Defining an alternative assessment construct as a rating scale for evaluation of LSP oral presentation

The subject of the research is grounded on the theoretical analysis of different models of communicative competence in order to develop rating criteria for assessment of oral presentation in language for specific purposes. The aim of the research is defining validity of an alternative form of assessment, such as oral presentation, by defining the construct of assessment in the manner of the standardised testing procedure. More precisely, starting from the students’ performances, i.e. oral presentations in language for specific purposes that need to be evaluated, we analysed theoretical frameworks of communicative competence and specific purpose language ability, as well as speech parameters and public speaking rating scales’ characteristics. This approach was adopted in order to reach an optimal solution for an assessment construct of oral presentation performance. The initial hypothesis posits that it is possible to ensure the a priori validity of alternative assessment by defining the construct and its operalisation through rating criteria. Therefore, we designed a unique rating scale for oral presentation assessment based on the results of the theoretical analysis. Thus, the rating scale for oral presentation assessment is composed of the parameters of linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and functional competences as well as on performance strategies and background knowledge. The main purpose of such rater-oriented scale is to increase objectivity and a priori validity of assessment procedure in the real classroom context. The contribution of this paper is a unique, theoretically-grounded, analytic rating scale which is suitable for application in higher education context.