WHAT DOES THE SPEAK TEST ASSESS?
The SPEAK test is a measure of general language ability. It focuses on the following:
It does not assess teaching ability but rather general communication skills that would be used in the classroom. Other factors that can affect the performance on the test are general test taking skills and nerves.
HOW ARE SCORES FIGURED?
Each test is scored independently by two raters. The raters must give whole number scores for each question (20, 30, 40, 50 or 60). The scores are then averaged to get an overall score for each rater (ex: 41.833). The scores from the two raters are then averaged (ex. 41.833 and 44.666 = 43.2495). The averaged score is then rounded up or down (Ex: 42.49 rounds down to 40 and 42.50 rounds up to 45).
Therefore a 45 is a score that could range from 42.5 to 47.49. That is why people sometimes feel that they have made progress in their speaking but the test scores do not show it. They could very well have started with a 45 (42.5) and ended with a 45 (47.49).
For more information about the SPEAK Test, go to www.ksu.edu/elp/testing/speak.htm
WHAT DOES THE SPEAKING COMPONENT OF THE iBT ASSESS?
The Speaking section of the iBT includes the following components:
The spoken responses are evaluated in the following areas:
HOW DO THE SCORES ON THE SPEAK AND iBT COMPARE?
Standards and comparisons on the SPEAK scores and iBT speaking scores are not statistically determined but rather set by a panel of International Teaching Assistant (ITA) experts. They have set the following standards:
For more information about the iBT, please go to http://www.toefl.org/