A Study On Summary Writing In A Computer-assisted Language Test For Listening-based Integrated Tasks

The effective design of test items within a computer-based language test (CBLT) for developing English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ listening and speaking skills has become an increasingly challenging task for both test takers and test designers compared with that of pencil-and-paper tests in the past. It needs to fit integrated oral proficiency tasks into the framework of quantitative psychometric testing modes. It also needs to meet higher demands of test takers living in today’s digitized world. Summary writing, generally accepted as a writing test, can actually be used in different tests. Summary writing is suggested in this paper as an alternative test format in a test for listening-based integrated skill because listening comprehension test should be designed in a way that it can encourage the listener to engage in an active process of listening for meanings. Summary writing can exactly serve this purpose.Anxiety in the process of any test can be an unavoidable psychological factor which distracts test takers’ attention from their performance and usually affects their test results. Therefore, the test designers need to take it into fully consideration and try to minimize any external distracting factors to ensure test validity. To test if summary writing in integrated listening-speaking tasks is beneficial to EFL learners in decreasing their degree of anxiety in the follow-up speaking task, an experiment was carried out at a CALL-based English audio-video speaking course (EAVSC). To measure the effects, both pre-and post-tests along with follow-up surveys were conducted through a self-developed web-based English language skills training system. Analyses of the students’ correlated data and feedbacks showed that in a CBLT, summary writing as an embedded task type prior to the follow-up oral test item, i.e. the personal statement, did have a positive impact on EFL learners’speaking ability, especially in lowering their degree of anxiety in the process of oral performance. Besides, summary writing’s effects on anxiety that are concerning with different aspects are different. Test takers’ with respect of language expression is the one most likely to be affected by summary writing. Meanwhile, since male and female students have different level of anxiety in tests, summary writing has more significant effects on lowering female students’ anxiety. In conclusion, this format design can minimize the negative effects of anxiety and improve the test validity.