Preparing for Oral English-Language Assessment: International Teaching Assistants/Instructors

SPEAK Test Preparation

Please visit the Ellis library circulation desk where practice SPEAK tests are held on reserve. If you want to prepare for the test, you can take the practice test, record yourself and listen to the recording for areas that might be difficult for an American English speaker to understand. Another resource Toward SPEAKing Excellence, written by Dean Papajohn and published by University of Michigan Press in 1998 is also on reserve in the library.

You can also visit a Website called Test of Spoken English (TSE). The TSE has a test format similar to that of the SPEAK. Therefore, going through the TSE preparation materials can help you prepare for SPEAK.

Oral Presentation Test (OPT) Preparation

In addition to the OPT exam itself, you might wish to prepare microteaching presentations on your own to become more comfortable and confident with the process.

The OPT consists of a 5–7-minute teaching presentation, followed by a 1–2-minute additional question-and-answer period.

You might wish to consider the following as you prepare for your OPT presentation.

Length

Prepare a 5-minute presentation. Make sure the content is simple enough that it can be easily covered within the time limit. If for some reason your presentation doesn't use the full amount of time, don't worry. If it takes longer, we'll cut you off at the 7-minute mark.

Background

The topic should be appropriate for college freshmen. If it is a complex topic, make sure you review the basics they need to know at the start.

Objectives

Be clear about what you want to teach your students. Make sure it is clear to the students as well.

Organization

You will need to be clear and concise to teach effectively in such a short period of time. Plan how you will introduce your topic, provide the necessary information and check to see that your students comprehend it. Transitions should be smooth. Organization should be logical and make sense to your audience.

Teaching activities

You should strive to have students be interactive in your microteaching. To do this you could use real life examples, sample objects, or you might wish to use visuals (posters, overheads, video or Powerpoint presentations). Strive for activities that will make your lesson effective and reinforce learning.

Checking for comprehension

Make sure you get feedback from your students throughout the presentation. Not just in the additional question and answer time after your presentation.

The Question and Answer (Q & A) Period

The Q & A time lasts for one to two minutes and follows the actual teaching presentation. This time is designed to determine how well the ITA candidate can answer a variety of questions in his or her field, not necessarily for students to clarify misunderstandings from the microteaching. Undergraduates, ITAP staff and department faculty may ask additional questions that are beyond the scope of the microteaching in order to allow candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their linguistic expertise.