Cataloged from PDF version of article.The primary aim of this study is to find out language instructors’ attitudes
towards holistic and analytic assessment of speaking. The secondary aim is to
investigate whether the scores assigned by using holistic and analytic assessment
tools differed or not. Finally, this study sets out to reveal whether the scores assigned
by using holistic and analytic assessment tools differed or not according to
instructors’ background. The research was conducted at the School of Foreign
Languages, Erciyes University with twenty four language instructors between
December 2014 and April 2015. An attitude questionnaire and holistic and analytic
assessment tools were used to collect data.
The findings showed that the instructors in this study had different attitudes
towards holistic and analytic assessment of speaking, and their advantages and
disadvantages for assessment. While instructors did not have a negative attitude
towards analytic assessment of speaking, they displayed a more positive attitude
towards holistic assessment. Also, as a whole, the speaking exam scores assigned by
holistic and analytic assessment tools did not differ. Scores were found to differ only when instructors’ years of experience was considered for scores obtained by holistic
assessment. For other variables examined, there scores did not statistically differ
according to the background of the instructors.
In the light of this study’s findings, it can be suggested that allowing
instructors to choose between holistic and analytic assessment tools of their own
preference may be considered for further educational purposes.Özbay, CerenM.S