Group Oral Exams

Denny Packard

Assessing students oral proficiency is not easy, and the proliferation of exams that purport to assess students oral levels in natural settings demonstrates how difficult it is. Not only is setting the criteria complex, but likewise it is difficult to create a natural setting which permits students to interact naturally in an economical way, that is a way that requires relatively little time in terms of the students and assessors time. One of the institutions of higher education in France where I teach, cole Centrale Paris, instituted an assessment of oral proficiency for students about to graduate, whereby they adapted the format of the oral paper in the Cambridge exams. I quickly noticed that often 3 students would be in the middle of ardently discussing the task assigned to them when time had to be called and the next group of students called in. In addition, teachers were asked to give 2nd-year students oral exams at the end of the year, which required interviewing each student for about 8 minutes. Interviewing 1517 students typically took up 3 hours of class time at the end of the year. It struck me that in this short period of time interviews could only be superficial, and I was troubled by the loss of valuable class time. Consequently, I conceived a way to permit students to speak at length in a more natural and communicative setting, while at the same time creating a worthwhile pedagogical experience and environment for students that would be far greater than a superficial 8-minute interview in a 3-hour period.

Preparation (about 2030 minutes)

Two weeks before the date of the oral exam, students are informed about the oral exam and given time for organizing. They are to speak in groups of 4 for 60 minutes on a topic of the groups choosing. They may choose the group they are to discuss with, and they may give priority to forming a group on the basis of their affinity for the people in the group or their preference for the topic that a given group wishes to choose. All the groups will discuss simultaneously while the teacher circulates around the room assessing the students oral performance. (In a class with 16 students, this means that the teacher will spend approximately 15 minutes observing each group.) Invite the class to brainstorm possible discussion topics. (Theme classes, such as Business English, Scientific English, Cinema, etc., would be restricted to topics related to the theme of the course.) As students suggest topics, write them on the board in random fashion. Encourage a diversity of topics, as well as sub-topics for more general ones. True to brainstorming, no topic should be censored. After 20 or more topics have been written on the board and no more seem to be forthcoming, ask the students to write down on a piece of (scrap) paper, the 5 or 6 topics they are most interested in. Go around the class, asking each student to read off their list. Ask the students to pay attention to the lists, making a mental note of the people who share their own interests.

2 Next, have everyone stand up and walk about the room, negotiating to make up (ideally) groups of 4 around a single topic. (Write the names of students who are absent that day on the board and mention that these students will have to be adopted by a group.) Several groups may select the same topic if they wish. Remind students that they can join a group because of their affinity for the people in the group or for the topic. After groups are constituted, circulate a sheet of paper, asking each group to list the topic they have chosen and the members of the group.

Give the instructions for the exam

1. Each student has to do research independently on the topic the group has chosen and read a minimum of THREE articles
in English on this topic. (This means that in a group of 4, they will have read 12 or more articles that they can draw upon.) This is to give them ideas to discuss during the 60 minutes. While they can read additional articles in other languages, reading articles in English will give them the vocabulary and sentence structure in English to make their speech more natural, thus gaining them higher marks/grades.

2. Immediately after the exam, the students will need to hand in copies of the articles they have read (or e-mail to the
teacher PRIOR to the exam). They may be printed out in 2-pages-on-1 format and/or double-sided in order to save on paper. Explain that if they fail to do this, there will be a penalty deducted from their mark. The purpose of this is to ensure (as much as possible) that the students have done the research and preparation and do not come to the exam expecting to wing it.

3. Each student is to prepare a written list of 5 to 8 discussion questions and bring this list to class to be handed in after the
exam. Students failing to do so immediately after the exam will have points deducted from their mark/grade. Explain that the purpose of the discussion questions is that should their discussion run out of steam at any point during the 60 minutes, each student will have their list of 58 discussion questions that they can use to get the discussion going again. (It also helps them to focus more deeply beforehand on the topic they are going to discuss.) In a group of 4 students, this translates into the whole group having 20+ discussion questions, although some overlapping is inevitable.)

4. Students will be assessed individually on their a) fluency, b) accuracy and range of grammar and vocabulary, c)
pronunciation, and d) communication techniques. (These can easily be modified to suit individual teachers or institutional requirements.)

5. Explain that with any examination there are potential drawbacks. With this exam, there are 2 potential problems that they,
the students, need to be conscious of and compensate for. The first is that quieter students, who often have more profound comments, dont get a chance to participate fully. The second danger is just the opposite, i.e. that 1 or 2 students will monopolize the discussion.

3 Therefore, each group will be responsible for ensuring that everyone gets an equal opportunity to participate, and each student will receive a mark/grade for how well they facilitate the discussion, such as asking questions, expressing opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, bringing in other people, etc. Give the class examples such as, Sophie, we havent heard from you. Do you agree with what Franois has just said? Julie, you look like you want to say something. Okay, Jacques, weve heard what you have to say. Lets hear what Mehdi has to say. (That is a very polite way of telling Jacques to Shut up.) These are examples of communication techniques that the teacher will be looking for. Students who use these throughout the discussion will be given extra marks/points in the assessment.

Exam
1. Have the tables and chairs arranged for small-group discussions.

2. Remind the class of the assessment criteria and of their responsibility to have everyone participate fully and equally in
the discussion (thus obtaining a higher mark/grade). Remind them that you will collect their articles and discussion questions immediately after the exam.

3. Remind them that they are NOT to go around the group with each person summarizing their articles. This is to be a
discussion, such as they might have in the cafeteria outside of class (only in English). The purpose of reading the articles was to give them ideas to discuss, NOT to simply to summarize.

4. If they find they need a word in English during the discussion, they can ask their fellow group members or raise their
hands to get the teachers attention. This is something we all do naturally, and the purpose of this discussion is to have a natural discussion.

5. During the exam, circulate from group to group assessing them by the criteria you have chosen. (I mark each of the 4
criteria mentioned above on a scale of 10 points, i.e. 40 total.) If you notice that not everyone is participating equally, hand out a slip of paper (previously prepared) reminding the group to encourage everyone to speak. By spending 35 minutes with each group before moving to the next group, the teacher will have observed each group several times throughout the hour. 6. After the exam, collect the articles and discussion questions. Ask the students for their reactions to what they have just done. Give your own (positive) reactions.

Remarks
Exams are a part of life. This particular format has the advantage of giving maximum power to the students in an area where they normally have little choice and little say. They can choose their group, and each group can choose its topic, aspects which are very rare in exam situations. Furthermore, the students can select what articles they want to read and the discussion questions they wish to put to their group. This exam format appears to me to be consistent with student-centered teaching as espoused by Carl Rogers and the communicative approach.

4 While this is not a knowledge-based exam, it gives maximum place to the knowledge and personal interests of the students. This format gives the students the opportunity to explore a topic of their choosing in depth and to interact at length with fellow students. Many students seem surprised at how fast the hour has gone and feel that they could have gone on. By giving students freedom to choose their topics, they have upon occasion chosen topics that are normally taboo within academic settings in France, such as religion and politics. Some topics that groups have chosen over the years include Science and Faith, the European Constitution, Virtual Life, Extreme Sports, Oceanography, Political Humour, Religious Radicalism, Sports and Hooligans, Desperate Housewives, Respecting Human Life, Nuclear Proliferation, Climate Change & Energy, Renewable Energies, Media Control, Women & Power, Immigration, Religion and Education, Discoveries in the World, etc. In past years, students have responded very favorably to this exam format and have requested that we do it more frequently. In written course evaluations, students have occasionally stated that they found the oral exam to have been the most stimulating and memorable aspect of the course! How often do we teachers hear THAT about an exam???? (Im conscious, too, that this remark could be interpreted in a negative way!) With any assessment, however, there are a few drawbacks and caveats. a. Four students seem to be the ideal number. Should one of the students be absent on the day of the oral exam, a group of 3 can function satisfactorily. However, a group of only 2 doesnt get very far. The problem with groups of 5 is that often it is too easy for one of the quieter students to get too little speaking time.

b. I suspect that a class of 20 would be the largest in which this format could be used. Larger groups might make it
difficult for a single teacher to spend an adequate amount of time with each group.

c. Reminding students to encourage everyone to participate fully is no guarantee that it will in fact happen. In the 2
instances where this did happen (incidentally, these were both in groups of 5 students), I asked the students to remain after the exam, and then I interviewed them individually as in a more traditional exam setting so that I could assess their spoken proficiency.

d. In one class I did have a student whose behavior and interactions did not respect the norms. He was bright, but I
often saw other students smiling disapprovingly when he spoke up in class. My fear was that when groups were chosen, he might have found groups reluctant to accept him as a member. As it turned out, he was absent on the day we organized for the exam. I took the liberty of going up to a group and asking them (in a confidential manner) to consider adopting this student so as to avoid any embarrassment. In the end, one of the groups did adopt this student, and the exam 2 weeks later went very smoothly.

e. Teachers will have to determine the minimum proficiency level needed for this format to be successful. I believe B1
(European Common Framework) is the lowest, but perhaps this format could be adapted to the A2 level.