A speaking exam in Selectividad/ PAU: how & why
Leslie Bobb Wolff & Manuel Wood Wood
Abstract: Students’ spoken interaction can only be assessed by asking them to speak interactively. The 2008 decree stated this was the objective for introducing an oral component in the university entrance exams. We will look at how our work has evolved, how a speaking component can be included and why we think it is important to include this in this Selectividad/PAU exam.
BiodataLeslie Bobb Wolff, professor at the University of La Laguna and PAU coordinator there, has been working with Manuel Wood and Bacchillerato teachers since 2008 to design the speaking component for the Selectividad/ PAU exams. This exam influences how English is taught in Bachillerato, ESO and even primary levels; including interactive speaking is coherent with the objetives of these levels.
BiodataManuel Wood Wood, professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and PAU coordinator there, has been doing research on oral assessment methods for the last few years, and together with Leslie Bobb has designed an oral test for thePAU exams. The test, already approved by the local educational authorities, intends to change obsolete foreign language teaching methods.
Brief outline of the session
1 Legal context.
2 The relationship we clearly see between how the PAU exam is focused and what happens in the language classroom in Bachillerato & ESO.
3 How we have our coordination organized between the two universities in the Canarian autonomous region, with secondary school coordinators of English and the coordination meetings with all the English department representatives.
4Steps we have taken since 2008 in the Canaries to develop an exam which assesses spoken interaction. Work done to develop the oral exam.
4.1 The parts of the exam
4.2 Material for parts 1, 2 & 3
4.3 Development of the assessment instrument (rating scale)
4.4 Piloting the exam & what we have learned
5Difficulties we have come across related to doing an exam of spoken interaction.
6 Why we think an interactive speaking component is absolutely necessary in the Selectividad/PAU exam
Proposal for an oral exam PAU Comunidad Canaria
During the PAU coordination meetings, starting in January 2009 (2 months after the Education Ministry decree was published), the PAU coordinators (from the two Canarian universities and two secondary school teachers) andall the attending members (one teacher from each secondary school), discussed and negotiated a three-part oral exam; two examiners assessing two students at a time.
We developed a list of topics and sub-topics for the students to choose for parts two and three (monologue & dialogue). For part one (warm up) the second year Bachillerato teachers sent in lists of possible questions for the examiners to ask. Both of these documents are on the Education Department’s website. The coordinators have met with Education Department authorities throughout the period of development and piloting and have been encouraged and backed up by them to carry out the oral exam.
This is a brief summary of how the exam looks at present.
Just before beginning the exam: Each student chooses, without looking, a subtopic and a photo. They have 12 minutes to prepare these together (while the previous pair is being tested).
1st part: Warm-up:Questions from examiners for each student asking about family, age, likes and preferences, etc.1-1 ½ minutes for each student. Total 2-3 minutes.
2nd part Monologue: Each student has up to 1 ½ minutes to speak about either the photo or topic randomly selected.
3rd part Dialogue:The two studentstalk about, ask and answer one another’s questions on either the photo or topic not chosen previously for monologues. 4-5 minutes
Length of each exam: 10-12 minutes per pair; this means 10 students per hour can be assessed by each team of assessors.
Participants:
Two students at a time, pairing to be decided ahead of time in their school.
One teacher from the school (at least) to organize students before and during the oral exam.
Two examiners, one will ask questions in part 1, etc. Both assess the students using the rating scale we have developed.
NOTE:
We have found that assessing for more that two and a half hours non-stop is the time limit to be able to do it properly. Otherwise, a break for the examiners is needed.
We calculate a minimum of 10 pairs of examiners for each province (Gran Canaria with Fuerteventura & Lanzarote; Tenerife with La Palma, El Hierro & La Gomera).
In the academic year 2010-2011, this test format was piloted in two phases in nine secondary schools; a few changes were made (e.g. parts 2 & 3 can be reversed if the students choose to do so).
Thisis a partial list of the subtopics to use for parts 2 & 3 of the oral test. Still open to suggestions.
MACRO TOPICS FOR SPEAKING / SUGGESTED SUBTOPICS1 - HEALTH / 1. Eating disorders
2. Cosmetic surgery
3. Tobacco /alcohol /drugs / 4. illness/health
5. food
6. Sports
2 - SOCIAL ISSUES /
- Abortion
- Addiction (alcohol, drugs, shopping, etc)
- Sexism
- Slavery
- Education
- Immigration
3 – FREE TIME / 1. Travelling and Tourism
2. Sports
3. Socializing
4. Physical appearance /fashion/clothes / 5. Celebrities
6. Driving
7. Consumerism 8. Traditions and customs
9. Culture
4 - COMMUNICATION / 1. Languages
2. Mass media
3. Internet
4. New technologies / 5. Music and cinema
6. advertising/publicity
7. TV
8. Books & magazines
MORE THAN A HUNDRED FREQUENT
QUESTIONS[1]
These questions are meant to be used for the 1st part of the oral exam, the warm-up. When we have tried out the exam, we have used between 4 and 6 with each student. This list can, of course, be changed.
- What’s your (first) name?
- Does your name mean anything?
- What do your friends call you? What’s your nickname?
- Are you the eldest or the youngest in the family?
- Where are you from?
- Where do you live?
- Have you always lived in the same place/house?
- Would you like to live in another country? Which? Why?
- What do you use the Internet for?
- How much time do you spend chatting?
- What time do you go to bed?
- Do you like animals? Have you got a pet?
- Do you enjoy speaking English?
- Have you got brothers or sisters?
RESUMEN del Cuestionario alumnos participantes de un
IES en el sur de Gran Canaria
1 ¿Tenías claro de antemano de qué iba la prueba?
Mucho (6)adecuadamente (12) poco (2)nada
2¿Estabas acostumbrado a este tipo de prueba?
Mucho (2)adecuadamente poco (6)nada (12)
3El tiempo de preparación del examen te pareció…
Muchoadecuado (15)poco (5)insuficiente
4 La imagen que te tocó al azar te pareció…
Fácil(6) adecuada (5)difícil(8)muy difícil (1)
5 El tema que te tocó al azar te pareció….
Fácil (6) adecuado (8)difícil (5)muy difícil (1)
6 La relación con tu compañero de examen fue….
Buena (14) normal (5) regular (1) mala
7 La relación con los examinadores fue……
Buena(15) normal (4) regular(1) mala
8 ¿Cómo te resultó la prueba?
Muy difícil (1) difícil (4) Adecuada (3) fácil (12) muy fácil
9 ¿Te parecía un tiempo suficiente para demostrar tu capacidad para hablar?
Demasiado tiempo(1) bien (15) demasiado poco (4)
10 Si quieres, puedes añadir alguna otra información:
- Natural la relación que muestran con el alumnado a examinar.
- Me pareció una relación muy cordial entre profesores y alumnos, ya que ayudan bastante.
- Hay que tener en cuenta que nosotros no solemos estudiar el inglés hablado.
- Me pareció que esta prueba debería ser realizada en todos los cursos para ir preparándolos.
- Para las personas que saben inglés, me parece que es una prueba que les ayudará y les facilitará superar la nota en la PAU si deciden ponerla el próximo curso. Para los que no saben, creo que es una forma más difícil de aprobar, pues entre que no saben o que saben poco y los nervios …………
- La prueba me resultó difícil porque estaba muy nerviosa.
LBW & MWW: A speaking exam in efectividad/PAU: how & why 1 of 4
[1] We have included here a sampling of the 140 questions that we have at the present.