Assessing oral presentations: An analysis of score-reaching dialogue between EAP practitioners

Abstract

Academic oral presentations (AOPs) often feature as part of assessment suites on English for Academic Purposes programmes. This paper documents what teacher assessors do and pay attention to when reaching score decisions on student assesees’ oral presentation performances on two EAP modules. The fieldwork conducted at two EAP sites was informed by a blend of constructivist grounded theory and ethnographic inquiry traditions. In this paper, an analysis of rating discussions and interviews demonstrates that a series of filters are applied by EAP practitioners to AOP performances when assigning scores. The processes described demonstrate how the social and learning context on EAP programmes influence assessment decisions. The visual representation of the rating process teamed with the description of processes may prove a useful heuristic with which to better understand and critically appraise decision making in EAP classroom-based oral presentation assessment.