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Student Self-Assessment—Speaking Proficiency

Abstract

This document is intended for students to assess their skills in speaking of any target language. It has been used by students participating in study groups, conducted in languages other than English, that are linked to a specific content course (ex: history, business, environmental science). This activity can be combined with the "Student Self-Assessment—Reading Proficiency" when appropriate. These self-assessment forms are modified veresion fo the "2012 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines."

A student self-evaluation of readings skills helps instructors or group leaders understand the range of abilities in his/her classroom. It works best when combined with the instructor's impressions of the students abilities. We find that many students, especially those non-heritage learners who have experiences a lapse in study because they met their foreign language requirement as part of their high school study (or earlier) tend to underestimate their skills.

Description

This student self-assessment of speaking is used in every "Traditional LxC" study group in Binghamton University's Languages Across the Curriculum (LxC) programs as part of our first session. (Traditional groups are those where students from the same parent course are working in English and the same target language to explore course themes and content. We refer to this as "traditional LxC" since this was the original model established by the program in 1991). We recommended that students have at least two semesters of language study (or the equivalent) in the target language in order to participate.

Quite often, our study groups draw together students in a language study group with a range of abilities. The self-assessment allows the instructor to gauge the student's perceptions of his/her abilities. By incorporating this self-assessment with an evaluation of a student's skills based on applied learning situations in the classroom, the instructor can design a classroom environment that incorporates both English and the target language as appropriate. It is best used at the beginning of a term or semester.