For some people, the fear of public speaking is worse than death. Imagine having a spoken exam in another language! That is exactly what our 3rd through 8th graders have been doing this week, and they passed with flying colors.
Every semester I have college students tell me that they studied Spanish in high school, but that they couldn't actually speak it if their lives depended on it. That is such a tragic waste of time! Many universities and colleges are moving to oral proficiency exams, with good reason. Most of the time when you use Spanish outside of the classroom, you will be speaking it.
For our speaking tests, the students came out in the hall one by one, and I asked them a series of questions in Spanish. They did not know in advance what questions I would be asking, and there was no paper to look at. They were graded on their comprehension of the question, grammar and pronunciation. Although it was brief, it was excellent practice with "real life" Spanish.
It is fascinating to see how different learning styles shine with different forms of assessment. Some of the students who struggle more with the written exams excelled at speaking Spanish. I love seeing our students developing communicative competence!
