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SPEAK (test)

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The Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) is an oral test developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The SPEAK test continues to be administered to non-native English speakers. Its aim is to evaluate the examinee's proficiency in spoken English. It is usually taken as a professional certification, especially for graduate teaching assistants in the American college and university system, who are often required to hold office hours and converse in English with students. It is also used in the medical profession, where communication with patients is required. The SPEAK test has been criticized for not accurately testing how a speaker will perform in the real world, in part because it is administered by recording the individual speaking into a recording device rather than speaking to a person.[1] The SPEAK test has also been criticized for using native speaker norms to judge non-native speakers.[2]

The SPEAK test is very similar to the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and is in fact a form of the TSE developed for institutions by using retired forms of the TSE.

ETS developed the four skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) TOEFL iBT test. The Speaking section of the TOEFL is not available separately from the other sections, but institutions wishing to test speaking skills only may want to use the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) Speaking Test, also developed by ETS and available as a stand-alone assessment.

  1. ^ Hoekje, Barbara (Spring 1994). "Evaluating Spoken Language Tests for International Teaching Assistants". TESOL Quarterly. 28 (1): 108. doi:10.2307/3587201. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  2. ^ Hoekje, Barbara (Spring 1994). "Evaluating Spoken Language Tests for International Teaching Assistants". TESOL Quarterly. 28 (1): 108. doi:10.2307/3587201. Retrieved 2015-09-09.