233 / 2018-04-14 23:54:15

Chinese Students’ Interpretation and Use of TOEFL Speaking Rubrics

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Studies on test preparation have frequently been conducted to investigate the consequential validity of language assessment (Yu et al., 2017). However, most studies are conceptualized mainly from the perspectives of teachers. More specifically, many of them focus on students’ intensive test preparation activities, and the study context is limited to the classroom for formal instruction. Previous studies seldom put emphasis on students’ self-preparation for tests, especially in the context of China. As noted by Yu et al., test takers from China accounts for about 20% of the TOEFL iBT test taker population. However, resources available to them to prepare for TOEFL iBT, particularly for the speaking test, are limited. Moreover, there is a lack of studies on Chinese students with relatively high self-learning abilities. Therefore, it is indispensable to investigate the test preparing process for this special group, especially their interpretation and use of the TOEFL iBT speaking rubrics during their test preparation. The speaking rubrics are available on the ETS official website for public use and often reported to be referenced by teachers. In contrast, research concerning their use by students with high self-learning abilities is rare.
As an attempt to address the research gap above, this pilot study qualitatively investigated this group’s interpretation and use of TOEFL speaking rubrics. Two doctoral students who had plans to take the test within one year were invited to this study, where they were interviewed about their use of rubrics in usual test preparation and scored two batches of ten speech samples on an independent speaking task in two occasions each. Before the first rating, they were interviewed on their language learning experiences etc. All the procedures were audio recorded. Results of the qualitative analysis of their ratings and audio recorded data showed that, in the first rating, they exhibited very different rating patterns. Additionally, the first rating results and interviewing showed differences between them in their scores and the aspects of speeches they focused on. However, the analysis of the second rating showed better agreements on their rubric use.
Findings of this study indicate that the independent speaking rubrics are difficult to refer to even for students with very high English proficiency levels and test-taking experiences like the two study participants, suggesting that students will develop their own criteria based on original rubrics to guide their preparation.