A variety of assessment task-types can be used to elicit the required kinds of oral language from students. Teachers may design their own assessment tasks based on the model provided.

Click here to view the examples of a range of suitable assessment tasks that have been developed and / or used by S4-6 teachers in Hong Kong schools. You can select and / or modify one of the sample tasks, or design your own task. This flexibility and choice of task is important to ensure that all students' individual needs and interests are met.

Assessment tasks vary in length and complexity according to a number of factors:

• the communicative function (e.g. comparing, classifying, describing, arguing, hypothesising, speculating, etc.);
• the number of people involved (e.g. pairs, small groups, split classes, whole classes, the whole school, etc.);
• the position and status of the people interacting (e.g. fellow students, younger / older students, teachers, parents, etc.);
• the nature of the response required (e.g. giving non-verbal responses only, asking questions, making comments, interacting with no limitations); and
• the familiarity of the content and procedures to the student being assessed.

This diversity of assessment tasks, which can be individually tailored to students’ language level and interests, enables schools to provide students with appropriate, multiple and varied opportunities to demonstrate their oral language abilities.

Example 1: An oral presentation

• More orally proficient students can attempt to persuade the class to read a particular text;

• Less orally proficient students can describe the physical appearance of a particular character in a text to a friend.

Example 2: A group interaction where each student has read different texts

• More orally proficient students can be grouped into four and asked which book should be set as a class reader;

• Less orally proficient students can be placed in pairs and asked to find the three most important differences between their texts.

In both cases, if the tasks were reversed, the less proficient students might be too stressed to say anything, whereas the more proficient students would not be challenged to show the full range of their oral language skills.

Individual schools and teachers are encouraged to choose the kinds of assessment tasks which best suit their students' English language level and interests. It does not matter if students in the same school, or same class, do different tasks or view different texts, so long as they provide the opportunity for the students to produce the required depth and amount of oral language.

To view Mrs Christina Lee talking about how teachers should encourage students to read a variety of texts in Part A (the reading and viewing programme).

To view Dr Jane Lockwood, Dr Matthew Decoursey and Ms Michelle Reyes Raquel, HKIED, discussing what teachers have to be careful about in planning, implementing and using tasks for assessment purposes in Part B (the elective programme).

Note: Not all good teaching and learning tasks are good assessment tasks. For example, pretending to be a character in a book or film is a useful activity to develop intonation and voice projection. However, such tasks should not be used for assessment, as a student would require very good skills in drama to achieve a high score. Similarly, no assessment task should require that students read aloud poems or short stories, engage in formal stage debates, sports commentary, or job interviews, although such activities may be very useful for learning and teaching.

To view Prof Chris Davison talking about why the assessment criteria cannot be used to assess all oral activities in the HKDSE.

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