This study sought to further understanding of EFL teachers’ knowledge of speaking assessment and how their knowledge informs their speaking assessment practices in classrooms. Based on a socio-cultural perspective, the present study aimed at investigating EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge and practice of speaking assessment in a Libyan secondary school context. The study is based on the interpretive paradigm and adopted social constructionism as a philosophical stance. Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were employed in two sequential phases. The findings of this study indicated that EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge of speaking assessment is complex and that was reflected in the different ways these teachers interpreted the concept of speaking assessment and in the ways they expressed their beliefs and values regarding how speaking assessment needs to be or is implemented in the classroom settings. Three main issues regarding teachers’ knowledge of speaking assessment emerged from the data. The first issue is that these teachers, although showing some variability in their knowledge and practice, seem to base their assessment practice on a view of spoken language being more about linguistic content than communicative effect. Secondly, that they mostly seem to afford more importance to summative assessment than to formative assessment. Thirdly, they have a view of assessment that focuses on the content to be assessed rather than on the process of assessment. The findings also indicated that while teachers refer to contextual factors that influence how they implement their knowledge into practice, their understanding of the notion of assessment seems to have more influence on their implementation of speaking assessment as process than that of the context. That is, their current understandings of the notion of spoken language seem to contribute to their current practice of speaking assessment. Also of significance are the participants’ views of the role of context. The results showed that although contexts are similar in some aspects, especially those related to institutional factors, teachers’ views show the uniqueness of the context, especially in the light of the unanticipated social, political and institutional changes. The implications of this study suggest that these EFL novice teachers’ current knowledge of language and of assessment goes beyond factual knowledge to their perceptions of language and their understandings of the purpose of assessment. They also suggest that context plays a role on their current knowledge and practice of speaking assessment. Thus, this study provides further understanding that what these teachers know and how they use their knowledge in practice arises from a complex interweaving of context and individual understandings.

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines identify memorized words and phrases as a hallmark of novice-level speech. For this reason, research by Cox (2017) found rehearsed content to be a major hindrance to interviewees being rated at higher sublevels on the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc). To further investigate, an analysis of these memorized segments to determine patterns of lexico-grammatical and discursive features was conducted. In this study, researchers utilized a Praat analysis to compare prosodic features (specifically, mean length of utterance, number of silent pauses, and articulation rate) of speech segments marked as memorized and those which were not. A qualitative analysis was also conducted by identifying via a grounded theory approach any notable patterns both within single interviews as well as between speakers. Articulation rates differed significantly between the spontaneous and rehearsed segments; however, the strongest evidence of memorization lay in the transcriptions and the patterns that emerged within and across interviews.

This study was an exploration of the effects of a pedagogical intervention on the development of Japanese university students’ oral performances. In task-based language teaching (TBLT), developing speaking proficiency is a major learning goal. However, research examining the effect of a focus on linguistic form in TBLT is limited. One way to balance communication and attention to linguistic form in TBLT is to add form-focused instruction to the communicative tasks. This study is an exploration of the longitudinal effects of form-focused instruction in a speaking task on the development of speaking proficiency. The current study was conducted for the following research purposes. The first purpose was to explore the longitudinal development of CALF (complexity, accuracy, lexis, and fluency) through form-focused intervention. A one-semester form-focused intervention was conducted to investigate how L2 learners develop or change their linguistic performance as measured by the CALF variables. The second purpose was to explore proceduralization through the 3/2/1 task. The third purpose was to investigate the relationship between communicative adequacy and CALF in the 3/2/1 task. This purpose was addressed by comparing human raters’ perceptions of communicative adequacy with the CALF analyses. The final purpose was to qualitatively investigate what the participants prioritized during their task performances. The participants were 48 first-year Japanese university students attending a private university in eastern Japan. A shortened version of the 4/3/2 task, the 3/2/1 task, was implemented 10 times for 13 weeks in one academic semester. In the 3/2/1 task, students talk about the same topic for 3 minutes, then 2 minutes, and finally 1 minute. The participants were divided into three groups: the comparison group, the teacher-led group, and the teacher and peer group. Two types of form-focused instruction were implemented, teacher-led planning and a peer-check activity. The participants in the comparison group started the 3/2/1 speaking task immediately, those in the teacher-led group read a teacher-model passage with the target formulaic language underlined prior to beginning the 3/2/1 task, and those in the teacher and peer group received a peer-check treatment while doing the 3/2/1 task in addition to teacher-led planning. Listener partners checked to see if the speakers used the target formulaic language during the 3/2/1 task. The target forms were (a) stating opinions (e.g., In my opinion), (b) giving reasons (e.g., It is mainly because…), (c) giving examples (For example…), and (d) expressing possibilities (If…). Speaking data were collected at Time 1 (Week 2), Time 2 (Week 8), and Time 3 (Week 14), transcribed, and analyzed for syntactic complexity, morphosyntactic accuracy, lexical diversity, fluency and communicative adequacy. This result showed that form-focused instruction with the target formulaic language improved the Japanese university students’ speaking fluency such as mean length of run and phonation time ratio. The participants also improved human raters’ perceptions of communicative adequacy over one academic semester. There was a significant and strong positive relationship between utterance fluency and human raters’ evaluation of communicative adequacy. In addition, the peer-check enhanced the learners’ usage of a wider variety of the target formulaic language. The results indicated that including formulaic language instruction can enhance learners’ mean length of run, which is a measure of speaking fluency, while teacher-led planning can help learners notice target forms. The peer-check can pressure learners to use the target forms during the 3/2/1 task and provide feedback so that speakers know what form should be used in the next 3/2/1 task performance. Suggestions for future studies regarding the use of formulaic language in TBLT tasks are proposed. / Teaching & Learning

This study explores, from a test validity perspective, the extent to which the two variables of topic and background knowledge of topic have an effect on spoken performance in language proficiency interviews. It is argued that in assessment contexts where topics are randomly assigned to test takers, it is necessary to demonstrate that topics of tasks and the level of background knowledge that test takers brings to these topics do not exert an undue influence on test results. Otherwise, a validity threat may be introduced to the test. Data were collected from 82 Farsi speakers of English who performed on ten different topics, across three task types. Participants’ background knowledge of topics was elicited using self- report questionnaires while C-tests were used as a measure of general English language proficiency. Four raters assigned scores to spoken performances using rating scales. Semi- structured interviews were carried out with raters, upon completion of the rating process. A mixed- methods strategy of inquiry was adopted where findings from the quantitative analyses of score data (using Multi-Faceted Rasch Measurement, multiple regression and descriptive statistics) were synthesised with the results of the qualitative analyses of rater interviews and test takers’ content of speech in addressing the foci of the study. The study’s main findings showed that the topics used in the study exhibited difficulty measures which were statistically distinct i.e. topics, within a given task type, could not be considered parallel. However, the size of the differences in topic difficulties was too small to have a large practical effect on scores. Participants’ different levels of background knowledge were shown to have a consistent, systematic and statistically significant effect on performance with low levels of background knowledge posing the highest level of challenge for test takers and vice versa. Nevertheless, these statistically significant differences in background knowledge levels failed to translate into practically significant differences, as the size of the differences were too small to have a large impact on performance scores. Results indicated that, compared to general language proficiency which accounted for approximately 60% of the variance in spoken performance scores, background knowledge only explained about 1-3% of the variance. Qualitative analyses of data suggested lack of background knowledge to be associated with topic abandonment, disengagement from topic-related questions, and fewer opportunities for test takers to elaborate on topics. It was also associated with negative affective influence on test takers, particularly lower proficiency individuals. Taken together, the findings have theoretical, methodological and practical implications for second language speaking performance assessment.