Assessing, Validating and Improving an L2 English Speaking Assessment Rubric

Dr Crosthwaite, Peter Robert   (Principal Investigator (PI))

Mr Cole III Samuel Francis   (Co-Investigator)

Miss Stokes Jane Helen   (Co-Investigator)

Dr Smyth Philip David   (Co-Investigator)

12

2015-06-01

215912

Assessing, Validating and Improving an L2 English Speaking Assessment Rubric

Assessment, EAP, L2 English

Education: Research on Teaching & Learning,Linguistics and Languages

N/A

Teaching Development Grants

2015

Completed

Coming under the TDG priority area of 'assessment tasks and assessment standards', this project aims to develop a procedure to assess and improve the marking criteria of speaking assessments, by investigating the speaking test rubric currently used for the assessment of HKU’s largest course, namely the CAES1000 or ‘Core University English’ program of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) offered through HKU’s Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES). Specifically, we aim to quantify the amount of variance in grade assignment decisions between teacher examiners and student peer assessors that may result from use of the existing speaking assessment rubric, and to systematically reduce any such variability through a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches including factor analysis and think-aloud protocols. Through these approaches, we will be able to determine the thought process of teachers and students when assessing EAP speaking using the current rubric, and from this information, develop a sample L2 English speaking test rubric that is fairer and more transparent for students and teachers involved in the assessment process. If successful, the procedure for assessing, validating and improving speaking assessment rubrics could be extended to other speaking assessments that take place within HKU.