teachers, help a new teacher! - testing spoken language

[magdalena]

Hi,

I have a new group of 5-7 people and I will have to test them to check their level . I have no idea how to go about the oral part, it's the first time I have been asked to do this. Should I talk to everyone separately or design some group activities that would help check the level? If so, what kind of activities? Please, help! this class is coming and I don't have any idea. I do have some grammar test but it won't be enough.

[nonsense]

If you have the time, talk to them separately. Group dynamics can interfere with an accurate assessment.

When I did this for the first time, we had made up a questionare form with certain questions that we thought the students should be able to answer at different levels. Then we would start out by asking the basic questions to see if the student could talk about things like family or food. If that seemed easy for them, then you gradually move up the scale to more complicated questions until you figure about where their limits are. This was just for oral; there were other tests for listening, reading and writing.