Elementary English speaking assessment and tasks: Effects of task characteristics and performance conditions on speaking performance

Abstract

In terms of English learning, tasks can be used not only as learning activities but also as assessment tools in that they encourage authentic use of English while promoting active interaction in concrete communicative situations. Especially, using tasks as assessment tools for speaking performance, it is possible to directly assess learners’ ability to use English. However, the assessment results may be affected by task factors such as task characteristics and conditions. Therefore, in order to utilize tasks as assessment tools, it is necessary to grasp the effects of task factors on speaking performance. From this point of view, this study investigates how task characteristics and conditions affect speaking performance, and provides some pedagogical implications for elementary English speaking assessment. Previous studies showed that task characteristics and conditions consistently influenced speaking performance in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity. Thus, these results are expected to provide important information for designing tasks to assess speaking performance in elementary English learning.