for effective group oral assessment in the ESP classroom

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a surge in the use of group work in the language classrooms worldwide. While this development is exciting for proponents of communicative language teaching, not much literature is available for practitioners to deliberate on, or guide the processes of implementing the group oral format, much less the group oral assessment. Primarily, concerns regarding the effectiveness and fairness of this assessment mode are often articulated. Challenges related to working in teams often compound this phenomenon and further complicate the implementation of such assessments in the second language testing context. Nevertheless, although sporadic, previous studies have indicated much potential in this assessment mode, specifically in the assessment of the interactional competence of second language learners. This study, undertaken in the context of an English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) course offered by a university in Malaysia, proposes a framework for effective group oral assessment in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context which draws on both theoretical and empirical evidence. Adopting a qualitative approach, data was obtained through audio recording and observation of real-time classroom assessment sessions, in-depth pre- and post-interviews, and focus group discussions with students and instructors of the EOP course. Through investigation of the interactional dynamics of students participating in a classroom discussion assessment, this study aims to uncover interactional practices and strategies that facilitate a successful group assessment. Findings indicated that there were strategies that could be employed by the students to enable them to present their communicative skills more effectively while allowing the instructors the means of assessing these interactions more accurately through strategic task design, diligent administration, and with the aid of an efficient marking scheme. Drawing on the analysis of the qualitative datasets, the study presents a suggested framework for effective group oral assessment that is applicable to similar language assessment settings.