{"pk":6823,"title":"Oral Skills Testing: A Rhetorical Task Approach","subtitle":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the development, implementation, and evaluation of a semi-direct test of oral proficiency: the Rhetorical Task Examination (RTE). Many of the commonly used speaking instruments assess oral proficiency in terms of either discrete linguistic components-fluency, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary-or in terms of a single, global ability rating. The RTE proposes a compromise approach to rating oral skills by having two scales: one which ascertains the functional ability to accomplish a variety of rhetorical tasks, the other to address the linguistic competence (Canale & Swain, 1980) displayed in the performance. On audiotape in a language laboratory setting, 52 students representing three levels of a university ESL program performed six tasks related to the rhetorical modes covered in their coursework: short questions and answers, description, narration, process (giving directions), opinion, and comparison- contrast. The construction and justification of both the instrument and the rating scales are explained; data obtained from administering the RTE across classes as well as before and after instruction are presented; and the relevant measurement characteristics of the test are discussed. Results of this study indicate that the Rhetorical Task Examination is promising as a measure of oral proficiency in terms of practicality, reliability, and validity.","language":"en","license":null,"keywords":[{"word":"Applied Linguistics"}],"section":"Articles","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/77h2z2xh","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Anne","middle_name":"","last_name":"Lazaraton","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of California, Los Angeles","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Heidi","middle_name":"","last_name":"Riggenbach","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Washington, Seattle","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2011-02-12T08:00:00Z","date_accepted":"2011-02-12T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1990-12-30T08:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/ial/article/6823/galley/3922/download/"}]}