A Spoken English ExaM (SEEM)

SEEM — an Innovative Spoken English Exam

Background to SEEM (Spoken English ExaM)

    In the past, international English language testing was primarily concerned with providing applicant test scores to colleges and universities. Princeton University's TOEFL (Testing Of English as a Foreign Language) is the most widely used English test for this purpose.

    TOEFL is essentially a multiple choice exam which requires some listening to English but almost no spoken English. As of September 2005, a new 20-minute section called TSE (Test of Spoken English) was added. Nonetheless, TOEFL does not claim to be anything other than a test for college entrance.

    However, an offshoot from TOEFL exists for the stated purpose of testing prospective employee's English fluency. Produced by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), their written Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) appears to be one of only a limited number of English exams used for testing potential employees.

    The University of Cambridge also offers an ESOL exam. It is a written exam with only a small amount of time devoted to spoken English. Other minor tests such as the Test of Business English exist, but they are, again, largely written exams and do not appear to be of great importance in the international business community.

    One may argue the merit of written grammar-based exams for college entrance. What is certain, however, is that a grammar-based, written English exam gives very little indication of how well an individual seeking employment in the international market place will be able to verbally communicate with English-speaking customers. All of the English business tests which might be used to screen these prospective employees are largely (or entirely) written exams.

    As the use of spoken English increases in the international business and service community, there is an urgent need for a standardized spoken English exam. For example, many U.S. based companies would want to specify a minimal spoken English score for all employees handling their U.S. telephone support.

    Also see our comments regarding a companion Written English ExaM (WEEM) for testing potential employees in countries where written English would be required. In some cases, a prospective employer could use both exams concurrently where the employee would use both spoken and written English.

A unique quality of English testing

    English testing in the international community enjoys a unique quality which promotes its financial success. International businesses want to test their prospective employee's English fluency, but they are unable to administer the exam themselves. Nor would most businesses outside of the United States (or the United Kingdom) want to trust a testing agency in their own country. Consequently, they need an exam which, by its very nature, must be administered in the United States (or the United Kingdom). More to the point, with the availability of this spoken English exam, United States-based companies could specify a minimum passing grade, knowing that the test grading was done by a reputable university or testing organization in the United States. (A grading branch could also be established in the United Kingdom.) This unique quality greatly enhances the profitability of English language testing.

Use of SEEM (and WEEM) in the United States

    The need for spoken English testing is growing rapidly in the United States itself. As more non-native English speakers are employed in jobs dealing with public safety, legal liability is a growing issue. Business and service industry employers are increasingly being faced with the need to have a pre-employment test score on record in the event that an employee becomes involved in a liability claim.

Supplementary SEEM vocabulary sections:

    The SEEM exam demonstrated in this article is a general exam. Supplementary Vocabulary Sections with specialized vocabularies could also be developed. In many fields of employment, specialized vocabularies are required. These supplements would test both fluency in spoken English within the specialized field as well as specific knowledge within the field. Unique supplementary sections could include a wide range of vocabularies used in fields of business, technology, hospitality and travel, medicine, legal services, sales, and many others.

    The supplementary sections could give the employer much needed information regarding the prospective employee. Many prospective employees may be knowledgeable in a certain field and possess a good vocabulary in their native language. However, that does not tell the employer that the prospective employee will be able to communicate equally well to English-speaking clients. The supplementary SEEM sections would give the employer that much-needed information.

The choice of this exam's name:

    We used the name SEEM (Spoken English ExaM) simply because it gives a temporary name to the exam. However, any institution developing this exam would change its name to their own liking.

Format of the proposed SEEM spoken English exam

Our design criteria for SEEM includes the following:

1. The exam would be entirely verbal; written responses would not be used.

2. The exam could be administered on a low-technology computer which does not have internet connections.

3. The exam would be designed so that the examinee's work would not be lost in the event of electrical power loss or a computer failure during the exam.

4. The exam could be locally administered in any country.

5. The exam could be objectively graded in the United States.

6. The exam would provide results in a form which could be fully communicated to the examinee after grading.

7. Prior to the exam, any student would be able to access the material for study in their own country.

8. Study preparation for the exam could be done without another English-speaker's assistance.

9. The exam could be used independently of its official grading organization. Other uses could include screening job applicants where English fluency is required or as a part of an existing ESL curriculum.

10. Inasmuch as the exam would be entirely verbal, the examinee would not be allowed to carry any writing material (paper, pen or pencil), any books, or any electronic device into the exam area.

    Our design criteria may sound daunting. Yet, it could be done relatively simply using even older computer and audio technology. More to the point, grading the exam could also be done objectively, and in a way which would give a detailed follow-up report to the examinee.

    Students typically buy TOEFL study guides to prepare for their exam. SEEM would also have a study guide. However, it would be the exam CD itself. Because the written TOEFL exam is dependent on precise published answers, the test answers are carefully guarded. For a spoken English test, however, the grade would be based on the examinee's ability to communicate verbally. Therefore, there would be no need to protect the exam material because it would consist of only the "question" part of the exam, never the answer.

    With its simplicity and the lack of need for protection, the entire SEEM exam could be put on a single CD which the student could also use for study and practice prior to the exam. (For more information, see the Exam Grading and Security Software section.)

The SEEM exam format

    Since a picture is worth a thousand words, let's watch an examinee — her name is Monique — answer a question on the SEEM exam.

    The typical examinee wears an earphone/microphone headset. It is connected only to the computer if the computer is used to record the audio. In our example, however, Monique is listening to the audio from the computer but she is recording her responses on a cassette tape recorder. Therefore, the headphones are connected to the computer and the microphone is connected to the cassette recorder.

1. Monique is doing an advanced section of the exam (Section II, question #3) which uses four pictures to elicit the examinee's response. She clicks NEXT to access the next question, and the following thumbnail display appears on her computer monitor.

2. Because this is a later portion of the exam (Section II), four columns of thumbnail pictures appear. Each column contains six rows.

3. This is a timed exam, so Monique must work as quickly as possible on each question. Since she studied for the exam by using an identical CD, she remembers many of the pictures and quickly selects one picture in each column. She will use these four pictures to tell a story or give a description of her choice.

4. Monique selects and double clicks four thumbnail pictures. They open as full-size pictures across the bottom of her computer monitor. If she changes her mind, she can select a new picture at any time before she clicks ENTER. She momentarily studies the pictures and decides how to proceed. The four working pictures she chose appear below.

   (Note: The thumbnail display remains on the computer monitor while Monique evaluates the four pictures she initially selected. Double clicking on any picture on the thumbnail display will replace the picture on that column in her working row of four pictures. By depressing the control key when clicking on the thumbnail, the picture is placed in memory and can be pasted in any box on the working line by using the paste function [CONTROL V]. When she is satisfied with her selection of four pictures, she will click ENTER to remove the thumbnail display from her computer monitor and activate the four pictures she selected. Each picture has a unique identification number which always appears under it.)

   
   
   
   

5. Monique may practice the sentences before releasing the pause button on the cassette recorder. She is also permitted to erase and re-record a response if she wishes. (Her recorder has a counter which she may reset to zero after completing each response.) However, because this is a timed exam, examinees are cautioned that it is better to continue in order to complete more responses than it is to waste time re-recording a response. (Nonetheless, the score is weighted to favor higher scores on fewer responses than lower scores on a higher number of responses. See the explanation in the Specifying SEEM and WEEM exams page.)

6. Monique clicked ENTER so she now releases the pause button on her cassette tape recorder. She begins recording her response.

7. When Monique pressed ENTER, the computer recorded each picture's unique identification number (#724, #1498, #627, and #1389) on a disc running in the computer's floppy drive. When the English grader evaluates Monique's response, these same four pictures will appear on the grader's monitor. We will describe the grading process later.

8. Monique speaks into the headset microphone and says, "My cordless phone rang. I answered it quick. It was my friend Alexandra, and she was in a hurry. Alexandra is not a brunette like the girl in the picture. She is not a blonde either because she has dark hair. She told me she has a bad problem on her computer and it was just fixed. It is a desktop computer with a bad keyboard. She had the same trouble with it before. She needs to write a paper on her computer and then go to the airport to meet a friend."

9. Monique pauses the cassette recorder, sets the recorder counter at zero, and clicks NEXT. Another thumbnail display appears on her computer monitor and she is ready to start the next response.

Grading the SEEM exam

    We told you that the section Monique just finished was a later portion of the exam. It had four pictures which were to be incorporated into a single response. However, before we see how Monique will be graded for her response to pictures #724, #1498, #627, and #1389, we should look at an early part of the exam using a single picture because it will be easier to explain.

    For her response in Section I, question #7, Monique selected picture #1026. A similar thumbnail display with 24 pictures appeared on her computer monitor, but she only selected one picture. Mr. Smith, the grader, is using the floppy disc which was made during Monique's exam. It recorded the sequence of all her responses. Mr. Smith just completed grading her response for Section I, question #6, and is ready to grade her next response. He clicks NEXT and this work sheet appears on his monitor.

Monique Siqueira;      03/24/06;      8:13:06-8:17:57                                                       Section: I     #: 7
#1026
Narrator:	"Please tell me what you did while you were here."
Other vocabulary:	mountain, river, tree, sky, blue, green, snow, beautiful
Verb vocabulary:	to fish, to climb, to swim
Bonus words = +2	foreground, background, clear (sky or weather), gorgeous, to rise above, to fly fish
Response answers statement = +4     Does not answer = 0,  Answers = 4
Each verb = +1
Incorrect person/tense = -1
Incorrect meaning = -1
All correct = +5
Inappropriate = -1
Pronunciation:	Unsatisfactory = 0, Satisfactory =4, Excellent =8
Comments:
Total score

    In order to grade this response, Mr. Smith listened to Monique's description of the picture. Monique's recorded statement said,

"We went to the river so my friend could go fly fishing, but it was too cold to swim. It was a clear day with a blue sky. The mountain in the background still has snow on it. It was a gorgeous day. The trees were green and beautiful. We left the river in the afternoon."

    To better illustrate what the grader is looking for, we will add bracketed notations at the end of each sentence.

"We went to the river so my friend could go fly fishing, but it was too cold to swim [5verbs=5; 1bonus=2]. It was a clear day with a blue sky [1verb=1; 1bonus=2]. The mountain in the background still has snow on it [1verb=1; incorrect tense=-1; 1bonus=2]. It was a gorgeous day [1verb=1; 1bonus=2]. The trees were green and beautiful [1verb=1]. We left the river in the afternoon [1verb=1]."

    First, Mr. Smith listened to the response in its entirety. He assumed for himself the understanding level of a native English-speaker with no language education training. He determined whether or not Monique's reply would be fully understandable to this hypothetical, untrained English-speaker without listening to it a second time. He gave her an 8 for pronunciation because her response was fully understandable the first time it was played.

    Mr. Smith finished the remainder of the evaluation from both memory and by replaying Monique's response when necessary. Monique used four bonus words, earning 8 points, and nine verbs, earning 9 points. He entered an "X" to mark each bonus word she used. (If a bonus word is coupled with a verb, it counts as both a verb and as a bonus word.) Mr. Smith gave Monique a -1 and wrote a note because her description required a single tense for the entire account. Because of the -1, she did not get the +5 for all correct. The all correct bonus requires perfect agreement of number, person, and word order.

    After he finished, Mr. Smith's work sheet looked like this:

Monique Siqueira;      03/24/06;      8:13:06-8:17:57                                                       Section: I     #: 7
#1026
Narrator:	"Please tell me what you did while you were here."
Other vocabulary:	mountain, river, tree, sky, blue, green, snow, beautiful
Verb vocabulary:	to fish, to climb, to swim
Bonus words = +2	foreground, =background, =clear (sky or weather), =gorgeous, to rise above, =to fly fish	8
Response answers statement = +4     Does not answer = 0,  Answers = 4		4
Each verb = +1		10
Incorrect person/tense = -1        Everything was told in the past tense--you should say "mountain HAD snow..."		-1
Incorrect meaning = -1		0
All correct = +5		0
Inappropriate = -1		0
Pronunciation:	Unsatisfactory = 0, Satisfactory =4, Excellent =8	8
Comments:	- - - - - - - - - -
Total score:		29

    The work sheet was generated for Mr. Smith from the program contained on the CD. When Monique clicked ENTER after selecting the picture she wanted to describe, the program wrote the grader's work sheet, selected the random Narrator phrase, and listed all of the vocabulary, bonus words, and grading criteria assigned to that picture. Of course, Monique saw none of this, but when Mr. Smith was ready to grade that part of the recording (which in this case was from Section I, picture #7) this information was available to him from the floppy disc Monique was running in her computer during the exam. All Mr. Smith needed to do was to listen to the recording, mark the bonus words Monique used, tally the verbs, and enter the totals in each right-hand column. He entered the note in the "incorrect person/tense = -1" row, and entered 0's and - - - - - in unused spaces to indicate that the category was not overlooked.

An explanation of the SEEM score sheet

Narrator. In order to test the examinee's ability to spontaneously speak English, all pictures in the CD's image file would be grouped so that each group could be represented by appropriately worded questions or statements. (The CD would contain approximately 2,000 pictures and 100 Narrator questions or statements.) When an examinee would select a picture for a single-picture response, the Narrator's voice would randomly ask a question or make a statement appropriate to that picture. Multiple-picture exam questions would not use the Narrator, allowing the examinee to match his or her vocabulary with the pictures. Examples of these questions or statements would be:

"Please tell me what the people in this picture are doing."

"Please tell me what you think is going to happen."

"Why are these people talking?"

"Please tell me what you did while you were here."

    Questions asking for simple responses such as, "Do you like this picture?" or "Is this person talking?" would not be used because they would stifle the examinee's response by suggesting simple "Yes" and "No" answers.

Other vocabulary and Verb vocabulary. These words would be given for study purposes only when the student would be using the study mode, which is explained later.

Bonus words. These words would represent specialized English vocabulary. For example, Monique said, "The mountain in the background still has (sic) snow on it." The use of the word "background" in the sentence adds description and clarity which requires greater fluency. Equally, in the example from Section II, question #3, Monique could have said her friend did not have brown hair. Instead, she identified her friend as not being a brunette or a blonde. It was a creative way to use bonus words, and it displayed greater English fluency. However, there would also be a risk because inaccurate use of bonus words could result in lost points. Bonus words may only be viewed in the study mode.

Response answers statement. 4 points would indicate that the examinee understood the Narrator's question or statement and responded appropriately. 0 points would indicate that the examinee did not understand the question or statement. (Grades of 1, 2, or 3 points would not be given.)

Verb count. Because verbs are critical to the structure of an English sentence, each verb would be given one point. Compound verbs (could fish) would count as two verbs. Only verbs would be counted in order to discourage the long, rambling sentences which would result if all words were counted.

Incorrect person/tense. One point would be deducted for each incorrect verb person or tense. Incorrect meaning. One point would be deducted for each occurrence of an incorrect meaning. Incorrect use of bonus words would be deducted here.

All correct. Five extra points would be given if there were no grammar or meaning mistakes in the entire response.

Inappropriate -1. We would take the point of view that the English used in this exam is that which would be appropriate in a professional job interview. There seems to be a trend among ESL students to incorporate a great deal of slang, vulgarity, and profanity in their attempt to speak English. Generally, this practice is distracting rather than helpful in the communication process. We are not passing judgment on its use; we are simply saying that the best English for the EFL student is English which is free of the potential hazards resulting from the use of slang and profanity in formal education and business environments. Therefore, we would mark a -1 if we heard "yup," "going like hell," and the like. This would not surprise the examinee because the expectations of the exam would be fully explained. However, this would not negate the All correct score.

Pronunciation. The sentences would be graded as Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory and Excellent. If the grader could understand all the words in the full statement without paying more than normal attention during the first playing of the entire response, the pronunciation would be graded as Excellent (8). If the grader would have to listen carefully because of faulty pronunciation or inflection, but could still hear all of the words correctly in the first playing, it would be graded as Satisfactory (4). If the grader would be uncertain of specific words and would have to replay portions of the response to understand any of the words, the response would be graded as Unsatisfactory (0). The grader would have to maintain consistency throughout the entire grading process so that increasing familiarity with the examinee's pronunciation would not change grading. The grader would have to listen as though he or she were a normal English speaker without specialized language education training.

Monique's response in Section II.

    We have already seen Monique's response. In order to make the grading system clear, we are adding bracketed score values at the end of each sentence.

"My cordless phone rang [1verb=1; 2bonus=4]. I answered it quick [1verb=1; incorrect grammar]. It was my friend Alexandra and she was in a hurry [2verbs=2]. Alexandra is not a brunette like the girl in the picture [1verb=1; 1bonus=2]. She is not a blonde either because she has dark hair [2verbs=2; 1bonus=2]. She told me she has a bad problem on her computer and it was just fixed [4verbs=4; incorrect tense=-1]. It is a desktop computer with a bad keyboard [1verb=1; 2bonus=4]. She had the same trouble with it before [1verb=1]. She needs to write a paper on her computer and then go to the airport to meet a friend [4verbs=4]."

    This is how Mr. Smith scored her response.

Monique Siqueira;      03/24/06;      11:27:43-11:34:07                                                       Section: II     #: 3
Narrator:	Ø
Other vocabulary:	telephone, phone, receiver, LED display, key pad, pushbutton, woman, brown (hair), blouse, girl, yellow (hair), computer, airplane, airport, plane, monitor,
Verb vocabulary:	to call, to ring, to answer, to wear (clothes), to fly, to board,
Bonus words = +2	=cord(less), =phone, touch keypad, =brunett(e), embroidered, =desktop, laptop, =keyboard, monitor, =blond(e), runway, tarmac, fuselage, jet engine, wing tip,	12
Response answers statement = +4     Does not answer = 0,  Answers = 4		Ø
Each verb = +1		17
Incorrect person/tense = -1        she has HAD a bad...it was just fixed		-1
Incorrect meaning = -1		0
All correct = +5		0
Inappropriate = -1	0	0
Pronunciation:	Unsatisfactory = 0, Satisfactory =4, Excellent =8	8
Comments:	- - - - - - - - - -
Total score		36

Section differences.

    Though the description of a four-picture sequence may be somewhat longer than that of a one-picture question, length would not be the purpose of the multiple pictures. Generally, it would be more difficult for the examinee to expand comments for multiple pictures because the pictures themselves are not as much the focus of attention as the sequence of events.

    The one-picture questions would tend to produce embellishment on a single topic whereas the four-picture questions would force the examinee to describe a series of events or steps required for a completed description.

    SEEM would be a timed exam with a fixed allotment of time for each section. It would serve the student's best interest to do a larger number of questions with shorter monologues than it would to attempt to include all possible bonus words in lengthy sentences. Using verbs would help the student. However, since the all correct bonus would be so heavily weighted, shorter sentences may produce better scores. (Notice that on the first score sheet, a single misuse of a verb tense changed Monique's score from 35 to 29.)

    Also notice that the pronunciation score (0, 4, or 8) represents a significant portion of the score. This is intentional inasmuch as this is a spoken English exam. The weighting of correct pronunciation may be easily altered by changing this one grading category. (For example, pronunciation would represent a smaller percentage of the score if it was graded as 0, 2, or 4.) The final exam grade would be given for the total number of points earned in each section, irrespective of the number of questions completed.

    The final exam grade would be given for the total number of points earned in each section, irrespective of the number of questions completed.

    We only need to describe the third section of the exam (Section III) rather than demonstrate it. Section III would open identically as Section II with columns of four pictures and rows of five pictures. However, Section III gives the examinee more control of the response. The examinee may select any number of pictures (from one picture to four pictures) in any order for each numbered question. That is, the examinee may choose two pictures for the first question, four pictures for the second question, a single picture for the third question, and any number of pictures to the maximum of four for each subsequent question. If a single picture was chosen in Section III, the Narrator question would not be used.

    In spite of the flexibility that Section III affords to the examinee, it also demands somewhat greater ability to spontaneously use the language in more dynamic speech. Thus, the three sections each emphasis slightly different language fluency skills. Section I (a single picture) requires the examinee's response to the Narrator's question. Section I therefore gives more structure while at the same time requires a more specific response. Section II (four pictures) will result in shorter sentences per picture, but will require the examinee to make a chain of related statements. Section III (a variable number of pictures up to four) will remove the structure and allow the examinee to display the greatest degree of dynamic language fluency.

    We would suggest three thirty-minute sessions for the exam. The exam should be completed within two and one-half hours, though the examinee is free to set his or her own pace, taking breaks between each section as needed. (Inasmuch as "cheating" is impossible, there is no difficulty in allowing the examinee to leave the room temporarily as long as no papers, pens or pencils, or electronic devices are brought into the exam area.) Though in all likelihood it would be counter-productive, the student would be permitted to do review practice in between sessions by using the CD in the study mode. (See the description of the study mode which is given later.)

    In addition to the two and one-half hour exam period, the examinee would be allowed to use the study mode for as much as an hour before commencing the exam. Again, that would in all probability be counter-productive if the examinee had studied with a CD prior to taking the exam.

How the SEEM test grader receives the information

    The grader would need two kinds of information. First, he or she would need to be able to listen to the recorded audio. Secondly, the audio recording would need to be coordinated with the picture numbers, the vocabulary which goes with each picture, student identification, and test data. (We call all of this the control information. The control information for each picture would include the student's name, the date of the exam, the length of time spent on that picture(s), and the exam section and picture number(s). There would be, of course, a summary page (not shown) which would include additional information and grades. After the grading would be complete, the student would receive a copy of each picture score.)

    As a practical consideration, helping an examinee study for a retake exam after he or she had failed a first exam would increase the earning potential for SEEM.

    How the information would be recorded during the exam would depend largely on the technology available in the country in which it was administered. The lowest technology level would use a cassette tape recorder for the audio information and a floppy disc in the computer for the control information. The SEEM exam CD would have a program which records the entire exam sequence and transfers the information to a floppy disc as the exam progressed. The control information would include each picture number and the time used for each part of the exam. When the exam would be graded, the control information would be displayed on the grader's computer monitor (or printed) in the way the information is shown in our examples.

    With appropriate computer technology, the same information could be recorded on a CD. With the necessary hardware and software — including MP3 burning capability — the CD could record both the control information and the audio. The advantage of using a CD for the entire exam would be its value as a backup. The university could mail one copy to the SEEM grading center in the United States and keep a backup copy in the event of mail loss. The backup copy would also be useful to the student in evaluating his or her responses after the grade was posted. Equally, by recording the exam on a CD, the entire session could be transmitted to the grading center by way of the internet.

    (Note 1: Upgrade to the floppy discs — or CD — would be done in real time rather than at the end of the exam. Unreliable electrical power in some parts of the world could disrupt computer function. The CD control information program would have to be written so that, in the event of a power failure, a minimum amount of information would be lost. Note 2: Circulation of a backup CD among future examines would present no security risk. See the earlier comments regarding CD security and the Exam Grading and Security Software article.)

Securing graders

    Grading could actually be reduced to a rather simple and easily trained task. The grading (as evident in this article) has been reduced to substantially objective criteria. In addition, with only minimal training at the testing institution's administration center, the actual grading could be done at the grader's home. Alternatively, a Training Guide could be written for distance study and certification. Thus, the entire grading of the exams could be done off-site on a pay-per-exam basis. In addition, the score sheet makes it simple for a staff person to randomly check each grader's work for compliance to established scoring standards.

STUDY and EXAM modes

    The SEEM CD home page would allow a selection between one of two modes. In the study mode, the student could select either the single- or a multiple-picture mode. Each time the NEXT button was clicked, the thumbnail display would open and allow the student to paste the selected picture (or pictures) on the working line. In the study mode, the student would be able to double click on any picture on the working line and the grader's work sheet would pop up. This would give the student the "Other vocabulary," "Verb vocabulary," and "Bonus words" for study. It would also prepare the student for the kind of "Narrator" questions or statements which would be used during the exam. The Narrator questions or statements for that picture category would be played by clicking through the entire list.

    The student could practice using the CD in the study mode. It would respond to the student exactly as the exam, except that the student could add the pop-up grader's work sheet. However, the control information function would not run and the computer would record nothing to a floppy disc. (Nonetheless, a student could use a live cassette recorder as part of the practice session.)

    However, in the exam mode, the pop-up work sheets would not be available and the control information function would run if a CD or floppy disc were inserted into the computer. The exam mode would also be the timing device and would limit the practice time before the exam began and the elapsed time during the exam. The exam would turn itself off after the allotted time. A partially completed answer would be counted to the last complete sentence. To thwart any possibility of cheating by using pop-ups during the exam, the computer would void the control information on the floppy disc if the examinee exited the exam mode in order to enter the study mode. (In order to prevent such an occurrence, a message would appear on the monitor saying, "WARNING: THIS ACTION WILL TERMINATE THE EXAM.") The computer would be left running in the exam mode for the entire two and 1/2 hours of the exam or until the examinee completed the exam.

    Note that there is no security issue involved by making the full SEEM exam available to students for their own personal study. It is impossible to use the CD to prepare any kind of material which would give unfair advantage during the exam. All responses during the exam are extemporaneous explanations of pictures. Since the only "keys" to the exam are pictures and the bonus words, nothing could be gained by trying to memorize details beyond that which we would encourage any student to do in preparation for the exam. Consequently, the best study for the exam is the exam CD itself.

    We actually have several purposes in structuring the exam in this way. First, it makes sales and administration of the CD much more simple. Anyone who wants to purchase the exam CD may do so. There is no control necessary which greatly reduces inaccurate testing because a few have advantaged themselves through cheating schemes. The other reason is purely economic. The money to be made in SEEM is through the actual testing far more than it is in selling CDs. The more the SEEM CDs circulate among potential examinees (and business people looking for a good spoken English exam), the more widely that it will ultimately be used. In turn, that will result in greater income for the testing agency.

    There are only two security issues, and neither of them are directly concerned with an examinee having access to the SEEM CD for study. The first is that of making prepared materials which could be read during the exam. This problem is simply solved by disallowing anything brought into the exam area. This includes pens, pencils, paper, and any electronic devices. On the other hand, if an examinee wants to memorize answers, more power to him or her — that is no different than memorizing any other sentences in English prior to an exam. (We are doubtful that many examinees could memorize responses to 2000 pictures, much less the greater number there would be because there may be as many as 100 random Narrator questions for each single picture, or an almost infinite number of combinations when multiple pictures are used.)

    The second security issue is more sophisticated, but the scheme is not impossible. An examinee could attempt to fabricate a bogus exam and send the recording to the testing agency as though it was coming from the university center where it should have been administered. However, there would be several checks which would not permit the fraud. First, there is an elapsed time clock function which is running during the exam and is clearly printed on the grader's work sheets. Any deviation would tell the grader that the exam was invalid. In addition, there would be a hidden serial number on each CD. The exam must be taken on a CD which is registered to the administrating university. The exam serial number would be cross-referenced to the master catalog of CDs in the possession of the administering university. The computer's IP address used for the exam would also be recorded. With proper safeguards incorporated into the original programming, it would be very difficult for an examinee to make the deception work. (For further security related suggestions, see the article Exam Grading and Security Software.)

Using SEEM with supplementary SEEM vocabulary sections.

    SEEM would have a number of supplementary vocabulary sections. These sections would test the English vocabulary used in specialized fields such as business, computer technology, telephone receptionist, sales, medical service, banking, hotel and tourist, transportation, para-legal, and many more.

    Inasmuch as the SEEM exam is modular, a single section — or any combination of sections — could be used for a particular test. For example, a company searching for an English-speaking telephone receptionist may require that a prospective employee pass with a specified grade for Section I, Section II, and a supplementary section for a telephone receptionist. (For more information, see the Supplementary SEEM Vocabulary Sections.)

SEEM applications.

    SEEM has a large market potential which is entirely outside the reach of TOEFL and similar written examinations. In today's economic world, there are many fields in which spoken English fluency is essential. International business, tourist industries, call answering services, airport services and aircraft hospitality, manufacturer representation, international sales, technical repair and service, computer and software support, advertising media, and banking — to name just a few — must often hire employees who speak English fluently. Yet, there is little standardized English testing available today aside from TOEFL. TOEFL would be entirely inappropriate for this level of testing.

    The Educational Testing Service (ETS) distributes Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). Nonetheless, it is a written exam rather than one which measures the examinee's ability to spontaneously communicate using spoken English. Their descriptive material says:

The TOEIC test is a benchmark of English language skills in listening and reading. The TOEIC test is a paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice assessment.

    Educational Testing Service then poses this question and answer.

Why is testing only listening and reading skills better than testing speaking and writing?

Listening and reading skills can be tested objectively, cost-effectively, and efficiently. Generally, direct tests of speaking and writing are less objective and reliable — and more time consuming and expensive.

    We could facetiously answer that an arithmetic test would be even more objective and reliable. It would also cost less. But, if we are attempting to test the examinee's ability to speak English, we need an exam which tests spoken English. How can a written exam test pronunciation and fluency?

    SEEM is intended to be an objective and cost-effective exam which measures the examinee's ability to communicate using spoken English. Employers of those entering the large international work force need to be able to evaluate prospective employees' ability to effectively speak English. A paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice exam tells the employer nothing about the applicant's ability to use the telephone.

    A standardized SEEM exam for spoken English testing has huge market potential in today's international business world. The mere fact that a large English testing organization has been unable to produce such an examination does not mean it cannot be done.

Public Domain notice: All descriptions of SEEM and WEEM are freely given without either stated or implied copyright protection. Spoken Language International does not have the financial means to develop or administer a spoken or written English exam. However, it would be to Spoken Language International's advantage that such exams be extensively used because of the demand it would place on our Spoken English Learned Quickly language study course. Thus, we present the SEEM and WEEM exams on this website with the hope that another institution will further develop and market them under any name. We relinquish any claim for remuneration of any kind as a result of another institution using this material for their own profit. Future publication of this material would carry the full copyright protection of the publisher and will then be subject to full enforcement of that copyright protection.