Development of an appropriate formative assessment method for english speaking skills of grade 9 students

Abstract

Most secondary school students in Thailand struggle with speaking English, a problem that later extends to higher learning institutions and life after school. The research objectives were, 1) To survey the methods that teachers use to assess speaking skills amongst Thai students 2) To analyse the relationship between the local school curriculum, school support and the methods used to assess speaking skills, 3) To develop an appropriate formative assessment method for assessing English speaking skills. The samples were secondary school teachers from Chiang-Mai province selected through simple random sampling. Instruments used were questionnaire, interview, and focus group forms. Research results determined that most teachers used paper-and-pen method 48.0%, interactive (oral) assessment method 29.3% and observation method 22.7%. School curriculum and school support had a medium level correlation. The curriculum in most schools didn’t have a standard criterion to assess speaking skills, leaving teachers with no option on the suitable method to assess speaking skills. This explains the discrepancy and inconsistency that currently affect most local schools where most teachers don’t assess actual indicators of oral performance. Although paper-and-pen is widely used in assessing conversation tests, it is impractical to provide feedback indicating macro and micro verbal components. It is important to have a suitable formative assessment criterion that can be used by teachers. A standard formative assessment method fairly and practically focuses on oral components and can ascertain students’ actual language command and mastery. This will also provide verifiable progress and motivate students’ oral and aural speaking skills.