Investigating Stakeholders’ Needs to Enhance Raters’ Feedback on an English Oral Proficiency Interview Test
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Despite positive influence of feedback on students’ learning in language assessment (Saito & Lyster, 2012), the nature and impact of raters’ feedback in language assessment remains underexplored, especially its influence on English speaking class students and instructors. Situated in an institutional oral proficiency interview (OPI) test in a university in the U.S., this study aimed to identify the varying needs of different stakeholders involved in the speaking assessment, including raters, students and instructors. The OPI is a high-stakes test in this context, serving as a decisive factor for allocating teaching responsibilities and determining financial assistance for prospective international graduate students within the department. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research involved focus group interviews with five OPI raters and two instructors of English speaking classes, respectively. A questionnaire was completed by twenty-two international graduate students preparing for the test. The findings revealed that all stakeholders recognized significance of raters’ feedback whereas their perceptions regarding the quality and diagnostic utility of raters’ feedback varied. This study concluded by offering suggestions to improve the quality of raters’ feedback for English speaking tests, both in the studied institution and in broader contexts. The suggestions provided a practical foundation for developing an online rating system for the speaking test in future studies.
Abstract
Despite positive influence of feedback on students’ learning in language assessment (Saito & Lyster, 2012), the nature and impact of raters’ feedback in language assessment remains underexplored, especially its influence on English speaking class students and instructors. Situated in an institutional oral proficiency interview (OPI) test in a university in the U.S., this study aimed to identify the varying needs of different stakeholders involved in the speaking assessment, including raters, students and instructors. The OPI is a high-stakes test in this context, serving as a decisive factor for allocating teaching responsibilities and determining financial assistance for prospective international graduate students within the department. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research involved focus group interviews with five OPI raters and two instructors of English speaking classes, respectively. A questionnaire was completed by twenty-two international graduate students preparing for the test. The findings revealed that all stakeholders recognized significance of raters’ feedback whereas their perceptions regarding the quality and diagnostic utility of raters’ feedback varied. This study concluded by offering suggestions to improve the quality of raters’ feedback for English speaking tests, both in the studied institution and in broader contexts. The suggestions provided a practical foundation for developing an online rating system for the speaking test in future studies.
참고문헌 (21)
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