A Comparative Study Between Computer-assisted English Speaking Test And Oral Proficiency Interview Of College Students

In recent years,with the reform and development of college English course,many breakthroughs can be found in teaching objectives,including fostering the students’ comprehensive ability of English,the ability of language application,especially the listening and speaking ability,which is more and more important in college English teaching.The scientific and reasonable evaluation of oral English test can not only provide important basis for teachers improve teaching quality,but also improve their learning efficiency.Due to the large number of students in college English teaching,the oral proficiency interview is time-consuming.Therefore,computer-assisted speaking test has become a new evaluation method in college English teaching.Hence,it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive and in-depth comparative study on the overall effect of the large scale computer-assisted speaking test and oral proficiency interview.Based on the Bachman’s Communicative Language Testing Theory,this study compares and analyses the different performances of non-English majors in these two modes by simulating two kinds of oral test forms and combining quantitative and qualitative research methods for answering the following three questions:(1)What’s the attitude of students in different proficiency groups toward computer-assisted speaking test?(2)What are the effects of the two modes on the fluency,accuracy,and overall performance of students?(3)What are the factors that affect the two kinds of test? And what’s the difference?This study includes two kinds of research methods,and the subjects all come from Shenyang Normal University.The first research method answered the questionnaires by 300 subjects.The second method conducted the simulation test by 30 subjects.The data were collected through Cool Edit Pro,and 12 subjects were selected for an in-depth interview in the second research method.Findings from the questionnaire,the simulation test and interview reveal that:(1)the middle level students are more inclined to the computer-assisted speaking test mode than the higher level students,they think that computer-assisted speaking test can reduce the anxiety caused by computer through practice the test mode to a certain degree,(2)students’ oral fluency and accuracy are not significantly different in the two test modes,which proves the feasibility of the computer-assisted speaking test mode,(3)as for the two test mode,students are affected by emotional anxiety,the familiarity between candidates,test environment,and the familiarity with computer,and they deem that emotional anxiety and computer screen countdown influence them most.Combining the whole research,this thesis summarizes the limitation of the study,and puts forward some suggestions on the application and research of the computer-assisted speaking test in the future.