A Method for Oral Testing in University English Programs at Korean Universities

This article is written by David B. Kent. E tried to explains methods of teaching English
in University. In Korea, English is belonging to foreign langage. Even thogh that belongs to
foreign langage, bt the teacher tried to condct it sch as oral test. The writer explained how it
wor!ed In this article. It is also called ob"ective. There are two !ind of ob"ective in the exam#
$rimary ob"ective is to assess the oral s!ill level of stdents in a pre%planned commnicative
context, as well as testing listening comprehension throgh &estion'answer based tas!s.
(econdary )b"ective* To allow stdents to expand their se of langage, centered on a theme of
their own interest, and engage in oral commnication on a familiar topic covered by the class
syllabs. +ommonly both of them will help the stdents to commnicate.
In giving exam, the teacher also ses the approach. The stdents have freedom to choose
their own partner becase several test as! them to wor! in grop. $sychologically it will ma!e
the stdents feel comfortable and improve their self confidence. In choosing the topic, the
stdents also have freedom. They may se the topic that familiar and easy for them. +ommonly
the topic that are given by the teacher sch as arond the commnity, eating, edcation and
school life, friends and family, the global village, health, homes, love and dating, natre, as well
as wor! and lifestyles. (tdents shold then be tested for approximately ,- mintes per pair.
The method that is sed by the stdents in assessing , sch as giving a time for
preparation before conversation arond five mintes. Then the instrctor also chec!ed it. .fter
the stdents doing the conversation, the instrctor can as! them the &estion abot what have
they tal!ed. In that time the stdents can inflence or persade the listener abot their topic.for
example* a good place for holiday. .ccording to /eller0 1--23 people have power in their
spea!ing style.
.ctally this method also has a wea!ness. $eople need arond ten mintes to do a test.
The process also condcts two times. Bt it is difficlt for the teacher if the nmber of the
stdents arond two hndred or three hndred.
Fluency of Speech: This point of evalation shold be based pon the smoothness of speech, not
speed, and ta!e into accont the normal se of hesitancy in conversation
rammar Use: It is nrealistic to expect that any Korean E45 stdent will come to an exam and
spea! withot any grammar problems# emphasis shold therefore be placed on being able to
nderstand the stdents commnicative intent even if grammar errors are present in sentence
strctres.
!istening "omprehension: This phase of evalation is initially tested dring the prepared
conversation section of the exam.
Pronunciation: .s native English spea!ers possess a high degree of tolerance to ambigity
accent is not considered a viable point of exam evalation, except where it hinders
commnicative nderstanding in the case of radically inflencing pronnciation.
#oca$ulary Appropriateness and "omple%ity: Depending on the stdent choice of topic,
certain terms or vocablary items can be selected from the corse materials and incorporated
within stdent conversational presentations
Bibliography
Brown, 6. Doglas. ,778. Principles of language learning and teaching. 2rd Ed. U(.* $rentice
6all, Inc.
6bbard, $., 9ones, 6., Thornton, B., and :heeler, ;. ,77<. A Training course for TEFL.
)xford* )xford University $ress.