Can EFL Interactive Listening Be Validly Assessed?

Abstract

Although passive listening (i.e., hearing language) may occur in some EFL classes through oral reading, oral presentations, or other oral forms, listening instruction is a relatively neglected skill in EFL teaching, and as a consequence, assessment of listening has received relatively limited coverage in the language testing literature. Interactive listening, based on the idea that listening is real-life communication, has been demonstrated to be a dimension of listening worth teaching. However, no successful classroom interactive listening teaching format has yet been reported, let alone assessed. Based on the models designed by previous researchers, an interactive listening teaching format was designed and trailed a university classroom intervention program in Beijing. In order to do this, it was necessary to construct an objective interactive listening assessment which could measure the listener's ability to: (a) negotiate meaning, and (b) to comprehend the speaker's messages (Macaro, Teaching and Learning a Second Language: a Review of Recent Research, Continuum, 2003; Rost, Teaching and Researching Listening, Longman, 2002). To verify its reliability and validity, a standard listening test, the types of negotiation, and self-assessment were also adopted. The results show that compared with traditional listening tests, this interactive listening assessment procedure provided a more comprehensive and objective evaluation of listeners' listening skills.

在我国英语教学中，听力往往是一个被忽略的技能，相应地听力测试在语言测试中也未受到足够的重视。互动听力作为在实际生活中听力方式的真实再现，已经证明是在教学中值得一试的听力教学模式。但在我国，互动听力的教学设计及测试尚处于摸索阶段。基于笔者设计并在某大学尝试的互动听力教学模式，笔者尝试设计了一种互动听力测试方法来测试学生（a)对听力内容进行商讨的能力（b)对听力内容理解的能力（Macaro, Teaching and Learning a Second Language: a Review of Recent Research, Continuum, 2003)，并将测试结果与标准听力测试、学生使用协商策略的类型、自我评估等三项结果对比来考察它的可信度。结果表明相较于传统的听力测试方法，互动式听力测试方法可以更加真实而又全面客观地检测学生的听力水平。