Abstract:

 In this paper, the authors developed a tentative model for assessing EFL learners’ public speaking competence by incorporating effective formative practice with traditional summative assessment. An exploratory study was carried out in an EFL public speaking course which took two hours per week for sixteen weeks. Fifty-six participants in the course were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group with the application of the new assessment model and a control group with the traditional assessment model. The correlated data analysis indicates that the learners in the experimental group demonstrated significantly better performance in public speaking, particularly in terms of their delivery skills. The analysis of learning journals and post-experimental surveys also shows learners’ positive perception of the new assessment model.

Key words: summative assessment, formative assessment, college English, English public speaking