© 1988 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
‘To be an explainer’: a reporting test of oral proficiency
Jane Sunderland, Zhang Yixing, and Betty Barr have been working together on the Advanced Teacher Training Course at Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China. Jane Sunderland Completed an MA in Linguistics for ELT at Lancaster University in 1986, and Betty Barr was awarded a Diploma in TEFL at the Institute of Education, London University in 1973; both are lecturers recruited by The British Council. Zhang Yixing has a BA in English from Shanghai International Studies University, and is now an MA student at the University of Lancaster. All are interested in ELT methodology in China and in the learning, teaching, and testing of oral English.
Following the idea of a ‘Reporting Test’ of oral proficiency in English presented in ELT Journal 40/3: 212–20 by Shohamy, Reves, and Bejarano, we adapted and carried out the same kind of test in a Chinese university during an in-service teacher-training course for college and university teachers of English. The present article describes how this was done, then goes on to question what such a test (which required explanation, in English, of an item from a Chinese newspaper) was actually testing, and examines its potential implications for the teaching of translation. Finally, we consider reasons why a Reporting Test, as one measure of oral proficiency, may be of value for Chinese learners of English.