| Test for English Majors (TEM-8) is an authoritative English test in China. It began to include oral tests in2003. TEM-8Oral Test contains three sections. In the preliminary trial, the planning time for section three was only3minutes, but later when the TEM-8Oral Test was finally administrated in2003, the NACFLT changed the time into4minutes. The change was only based on the findings of questionnaires, which were to examine how testees perceive the lengths of planning time. The questionnaires demonstrated that3minutes was not sufficient for testees’ need and they asked for longer planning time. However, questionnaires alone are not valid enough to prove the essentiality of changing planning time, and empirical studies are needed to make a more systematic investigation.The present study focused on the effect of different length of planning time,3and4minutes, on form and content of Chinese English learners’speech performance in a testing situation and the influence of language proficiency on the relationship between the length of planning time and the subsequent oral performance.The participants in the study were48senior English majors from Nanjing University. According to the results of the pretest, they were divided into two groups-a high-achiever group and a low-achiever group. Both the two groups were further respectively divided into two sub-groups. Two sub-groups had3minutes’ planning time, while the other two had4minutes. Participants’ speeches were recorded, collected, and transcribed. Transcriptions were analyzed quantitatively. Immediately after the test, eight of them received interviews respectively. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and further analyzed qualitatively.Data analysis of the study adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative part provided a general picture of the effects that length of planning time brought to L2oral output. The qualitative part further supplied details of how and why these changes occurred.The data analysis yielded the following findings:1. Additional one minute for planning does not result in significantly better oral performance. As for form, longer planning time has beneficial effects on syntactic complexity, accuracy and fluency, but the effects are not significant. Surprisingly, it seems that providing learners with longer length of planning time might have detrimental effects on the lexical complexity. Similarly, the effects are not significant. As for content, no significant differences are found either.2. Language proficiency hardly interacts with the effects of planning time in influencing oral performance. As for learners at different levels of proficiency, the effects of planning time do not reach statistical differences.3. Extension of planning time makes no difference to speakers’way of planning or inclination towards form or content. However, the majority of speakers think their anxiety degrees will not change when provided with longer planning time, while few of them admit that they will lower their anxiety degrees.This study boasts not only theoretical value, but also practical importance. Theoretically, this study shed light on our understanding of the effects of planning time on language learning. It could contribute to the literature on the influence of planning time on L2oral production in a testing situation. Moreover, the study offers insights into the planning process in L2oral production. Practically, the study provides suggestions to test designers, especially TEM-8Oral Test designers. It would not make much difference to the oral test if the planning time is3or4minutes. Moreover, empirical studies as well as questionnaires are needed in test designing. In addition, test designers should take the intervening influence of proficiency on the effects of planning time into consideration when fixing the length of planning time. Lastly, high achievers should pay more attention to the content and lexical complexity of their speeches and low achievers to the accuracy when planning with longer time. |
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