The development and validation of the oral/aural tests for the senior primary phase

M.A. (Applied Linguistics)The South African English Academy requested that an investigation be undertaken on the feasibility of producing a battery of English proficiency tests in the four modes (listening, speaking, reading and writing) which are free of ethnic labels. For the purpose of this study the aural and oral modes will be developed first as these are the two modes from which language arises. These tests are intended to be universal language tests which will be appropriate for both English first and second language learners. They will be undertaken with mother tongue standards as the first point of departure. It is proposed that mother tongue speakers represent the "universal" standard to which second language speakers aspire, although we are fully aware that native speakers show considerable variation in ability. First language norms will be taken as the norm of performance for this study because it assumed that this is what most second language learners would aspire to. This study will attempt to provide a valid and reliable measuring instrument to facilitate the correct placement of pupils in schools where English is the medium of instruction. Of particular importance is the fact that these are not tests of absolute competence, but are tests of progressive competence. No pupil is a failure, the pupils performance is measured on a continuum of six levels in the senior primary phase. This will enable the teacher to assist each pupil to progress at his own pace according to his own ability. There is a very definite need for performance tests in English since tests of communicative competence in English that are "universal in nature" are not available in South Africa. A standardised test battery aimed at measuring the language proficiency (of the heterogeneous population at the senior primary level) across all four language modes, does not exist in South Africa. The problem is to .develop tests with tasks at the appropriate level for a heterogeneous population and produce evidence regarding their validity. Although subjective and objective assessment methods are commonly used, the merits of the one method as opposed to the other are still debated. The importance of investigating the relationship between the multiple-choice aural test (by means of objective and indirect assessment) and the productive oral test (by means of subjective and direct assessment) cannot be underestimated