The Role of Grammar in Speaking Proficiency: Exploring the Need for Spoken Grammar

Kim, Haeyoung (김혜영)

The Role of Grammar in Speaking Proficiency: Exploring the Need for Spoken Grammar

Modern English Education
Abbr : MEESO
2009, 10(1), pp.46~65
Publisher : The Modern English Education Society
Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Language Teaching

Kim, Haeyoung ¹

¹가톨릭대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the assessment of grammatical competence in an oral proficiency test. Three raters assessed the oral proficiency of 59 recorded narratives based on a set of assessment criteria among which grammar competence and overall comprehensibility were analysed. Subjects were divided into beginner group and advanced group. Findings show that the raters' assessment of grammatical competence, the actual grammatical errors and raters' assessment of overall comprehensibility were all highly correlated for both groups. However, rater reliability for the beginner group turned out to be lower than that of the advanced group. In light of the strong relationship between grammatical competence and overall comprehensibility, it is strongly recommended that spoken grammar be developed and included in the curriculum for speaking lessons in order for learners to achieve a higher level of oral proficiency.

KEYWORDS

spoken grammar, oral proficiency, grammatical competence, comprehensibility, rater reliability

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

[book] Adams, M. / 1980 / Five co-occurring factors in speaking proficiency In: Measuring spoken proficiency / Georgetown University Press : 1~6

[book] American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages / 1999 / ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines / Author

[journal] Carter, R. / 1995 / Grammar and the spoken language / Applied Linguistics 16(2) : 141~158

[journal] Celce-Murcia, M. / 1991 / Grammar pedagogy in second and foreign language teaching / TESOL Quarterly 25(3) : 459~477

[journal] Douglas, D. / 1994 / Quantity and quality in speaking test performance / Language Testing / . 11(2) : 125~144

[book] Douglas, D. / 1993 / Performance on a general versus a field-specific test of speaking proficiency by international teaching assistants In: A new decade of language testing research / TESOL : 235~256

[book] Ellis, R. / 2002 / The place of grammar instruction in the second/foreign language curriculum In: New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms / Lawrence Erlbaum : 17~34

[book] Higgs, T. / 1982 / The Push toward Communication In: Curriculum, competence, and the foreign language teacher Skokie, Ill / National Textbook : 57~79

[journal] Hong, Soon-woo / 2005 / Authentic cultural materials as an international language in EFL / Modern English Education 6(2) : 60~74

[journal] Lee, Il-Suk / 2006 / The effectiveness of TOEIC scores on English oral proficiency / Modern English Education 7(1) : 33~52

[journal] Magnan, S. / 1988 / Grammar and the ACTFL oral proficiency interview: Discussion and data / The Modern Language Journal 72(3) : 266~276

[journal] McCarthy, M. / 1995 / What is spoken grammar and how should we teach it? / ELT Journal 49(3) : 207~218

[book] McCarthy, M. / 2001 / Ten criteria for a spoken grammar In: New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms / Lawrence Erlbaums : 51~75

[journal] McNamara, T. / 1990 / Item response theory and the validation of an ESP test for health professionals / Language Testing 7(1) : 52~75

[journal] Rings, L. / 1992 / Authentic spoken texts as examples of language variation: grammatical, situational and cultural teaching models / International Review of Applied Linguistics 30(1) : 21~33

[book] Swain, M. / 1985 / Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development In: Input in second language acquisition / Newbury : 235~252

[journal] Weigle, S. C. / 1998 / Using FACETS to model rater training effects / Language Testing 15(2) : 263~287

KJCKorea
Journal Central

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55