| Related Links: A Spoken English ExaM (SEEM) A Written English ExaM (WEEM) Supplementary Vocabulary Sections Specifying SEEM and WEEM Exam Grading and Security Software Public Domain notice |
The need
International businesses presently use only written exams to evaluate potential employees for English-speaking jobs. The American business community is not well served by this inadequate testing, and will soon demand that telephone service and sales people representing their companies be selected according to their ability to communicate using spoken English.
Domestically, both the business community and government agencies face increasing liability when public safety is dependent on spoken language ability. A standardized spoken English exam would greatly reduce their liability profile.
SEEM’s success would be driven by both business and government needs.
How SEEM works
Other testing agencies have resorted to written exams because of their inability to develop an objective spoken English exam with cost-effective grading. SEEM has solved that problem.
SEEM uses a series of high quality photos to elicit a description from the examinee. The examinee could structure the description for each question (photo) as he or she pleases. A grade would be given on pronunciation with a unique and simply applied criteria which would give an objective 0, 4 or 8 point grade for each exam question. In addition to pronunciation, each question could be easily graded on up to eight additional criteria such as grammatical usage, use of verbs, bonus vocabulary, etc. The exam results for each question would be easily recorded by the grader on a form which could later be reviewed by the examinee.
In this example, Monique recorded this response to picture #1026. Of course, she recorded responses to many more pictures:
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 are adding 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 [5 verbs = 5; 1 bonus = 2]. It was a clear day with a blue sky [1 verb = 1; 1 bonus = 2]. The mountain in the background still has snow on it [1 verb = 1; incorrect tense = -1; 1 bonus = 2]. It was a gorgeous day [1 verb = 1; 1 bonus = 2]. The trees were green and beautiful [1 verb = 1]. We left the river in the afternoon [1 verb = 1].
This is what the score sheet looked like after the grader finished grading this one response:
| 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 | |
Monique received a score of 29 for this one response. 29 is a good score on a verbal section, though, had she not made one mistake on a verb tense, she would have gained the bonus and received a score of 35. Her good pronunciation helped her a great deal. (SEEM uses a simple method for objectively and quickly scoring pronunciation.) Monique's score of 29 will be added to all her other scores for the entire exam. Her exam will have three 40-minute sections. Monique is applying for a job as a telephone receptionist with a company which does much of its business with U.S. customers. Therefore, two sections of her exam will use pictures with verbal responses. Because she will also need to write in English (her prospective job requires responding to emails), one section will use pictures with written responses. The written section will be graded similarly though spelling and punctuation scores will replace the pronunciation score.
The companion WEEM exam
The Written English ExaM (WEEM) would follow the same format using a written response. WEEM could be used to test prospective employees who must use written English in the international business world.
SEEM and WEEM are highly adaptable
Since both exams would be modular, they could be mixed depending on the job requirement of the prospective international employee. A prospective employee who would be conducting business only by telephone would take a SEEM exam. Another who would be expected to both speak and write English could take an exam incorporating both SEEM and WEEM sections. In addition, there would also be supplementary sections which could be administered as either spoken or written exams in order to test specialized vocabularies in an infinite number of specialized fields. These fields would include vocabularies such as computer technology, hospitality, sales, health, travel, banking, engineering, and many more.
Go to the Related links above for a full explanations of each part of the SEEM and WEEM exams.
Why ESL doesn't work (very well)
A technical comparison of Spoken English Learned Quickly and ESL
Grammar and writing in spoken language study
Can beginning and advanced students use the same lessons?
What is ASE? (Accelerated Spoken English)
Socialization versus language instruction
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.