International Journal of Education ©2018 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Vol. 11 No. 1, August 2018, pp. 78-86 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v11i1.12165

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EXTENT AND CHALLENGES OF ASSESSING

STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS: THE
CASES OF WOLAYITA ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Mebratu Mulatu Bachore1, Amare Satenaw2

College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hawassa University, Ethiopia1, Boditi Secondary
School, Boditi, Ethiopia2

mebratumulatu@gmail.com1, amaresatenaw12@gmail.com2

First draft received: 03 June 2018 Accepted: 31 July 2018 Final proof received: 30 August 2018

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the assessment of students’ speaking skill in some
selected preparatory schools. It was a descriptive survey. The data were collected from teachers and
students using questionnaire, interview, and classroom observations. Yemane’ (1996) formula was
used to determine the sample size. Accordingly, 254 students were selected as samples using simple
random sampling technique. Six English language teachers who teach grade 11 students were selected
using availability sampling technique. The data collected via questionnaire were filled into SPSS and
then, different statistical analyses such as frequency and percentage were computed from the data in
the SPSS. The results of statistical analysis were presented in tables and pie chart. Besides, data
obtained from interview were transcribed and categorized according to related themes. The study
revealed that English teachers assess speaking skills of their students at different times. But, it was
noted that most teachers assess speaking skill during speaking lessons only. Regarding the frequency,
many EFL teachers assess their students always; however, it was disclosed that there are teachers who
assess their students speaking once in a month and even in a semester. The findings of the study also
disclosed that different factors such as lack of adequate time, lack of sufficient material, large number of
students per class, and teacher’s inappropriate way of assessing speaking skill affect the assessment of
speaking skill.
Keywords: Speaking Skills, Assessment, Challenges

To cite this paper (in APA style):

Bachore, M. M., & Satenaw, A. (2018). An investigation into the extent and challenges of assessing
students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools: The cases of Wolayita Zone, Ethiopia.
International Journal of Education, 11(1), 78-86. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v11i1.12165.

INTRODUCTION policy makers in Ethiopia as a foreign language to be

English, as one of the international languages, plays an taught in schools nationwide.
important role in international communication. It is used In the Ethiopian curriculum, there are four major
as a tool for international communication in many fields skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) which
such as transportation, commerce, banking, tourism, have to be taught during the teaching and learning
technology, diplomacy, and scientific research (Brown, process. Although all four skills are important, speaking
2004). English is the official language for 45 countries in skill could be seen as the paramount skill during the
the world. One third of the world population speaks English learning process. During the learning process,
English and 75% of the television programs are learners need to communicate with others in order to
produced in English. 95% of the United Nations express their ideas and feelings. One of the ways to
conferences and meetings are conducted in English communicate with others is through speaking. Richards
and 80% of information on internet is presented in (2008) stated the mastery of speaking skills is a priority
English (Wang, 2006). Based on the importance of for second language learners. As a consequence, the
English as a tool in the development of the country, effectiveness of an English course is decided based on
both for international relations and scientific- how well the learners improve their spoken language
technological advancement, English was chosen by proficiency.

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 Bachore, M. M., & Satenaw, A.
An investigation into the extent and challenges of assessing students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools

Assessment is an activity that engages both the assessment of speaking skill can enhance students’
students and teachers in judgment about the quality of speaking skill by showing areas and components to be
students’ achievement or performance and inferences improved by the students. Accordingly, assessment
about the learning that has taken place (Sadler, 2005). plays a pivotal role in the teaching and learning of
Second language assessment is done either to speaking skill. That is why scholars argue that the
measure a participant’s actual level of competence or teaching and assessment of speaking are seen as two
proficiency or to assess language development over a sides of the same coin.
period of time (Bruton, 2009). There are few Despite this fact, speaking skill has not been
opportunities to evaluate students’ speaking skills, properly and adequately assessed by English language
because speaking assessment is not administered in teachers. From the experiences of teaching English at
any formal exam. secondary and preparatory schools for the last eight
The curriculum and formal examinations focus years, the researchers have observed that teachers do
heavily on grammar, but the speaking skill assessment not give due attention to the assessment of students’
is left entirely to the discretion of teachers. Hence, with speaking skill. Such practice hinders students from
the curriculum focus on this, in practice, English getting important and necessary feedback and
education in secondary schools puts a greater comments from their teachers. In other words, students
emphasis on English grammar, rather than speaking do not get the needed feedback and comments from
proficiency. Teacher-based classroom assessment as their English language teachers that may enable them
well as curriculum emphasizes enhancing oral to improve or enhance their speaking skill.
communication skills. However, classroom assessment Besides, the extent to which English language
is not widely practiced in many Ethiopian secondary teachers assess the speaking skill of their students is
schools, even though for many students in Ethiopia, not clearly known. The assessment techniques used by
classroom assessment is the only opportunity to have English language teachers to assess the speaking skill
their speaking skills assessed. Assessment of speaking of their students and the components of students’
skills indeed often lags far behind the importance given speaking skill assessed by English language teachers
to teaching those skills in the curriculum (Knight, 1992). are not studied at the selected school. In addition,
Teaching methodology goes hand in hand with the English language teachers usually encounter different
curriculum impact. Teachers simply spend too much challenges while assessing the speaking skill of their
time lecturing while students take notes and seldom students. These problems have initiated the researcher
participate in class (Tirualem, 2003). to conduct a study on the present study. Accordingly,
In other words, even if the rationale for classroom it is imperative to describe the practices and challenges
assessment is to provide both students and teachers of assessing the speaking skill of the students.
with information about their current level of speaking The other important rationale for the present study
skills and how to improve their speaking skills on the is that the research gap is observed in the area. That is,
basis of their real language performance, teachers are the review of local studies revealed that limited local
under pressure from the policy to reflect the result of studies were undertaken in relation to the present study.
classroom assessment as a certain portion or For instance, Fasil (1992) studied how oral skills are
percentage of the students’ final grades. So, the basic taught. Tsegaye (1995) conducted research on
features of classroom speaking assessment present in speaking strategies employed by college students
the situation where it is expected to achieve both respectively. Jenenew (2006) studied how oral skills are
pedagogic usefulness and meet the desired taught and also made a survey on teachers’ and
measurement purpose. students’ respective roles for implementation in EFL
The success of speaking is measured by the speaking classrooms. Tesfaye (2007) researched
ability of students to carry out conversation in an communication strategies utilized by Omo TTI teachers
interactive process of constructing meaning that in oral production of English. Taye (2008) made a
involves producing, receiving and processing comparative study of televised and non-televised
information. Likewise, Brown (2004) believed that speaking skills teaching techniques.
language proficiency is ensured when learners get the However, the above studies do not examine the
opportunity to work with the target language in different extent to which (Frequency) English language teachers
contexts. Also, the study explores whether the current assess the speaking skill of their students. The
practice of classroom assessment in selected Wolaita assessment techniques used by English language
Zone preparatory schools can be effective in terms of teachers to assess the speaking skill of their students
assessing speaking skill. Thus, investigating on the have not been studied, so far as the researchers’
assessment of students’ speaking skill is the main knowledge is concerned. Furthermore, the challenges
concern of this study. encountered by English language teachers while
As it can be understood from the foregoing assessing the speaking skill of their students are not
discussion, the teaching of speaking skill and its addressed by the aforementioned local studies.
assessment are very interrelated. The information Thus, specifically the objectives of the study are to
obtained from the assessment of speaking skill can be examine the extent to which English language teachers
used by teachers to improve their teaching of speaking assess the speaking skill of their students, and reveal
skill. Besides, students can use the results of speaking the challenges encountered by English language
assessments to improve their speaking ability. That is,

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 International Journal of Education ©2018 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Vol. 11 No. 1, August 2018, pp. 78-86 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v11i1.12165

teachers while assessing the speaking skill of their the study by using simple random sampling technique.
students. Besides, all six of the English language teachers who
were selected availably as participants of the study
METHODOLOGY teach grade 11 students.
The study employed a descriptive research design.
According to Best and Kahn (2003) descriptive research Data collection
design enables the researcher to examine the present The data were gathered through questionnaire,
situation and identify some of the major problems in the interview, and classroom observation. Besides, the
area of the study. In line with this, descriptive design tools were pilot tested, in Boditti, in order to check the
was used to describe the extent to which (Frequency) clarity of questions to the respondents. It was also
English language teachers' assess the speaking skill of intended to check the appropriateness and relevance of
their students. In addition, research designs are usually the instruments to achieve the purposes of this
structured and specifically designed to measure the research. Based on the results of the pilot study,
characteristics illustrated in a research question. It is necessary changes and modifications were made on
also used to portray an accurate event and situations the tools of data collection and finally, the tools were
(Hair, et.al 2003). Accordingly, descriptive research used to collect data for the main study.
design is used to clearly identify and describe the Questionnaire enables a researcher to collect the
assessment techniques used by English language data from group of individuals within a short period of
teachers to assess the speaking skill of their students. time (Kothari, 2004). It was developed based on the
Besides, it is used describe the component of students’ basic questions and on the available literature. The
speaking skill assessed by English language teachers. questionnaire contains both close-ended and open
Furthermore, descriptive research design was used to ended items. It was used to gather data from sampled
point out the challenges encountered by English students, triangulate the data obtained from the
language teachers while assessing the speaking skill of interview and classroom observation.
their students. The questionnaire contains 4 subparts. The first
sub part is intended to collect the background
Participants of the Study information of the participants. The second subsection
This study was intended to investigate the assessment was used to identify the extent to which English
of students’ speaking skill in some selected preparatory language teachers' assess the speaking skill of their
schools. Thus, English language teachers and students students. The third sub section is meant to identify the
were selected as the major participants of this study. assessment techniques used by English language
This is because it was believed that they can provide teachers to assess the speaking skill of their students.
necessary data for the study. As stated above, the Further, the fourth subpart is used to examine the
study was conducted in three schools (Shanto, Boditti, component of students’ speaking skill assessed by
and Gacheno). In these three schools, there were 6 English language teachers. The last part collects
English language teachers who were teaching grade 11 information about the challenges that affect the
students. assessment of speaking.
The target populations of this study are grade 11 The researchers also used interview as a widely
preparatory school students and English language used instrument to collect qualitative data that allows
teachers of 2010 academic year. Accordingly, there the researchers to obtain firsthand information directly
were 150 students in Shanto Secondary and from participants (Burns 1999). Besides, semi-
Preparatory School, 346 students in Boditti Secondary structured interview was used to obtain firsthand
and Preparatory School and 200 students in Gacheno information directly from some participants (Kumar,
Secondary and Preparatory School. Totally, there were 2005).Semi-structured interview was used; hence the
696 students in the three schools. Only grade 11 researcher can obtain firsthand information directly from
students were taken as the participants of the study some participants (Kumar, 2005). Therefore, semi-
because it is believed that they can provide the data structured interview was designed to obtain necessary
needed for the study. Samples were selected from the data from the sampled English language teachers. The
target population using different sampling techniques interview was used to triangulate the data obtained from
described in the next subsection the questionnaire and classroom observation. The
researchers prepared five major parts pertaining to the
Sample Size and Sampling Techniques objectives of the study. The first sub part is intended to
Based on the information obtained from the record collect the pertinent demographic, about participant
office of the schools, there were 696 students attending teachers of the study. The second part is intended to
their class in 13 sections. Considering each section with examine the extent to which English language teachers'
an assumption that may have a different learning assess the speaking skill of their students in their EFL
experience, the researcher selected 254 students by classroom. The third sub section is meant to identify the
𝑁 assessment techniques which used by English
using Yemane’S (1996) formula: 𝑛 = 2 by using
1+𝑁 (𝑒)
language teachers to assess the speaking skill of their
simple random sampling technique. Two hundred-fifty- students. Further, the fourth subpart is meant to
four students were selected as a sample population for describe the component of students’ speaking skill

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 Bachore, M. M., & Satenaw, A.
An investigation into the extent and challenges of assessing students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools

assessed by English language teachers. Finally, the English language teachers assess the speaking skill of
interview was used to point out challenges encountered their students.
by English language teachers’ assessment of students’
speaking skill. Methods of Data Analysis
The interview items were prepared based on The data gathered through questionnaire, interview, and
literature review. Thus, six English language teachers classroom observation were analyzed differently using
were interviewed. The interviews took place face-to- both qualitative and quantitative methods. For example,
face and one interview meeting was used with one data obtained from interview were transcribed and
teacher only. The interactions were tape-recorded and transformed into textual data. The transcribed data were
played back during data analysis. Then, the recorded read again and again in order to have a full
data were transcribed for analysis. understanding of the themes the objectives of the study.
Finally, classroom observation was carried out to The data that were relevant to achieve the purpose of
search out what is happening in actual classroom this study were selected for analysis. The selected data
situation (Kumar, 2005). Classroom observation is also were categorized according to related themes. In the
a powerful tool for getting insights into situations end, the thematic categories were analyzed through
(Kothari, 2004). In this situation, Merriam (1998) also description using words and summarized and
believed that classroom observation is a kind of data paraphrased descriptively. Besides, the thematic
triangulation in order to validate the findings. Classroom analysis was supported by directly quoting the
observation provides the researcher opportunity to responses of the respondents. Then, the interview data
search out what is happening in actual classroom was substantiated by questionnaire and classroom
situation (Kumar, 2005). Besides, classroom observation.
observation is a powerful tool for getting insights into Regarding the data collected via questionnaire,
situations (Kothari, 2004).As the result, in this research, first the questionnaires were checked for consistency
classroom observation used to crosscheck whether and complete. The complete and consistent
teachers and students have positive perceptions in the questionnaires were coded and filled in to SPSS. Then,
actual classroom situations. different statistical analysis such as frequency and
Data collection from classroom observation took percentage was applied to SPSS data. The result of
over two month’s period beginning with classroom statistical analysis was presented in the table, pie chart
observation of six teachers and their lessons, three and graph forms.
times each. The classroom observation was made in Finally, it was used to validate and substantiate
order to check whether or not English language the interview and questionnaire. Concerning the data
teachers assess speaking skills in the actual classroom collected through classroom observation, the raw data
situation. gained from classroom observation was tallied. Then,
The observation was made based on a prepared the obtained result was used to reveal the classroom
notebook. The observer’s notebook was prepared practices of teachers in assessing the speaking skills of
based on the objectives of the research and in line with the students. The data was also used to validate and
literature review. The self-prepared observer’s notebook substantiate the data obtained via questionnaire and
assesses issues comprising the frequency that teachers interview. During analysis, results obtained from
to assess speaking skill. Besides, data were gathered in questionnaires, interview and classroom observation
the form of note taking to see how English language were presented interactively in the way they and can
teachers assess the speaking skills of the students. support and validate each other.
To conduct the classroom observation, first the
researcher asked permission and knew the schedule of RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
the teachers. Then, the researcher observed the overall The Extent of Assessing Speaking Skills
situation of the classes. During the classroom The extent to which teachers assess the speaking skill
observation, the researchers sat in the class and took can determine the amount of feedback students get
short notes to record how teachers assess students’ from the result of speaking assessment. Thus, it is
speaking skill in the actual classroom situation. important to know how often teachers assess the
Moreover, those teachers teaching in their actual speaking skill of their students. The learners’ response
classroom situation were observed to get data on how is demonstrated in the pi chart below.

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 International Journal of Education ©2018 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Vol. 11 No. 1, August 2018, pp. 78-86 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v11i1.12165

How often does your English language

teacher assess your speaking skill?

once per month

15%
once per
semester
8% Always 48%
At evey three
speaking lesson
29%

during or after speaking lesson at every speaking lesson

once per semester once per month

Figure 1. Frequency of Assessing Speaking Skills

Figure 1 reveals that among the study population, 48% informally, by oral questioning and answering.
of the students reported that their English teachers Assessment takes place during or at the end of the
assess their speaking skill during or after speaking class every day.
lesson. In addition, 29% of the respondents said that at From the results of questionnaire, interview, and
every three speaking lesson. However, 15% and 8% classroom observations, it can be inferred that English
responded that one per month and once per semester teachers assess the speaking skill of their students at
respectively. From this data, it can be concluded that different times. But, it should be noted that majority of
most of the respondents replied that their English students and teachers reported that English language
teacher always assess their speaking skill. However, teachers assess speaking skill during speaking lessons.
considerable number of students reacted that their This may imply that teaching and assessment are
teachers assess their speaking skills in every three interactively practiced by the teachers in the sampled
lesson, once per month and even once per semester. schools.
The result of classroom observation reveals that The result coincides with Bachman (2010) and
two teachers were observed while assessing students’ Cohen (2001) who disclosed that EFL teachers are
speaking skill using various kinds of techniques continuously assessing the speaking skill during
genuinely. From them, one teacher gave home take speaking lessons. This will be useful for both teachers
assignment to practice a certain topic, depending on and students. In addition, it would enable students to
their interest. The day of observation was presentation get feedback from their teacher. On the contrary from
day, which students had experienced performing on the literature, the response of teachers reveals that
various issues, at the end of every month, formally. The teachers’ assessment of speaking skill is not uniformly
second teacher assessed his students’ speaking skill in undertaken by teachers as some teachers don’t assess
the same fashion. In addition to that, he told a story for their students’ speaking skills regularly.
the students and let them retell the same story in their
own language, in front of their classmates. Every fifteen Classroom Time of Assessing Speaking Skills
days they have experience in presenting a different
The research also checked the time spent in the
technique. However, the rest of the teachers did not
classroom to assess students’ speaking skills. The
practice formal assessment effectively in the actual
results are presented in Figure 2.
classroom situation. Rather, they assess their students

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 Bachore, M. M., & Satenaw, A.
An investigation into the extent and challenges of assessing students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools

When does your English language teacher assess your

speaking skill?
160 60

140 135
50
120
40
100

80 30
53.1
60
20
39 38
40
25
17 10
20 15.4 15
9.8
6.7
0 0
After the model During speaking At the end of Combination of the Any
activity is presented lesson speaking lesson above options
by the teacher

Figure 2: Classroom Time of Assessing Speaking Skills

As depicted in figure 2, 25(9.8%) of students replied the end of the speaking lesson, which was supported by
that their English language teachers assess their T3 and T1).
speaking skill after the model activity is presented by Scholars like Harmer (2001), Jenenew (2006) and
the teacher. In addition, 135 (53.1%) of the respondents Luoma (2004), EFL teachers are expected to assess
stated that their teacher assesses their speaking skill their students speaking skills uniformly during the
during the speaking lesson. However, 39(15.4%) and speaking class. Specifically, speaking assessment
38(15%) of the students reported that their teachers should be done after delivering a model conversation or
assess at the end of speaking lesson and combination input to students. This helps students to be creative
of the above options respectively. Hence, it can be enough to bring the given input to the actual context.
concluded that a majority of the respondents said that However, in the above graph, though each time has got
their teachers assesses their speaking skill during distribution of the respondents, the dominant figure was
speaking lesson. displayed in “During speaking lesson”. This trend should
Besides, teachers were asked when they assess be revisited by EFL teachers in line with the existing
the speaking skill of their students. They forwarded scholarly views.
three different views. One group of teachers (T5, T6
and T2) reported that they assess their students’ Challenges that Teachers Encounter while
speaking lesson during the speaking lesson. In regards Assessing the Speaking Skill of Students
to this, T2 explained that “I assess informally during my The next thing investigated is the challenges that
lessons. Every lesson is unique.” The second view is at teachers face during the assessment of their students’
speaking skills. The results are presented in Table 4.

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 International Journal of Education ©2018 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Vol. 11 No. 1, August 2018, pp. 78-86 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v11i1.12165

Table 1. Students’ Responses regarding the Challenges that Teachers Encounter while assessing the Speaking
Skill of Students
Responses
No Items Yes No Not Sure Total
F % F % F % F %
1. Do you think that assessing the 135 53.1 98 38.6 21 8.3 254 100
speaking skills of students is time
consuming?
2. Do you think that the availability of 128 50.4 99 39.0 27 10.6 254
adequate time affect the assessment
of speaking skill?
3. Do you think that your school has 125 49.2 99 39.0 30 11.8 254 100
sufficient materials (textbook,
reference books, English lab class,
audio materials) that help to assess the
speaking skills of students?
4. Do you think that the number of 128 50.4 103 40.6 23 9.1 254 100
students affect the assessment of
students’ the speaking skills?
5. Are you voluntary to have your 184 72.4 44 17.3 44 17.3 254 100
speaking skill assessed by your
teacher?
6. Teacher’s way of assessing speaking 137 53.9 80 31.5 37 14.6 254 100
skill affects the assessment of
speaking skill?

Table 1 summarizes students’ responses on the With this regard, all teachers agreed that the number of
challenges that teachers encounter while assessing the students affects the assessment of the students’
speaking skill of students. Accordingly, in item l, speaking skill. For example, in interview, one teacher
students were asked if they think that assessing the said, “Yes, it is impossible to effectively assess more
speaking skills of students is time consuming. In the than 15-20 students in 40 minutes. More time is
table, 135 (53.1%) of students responded that required for more students. If I spend multiple days
assessing speaking skill of fellow students is time assessing my students’ speaking, they will fall behind
consuming. But, 98 (38.6%) of the students reported no, schedule in other areas.”
and 21 (8.3%) were unsure if assessing speaking skill is As depicted in item 5, students were asked if they
time consuming. Thus, the majority of students felt that are voluntary to be assessed by your teacher. In
assessing speaking skill of fellow students is time response, 184 (70.4%) said yes, 44 (17.3%) said no,
consuming. In item 2, majority of the respondents stated and 44 (17.3%) were unsure. Hence, majority of the
that availability of adequate time affect the assessment students are volunteers to be assessed by their teacher.
of students’ speaking skill. Besides, the data obtained In connection to this, five teachers reported that their
from interview and observation revealed that availability students are voluntary to be assessed. For instance,
of adequate time is the main factor that affects the one teacher said, “Yes, they are volunteer to participate
assessment of students’ speaking skill. in speaking activities, however, there are several
Item 3 shows that majority of students and affections, such as background language deficit, lack of
teachers replied lack of sufficient materials such as text adequate time, and required materials.” However,
book, reference books, English lab class, audio another teacher said students are not voluntary to be
materials affect the assessment of speaking skill. assessed. Thus, though majority of students and
During the researcher’s observation, only one school teachers stated that students are voluntary to be
which has ELIC Room even though it does not have assessed, considerable number of students and
sufficient materials that help to assess speaking. Due to teachers reacted against this view. Beside, during
this, none of the teachers from grade eleven used ELIC classroom observation the majority of the students have
room. The rest schools also lack authentic materials stage phobia to be assessed in front of their classmate
which support the assessment of students speaking due to this they keep silent in the classroom and unable
skill. to generate speech. This implies that even if students
Regarding the influence of the number of students, volunteer to speak, they lack the necessary knowledge
128 (50.4%) of the respondents replied that the number to produce speech in front of their classmates, for the
of students affect the assessment of students’ the purpose of assessment.
speaking skills. However, 103 (40.6%) of them reported Finally, students were asked if way of assessing
no. The remaining responded, 23 (9.1%) were unsure. speaking skill affect the assessment of speaking skill. In

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 Bachore, M. M., & Satenaw, A.
An investigation into the extent and challenges of assessing students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools

response, 137 (53.9%) said ‘yes’, 80 (31.5%) said ‘no’, of speaking skill. In addition, majority of students
and 37 (14.6%) were ‘unsure’. Thus, majority of believe that lack of sufficient material affect the
students felt that their teacher’s inappropriate way of assessment on speaking skill. The responses of
assessing speaking skill affects the assessment of students are supported by the interview data. That is, all
speaking skill. The researchers’ observation revealed interviewed teachers reported that the schools have no
that teacher’s inappropriate way of assessment affects adequate material and lack of the materials affect the
students’ speaking assessment. This implies that assessment of speaking skill. Even though, the problem
assessing students’ speaking skill, by nature, requires exists, students and teachers are not wise enough to
professionalism from the teacher. use the resources in their surroundings. The researcher
Regarding the challenges in assessing speaking observed that some materials are wasted without giving
skills, some authors forwarded points to be considered. proper service as needed.
For example, Nunan (2001), Shaaban (2001) and The finding of the study shows that the majority of
Thornbury (2005) mentioned challenges like material teachers and students reported that the number of
scarcity, shortage of time, teachers’ competence and students affect the assessment of students’ the
class size. The findings of the current study also agree speaking skills. Researcher classroom observation
with these challenges. In addition, the techniques EFL confirms the same truth. Furthermore, the majority of
teachers use and students poor linguistic competence students felt that teacher’s inappropriate way of
should also be considered according to the present assessing speaking skill affect the assessment of
study. speaking skill. The nature of assessing speaking skill
requires professionalism. Some situations need
CONCLUSION immediate and perfect answers, and assessing in such
The study revealed that the majority of students and all situations may drive some teachers to be in confusion,
of the teachers believe that assessment of speaking lacking a proper response. This situation was observed
skill is important for its teaching. Thus, this clear frequently during classroom observation.
understanding of teachers and students about the Finally, based on the conclusions it is
importance of speaking skill can facilitate teachers’ recommended that teachers should be more rigorously
assessment of students speaking skill. However, the trained in the assessment of speaking skill so that they
actual classroom observation confirms, oral assessment are comfortable and proficient in the assessment. Large
in the actual classroom situation is not applicable as class size is found out be a hindrance to speaking
needed. assessment. Therefore, it is advised that the problem of
The majority of students and teachers believe that large class sizes should be addressed in schools.
the assessment of students’ speaking skill helps the
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