Assessing speaking skill in English in Cuban Higher Education

Authors

Keywords:

foreign language instruction, speaking, language skills, skills assessment, achievement rating

Abstract

Objective: This paper aims at describing a set of tasks and an analytical rating scale to evaluate
the student's performance in English speaking skills at the university level.
Methods: To achieve this objective empirical and theoretical methods were used, as well as,
mixed‐methods which include qualitative and quantitative paradigms.
Results: As the main finding, a task proposal was done to evaluate speaking skill, which is
made up of three parts and includes both production and interaction. Similarly, an analytical
rating scale was developed, based on the descriptors of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages, adapted to the Cuban context.
Conclusions: This paper has shown that task design and rating scale development are
processes that comprise deep literature review several rounds of revisions and reformulation
until getting high‐quality products. It has also opened a path on tasks design and rating scales
development in Cuba based on the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages.

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Author Biographies

  • Ioani García Fernández, University of Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos

    Licenciada en Educación Especialidad Lengua Inglesa y Máster en
    Educación. Profesora Auxiliar del Centro de Idiomas de la Universidad de Cienfuegos y
    Especialista de la Dirección de Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Cienfuegos.
    Tiene 20 años de experiencia docente, de ellos 18 años de experiencia en la Educación
    Superior. Recibió un Professional Award in L2 Teacher Training. Sus intereses investigativos se
    vinculan a la enseñanza, aprendizaje y evaluación de idiomas.

  • Claudia Harsch, harsch@uni‐bremen.de

    posee una Maestría en Lingüística Aplicada y es Doctora en Filosofía por la
    Universidad de Augsburg en Alemania. Actualmente es Profesora Titular de la Universidad de
    Bremen y directora de su Centro de Idiomas. Ha trabajado en Alemania y en el Reino Unido y
    participa activamente en la formación de profesores en todo el mundo. Sus intereses de
    investigación se centran en áreas como la evaluación de idiomas, el idioma y la migración, la
    interculturalidad, comunicación e implementación del MCER. Fue presidenta de la Asociación
    Europea de Exámenes y Evaluación de Idiomas de 2016 a 2019.

  • Eduardo Pérez Novo, University of Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos

    Máster en Teoría y Práctica del Inglés Contemporáneo y Doctor en
    Ciencias Pedagógicas. Profesor Titular y actualmente director del Centro de Idiomas de la
    Universidad de Cienfuegos. Tiene 15 años de experiencia que incluyen labores como director,
    conferencista y profesor tanto en Cuba como en el exterior. Sus principales intereses
    investigativos se relacionan con la metodología de la investigación en idiomas, la didáctica de
    las lenguas extranjeras y el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa.

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Published

2024-02-16

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2022): |ENERO - ABRIL|

Section

Artículos

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How to Cite

Assessing speaking skill in English in Cuban Higher Education. (2024). Transformación, 18(1), 127-138. https://transformacion.reduc.edu.cu/index.php/transformacion/article/view/76