1. Tuba Türkel Muzaffer Can Gazi University April 2016
TESTING LISTENING
Tuba Türkel
Muzaffer Can
Gazi University
April 2016

2. What is listening?
Definition: It is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying. Listeners are capable of simultenously understanding a speaker’s - accent -pronunciation - grammar -vocabulary -meaning

3. What skills do we use every day?
Normal every day communication
Writing 9%
Reading 16%
Speaking 30%
Listening 45%

4. And yet…
The assessment of listening abilities is one of the least understood, least developed and yet one of the most important areas of language testing and assessment. (Alderson & Bachman,2001)
“the poor cousin of the language skills” (Nunan)

5. Similarities between listening and reading
Some similarities:
Active and complex skills
-- Involve a range of subskills (scanning, skimming, intensive, extensive)
Involve the use of a range of strategies (inferencing meaning, predicting, etc.)

6. TESTING LISTENING Two categories of listening tests;
Aural Tests (uses listening as a tool to evaluate something else)
Listening comprehension (evaluate proficiency in the listening skill itself

7. The essential difference that subskill tests focus on the linguistic components of language, while the comprehension test is concerned with broader communication.
Broader communication is concerned not with the bits and pieces of language but with the exchange of facts and ideas, as well as interpreting the speaker’s intentions.

8. Limited Response
3 effective ways to test the listening skill of beginning adults or children
Listening and native-language response
Listening and picture cues
Listening + simple task responses

9. Native-Language Response
1) Tape random sentences in different languages and students will try to guess whether each sentence is English or not in their mother tongue.
2)(for slightly more advanced) true-false questions can be used.
Horses can fly. T *F
Houses are bigger than people *T F

10. Native-Language Response
3) listening to single utterances, dialogues, or longer materials such as lectures, they can answer questions on this material in their native language. Or multiple choice questions in the native language can be used.
(students hear in English)
How far is it to New York?
A. Hayır, uzak değil. B. Boston’ un güneyi. C. 200 mil civarında

11. Picture Cues
Visuals of various kinds can be used to test listening comprehension.
Especially useful for beginners.
Students don’t need to be literate in their second language in order to be tested.

12. Picture Cues
Using a set of three or four related pictures and used for several questions.
You could dublicate them so each students has his own, or you could use a overhead projector to display them to the class. You can sketch then on the chalkboard.

13. Picture cues

14. Listening comprehension question;
«Although their bikes are clean, the two boys are dirty.»
Students will choose a picture (pict. 2)

15. Questions can be based on a single picture instead of a set of pictures.

16. True / False questions;
«The goat is beign chased across the field by some men. T *F
«If the boy’s not carefull, he will fall out of the tree. *T F

17. Some easier items for beginners
«Is it starting to rain? *yes no»
«Are these people in a city? Yes *no»

18. If testing children individually, you could have them point to the action that you describe;
«In this picture, three people are running. Show me where these three people are.»

19. Task Responses
When testing individually, you can have students do various things to show how well they understand. Tell the students following;
«Stand up, please. And then walk to the door. After you do this, turn on the light. Then before you sit down , put the small book here on the top shelf.»
You could give the commends one or two at a time so that the students’ memory will not be overloaded.

20. Small children can be asked to play a game, by arranging objects as you tell them to;
«Put the ball in the box. Put the storybook on top of the box. Then make a circlearound the box with the beads.

21. You can tell children to choose a red crayon and say;
Group responses are possible for both children and adults. Children who know the names of colours can use crayons in answering questions.
You can tell children to choose a red crayon and say;
«Draw a circle around the boy who is up in the tree.»

22. A drawing task can be used with young people and adults
A drawing task can be used with young people and adults. This can be done freehand or with compass and ruler.

24. Another kind of task response has students trace out on a map
Another kind of task response has students trace out on a map. Give each person a map. Then have them trace directions such as these;

25. Alternate Forms of Limited Response
Choosing the best statement;
Choose the letter of the sentence that matches the picture.
Several people were chased away from the campground last night.
We are glad it didn’t start raining
Even when camping, there is cleaning and cooking to do.

26. Alternate Forms of Limited Response
Choosing the best figure.
(they hear) Circle the letter of the picture that illustrates this situation. You have a box with two small ball in it. One ball is made of wood.The other is made of iron. A powerful magnet is put on the box.

27. Advantages of Limited Response

28. Limitations of Limited Response

29. Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response

30. Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response
When Jack leaves, they’ll hire you, won’t they?
A)Yes, you will.
B)Yes, he’s leaving.
C)Yes, they will.

31. Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response

32. Alternate Forms of Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response
There are at least three additional ways to use multiple-shoice questions in testing short conversational utterances. None of these uses the appropriate response technique.
1)Added Comment

33. Alternate Forms of Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response
2)Paraphrase
3)Question on a dialog

34. Advantages of Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response
It is fast and easy to correct.
It can be scored consistently and reliably.
It is an integrative, communicative measure of listening.

35. Limitations of Multiple-Choice Appropriate Response
It is more difficult to prepare than tests for beginners.
Cheating is fairly easy, unless alternate forms are used.
Since the reading of multiple-choice options is required, students need to be literate in English.

36. TESTING EXTENDED COMMUNICATION
A survey on listening tests would not be complete without looking at exams of extended oral communication.
Students expecially those in college need to understand talks and lectures, movies, radio and TV programs.

37. Short Lecture Contexts
To prepare a short lecture context,called as lecturette, some teachers feel you can simply use a reading test-the teacher just giving the passage orally instead of in written form. But for at tleast two reasons, this is not satisfactory:

38. Short Lecture Contexts
1)Readings lack the natural redundancy that people use in talks and lectures.
2)They avoid the lecturer’s digressions and false starts
One solution to these is to use tapes of actual lectures.
Another is to begin with a reading and build in natural hesitations, rephrasings, little digressions, plus some redundancy.

39. Short Lecture Contexts
Experience has shown that for test purposes, three or four brief (three to five minute) lecturettes are more effective than one long lecture.

40. Social/Business Contexts
Questions on the commercial might be either simple completion or multiple-choice. These might take this form:
Where does the conversation take place?
What is being advertised?

41. Social/Business Contexts

42. Social/Business Contexts
Typical questions:
What time of day is it?
A) Morning.
B)Afternoon .
C)Evening.
What is the customer doing?
A) Buying an airplance ticket.
B) Checking on someone’s flight.
C) Checking in at n airplane terminal

43. Social/Business Contexts

44. Alternate Forms of Extended-Communication Tests

45. Alternate Forms of Extended-Communication Tests

46. Advantages of Extended-Communication Tests
These closely approximate real-life communication.
These are fast and easy to correct.
These can be scored consistently and reliably.

47. Limitations of Extended Communication Tests
There is a need for students to be able to read English.
It is rather difficult to find or prepare natural sounding listening passages.
There is a possibility of students cheating on these tests.