On the Factors Affecting Performance in Communicative Oral Tests

1、On the Factors Affecting Performance in Communicative Oral Tests【Abstract】ThisessayintendstoinvestigatethefactorsthataffecttesttakersperformanceincommunicativeoraltestsbasedonaframeworkproposedbyBachman.ItintroducesthegeneralfactorssuggestedbyBachman，followedbytheexplanationofthecommunicativeoraltes

2、tsandthefactorsthathavesignificantinfluenceonthetestscores.Thisinvestigationdemonstratesthat，besidescommunicativelanguageability，therearevariousfactorsaffectingtesttakersperformance，rangingfromtestmethodfacets，personalattributestorandomfactors.【Keywords】languagetesting；communicativeoraltests；factors

3、【作者簡介】徐淑颖1983-，女，浙江人，西南民族大学预科教育学院，硕士，讲师，研究方向：应用语言学。IntroductionThepurposeoflanguagetestingistoprovideanaccuratemeasureoflearnerslanguageabilities.Andithasbeenlongobservedthat，apartformthelanguageabilitythetestsintendtomeasure，therearemanyotherfactorsthatmayhaveeffectontestresults.Suchfactorsmaycomef

4、romawidevarietyofsources，suchastestmethodfacets，personalattributesoftesttakersandevenotherrandomfactors.Therefore，testconstructorsmusttrytounderstandtheseaffectingfactorsandminimizetheimpactofinterveningfactors.1.BachmansmodeloffactorsthataffectlanguagetestscoresInhisbookFundamentalConsiderationsinL

5、anguageTesting，Bachmanholdtheideathatcandidatesperformanceonlanguagetestsisaffectedbyfactorsotherthantheircommunicativelanguageability.Andheputthesefactorsintothreegeneralcategories.Thefirstcategoryistestmethodfacets，andthesecondcategoryincludesattributesofthetesttakerthatarenotconsideredpartofthela

6、nguageability.Thelastcategoryreferstorandomfactorsthatarelargelyunpredictableandtemporary.Bachman，1990Theconceptofcommunicativelanguageabilitywasfirstproposedinthe1970s.WhatismostsignificantoftheCLAconceptisitsrecognitionoftheimportanceofthesocialculturalfactorsinthespeechsituation-thecontextinwhich

7、languageusetakesplaceandtheinteractionbetweenthatcontextandthediscourseitself.AccordingtoBachman，testmethodfacetscanbefurtherdividedintofivesubcategories，includingtestenvironment，testrubrics，thenatureoftheinput，thenatureoftheexpectedresponse，andtherelationshipbetweeninputandresponse.Thepersonalattri

8、butesthathaveeffectontesttakersscoresincludeindividualcharacteristicssuchascognitivestyleandknowledgeofparticularcontentareasofthetest，aswellasgroupcharacteristicssuchasgender，raceandethnicbackground.Theseattributesaresystematicfactorsthatarebelievedregularlyaffecttesttakersperformanceontests.Random

9、factors，whichareunpredictableandlargelytemporary，maycomefromavarietyofsources.Examplesofrandomfactorsincludethementalalertnessandemotionalstateofthetesttaker，thechangesinthetestenvironment，theidiosyncraticdifferencesinthewaydifferenttestadministratorscarryouttheirresponsibilities；theincompletenessof

10、languagesampleandimprecisionofthescalesusedtorateatest.Sincetheyareunpredictableandunsystematic，randomfactorscanseldombemanipulated.2.TheadoptionofBachmansmodelincommunicativeorallanguagetestsAccordingtoBachmansCLAmodels，communicativeoraltestsemphasisonthesocialfunction，appropriateuseandeffectivenes

11、softhelanguage.Communicativeoraltestsareusuallyauthentic，functional，interactive，contextualizedandholistic.Typicalitemsofcommunicativeoraltestsareroleplay，discussionandinterview.Inrole-playactivities，testtakersareusuallyassignedfictitiousrolesandthenrequiredtoimproviseinlanguageandbehavior.Therole-pl

12、aysusedmayvaryfromsimplerole-playsinvolvingonlytwocandidatestomorecomplexonesinvolvingmorecandidatesandeventheexaminers.Groupdiscussionreferstotheactivityinwhichthemembersofthegroupinvolvedaregivenaparticularsituationortopicandinstructedtomakevariouscommunications.Thistypeofactivityusuallyinvolvestw

13、otofourcandidates.Aninterview，ontheotherhand，isaseriesofface-to-faceinteractionbetweentheexaminerandthecandidate.Interviewscantaketheformsofquestionaskingandanswering，role-play，presentation，discussionandsoon.AccordingtoWENQiu-fang，communicativeoraltestincludestwobasictestformats，namelythetwo-wayinte

14、ractionmodelandthemultiple-wayinteractionmodel.Thetwo-wayinteractionmodelinvolvesboththeinteractionbetweentheexaminerandthetesttaker，andtheinteractionbetweentwotesttakers.Themultiple-wayinteractionmodelinvolvesinteractionsamongmorethantwotesttakers.Wen，1999Thescoringofcommunicativeoraltestsusuallyba

15、sesondetailedmakingscheme，withclearbutusuallybriefdescriptionofthecriteriaofdifferentgrades.Generallyspeaking，thetesttakerswillbejudgedonaccuracy，fluency，comprehensibilityoftheirlanguageandthecommunicativestrategiestheyemployedintheinteraction.3.Factorsthataffecttesttakersperformanceoncommunicativeo

16、raltestsInlate1990s，Weirmadeacarefulstudyoftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofthemostwidelyusedformatsoforaltests.Suchformatsincludeoralpresentation，freeinterview，controlledinterview，descriptionofpicturesequence，interactionandrole-playandsoon，andmostofthemarestillwidelyusedallovertheworldastheassessment

17、oforallanguageability.Weirfoundthattheuseoftaperecordermightbestressfultosometesttaker.Intodayseducationalenvironment，wemaymakeaconjecturethattheuseofcomputersisstressfultosometesttakers.Intheformatofdescriptionofapicturesequence，thequalityofthepicturemayhaveaffectedtheperformance.Andininteractionta

18、sks，thereareevenmoreproblems.Ifoneofthetesttakersdominatestheinteraction，othertesttakersmayhavefeweropportunitiestodemonstratecommunicativepotential.Ifthereisalargedifferenceinproficiencybetweenthetesttakers，thecommunicationmaynotgoassmoothlyasexpected，andtheexaminersjudgmentswillalsobeinfluenced.If

19、oneofthetesttakersismoreinterestedinthetopicorthetask，theinteractionmaybecomeone-sided.Heatonexpressedasimilarideabysayingthat“thechiefdangerinconductioninterviewswithpairsofstudentsisthatresultingfrompersonalityconflictsorthedominanceofoneofthemembersofthepair.Itisthereforeveryimportantfortheteache

20、rorexaminertoensurethatthetwostudentsformingapairhavesimilarorsympatheticpersonalitiesandhavesimilarlevelsoflanguageability.Heaton，qtd.inGUO，2020Besidestheframeworkofawiderangeoffactors，Bachmanalsopointedoutanotherimportantfactorintermsoforaltest，“Inaddition，researchindicatesthatthenumberofindividua

21、lsinvolvedininteractivetests，suchasanoralinterview，canaffecttesttakersperceptionsofthetest，andthus，presumablytheirperformance.Bachman，19904.ConclusionThisessayinvestigatesthefactorsthataffecttesttakersperformanceoncommunicativeorallanguagetestsbasedonBachmansframework.Suchfactorsrangefromtestmethodfacetstorandomfactors，andtheymayunderminethereliabilityandvalidityofthetests.Therefore，testconstructo