Investigating EFL Learners’ Attitudes towards Assessing the Speaking Skill

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate and evaluate learner’s attitudes as regard to the procedures teachers take to assess learners’ speaking skill .The research sought to answer whether learners were aware of the basic criteria set to evaluate their oral performance, it also meant to examine and evaluate how learners generally perceive assessment of the oral skill. In order to answer the research questions and find solution to the research problem , two major data collection tools were used ; a questionnaire which was addressed to a sample of students of English and a semi-structured interview with teachers .The research is a case study conducted at the level of the Section of English at Ibn Khaldoun University of Tiaret. The research tools helped gather qualitative and quantitative data which were later interpreted and analysed. The main findings of the research revealed that the different approaches adopted by teachers to teaching and mainly to assessing speaking proved to be inadequate and less effective to improve the speaking skill; it also indicated that learners developed negative attitudes about oral skill assessment which is traditional and provides invalid misleading description of learners’ oral performance.