Assessing Speaking Skills in Online University Courses: The Case of English for Tourism

Abstract

Summative assessment is especially useful for scoring and grading at the university level. In the case of English for Tourism —a core and ESP subject in the online Bachelor Degree in Tourism at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria— the assessment of speaking skills is done through a video (oral) presentation on a topic covered during the course. Since online classes require a special consideration when selecting and implementing assessment of speaking skills, the students have to be provided with models and samples to follow, alongside tools that may help them overcome performance difficulties and a rubric adapted to the level and expected results for guidance. In this paper, we explain the steps taken to assess speaking skills in students of Tourism that bring different levels of prior knowledge into the virtual classroom but need to acquire and develop, at least, a B2 oral fluency and accuracy for their professional careers.