Benefits of testing the four skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking)

Evelina D. Galaczi, Head of Research Strategy, Research and Thought Leadership Group, Cambridge English

When we say that someone ’speaks‘ a language fluently, we usually mean that they have a high level in all four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. But, as any teacher knows, learners often have strengths or weaknesses in particular skills, and in some cases can achieve high levels in, for example, reading and writing, while not being able to speak or listen at a comparable level.

For some purposes – highly specialised jobs, for example – these uneven skills may not matter very much. However, English is such an important skill in the global world, and needed in so many different contexts, that someone without a good ability in all four skills will greatly reduce the opportunities open to them in education and professional life.

Ability to use English in a variety of contexts involves multiple language skills and therefore testing the four skills enhances the accuracy of a test

If we want to assess someone’s speaking ability, we must get them to speak. The same applies to all the other skills. We can’t infer ability in one skill (e.g. speaking) from performance in another (e.g. listening), or from using tests of language knowledge, e.g. grammar, vocabulary, as proxies for communicative language ability. Therefore if we want to accurately assess communicative language ability, we need to include tasks which elicit a wide range of skills related to communicative language.

The Common European Framework of Reference (2001) extends the definition of communicative language ability into five skills, and divides speaking into two skills: spoken production and spoken interaction. This is based on the evidence that these two skills are different, since one involves only monologue-type speech and the other involves being both a speaker and a listener at the same time. A test of communicative language, therefore, needs to include both spoken production and spoken interaction. 

Learners’ development in the four skills is often unbalanced and testing only some language skills may give an inaccurate picture

It is common for language abilities across the four skills to be interrelated. However, such relationships are not strong enough to allow measurement of one skill to substitute for another.

Learners’ development of the four skills can be unbalanced, e.g. a learner could be strong in reading, but weak in listening or writing or speaking. Research has suggested that the ability to speak is distinct from the ability to read/listen/write (Powers 2010, Sawaki et al 2009). Therefore, a proficient reader/writer/listener may not necessarily be a proficient speaker.

For example, the data below, based on over 465,000 test takers who took Cambridge English Qualifications in 2015, show only moderate relationships among the different skills. If we take speaking, for example, the relationship between speaking and reading is 0.60, which means that a candidate who scores high in the speaking test only tends to score high in the reading test or vice versa.

Testing all four skills has a positive impact on learning

By testing all four skills, Cambridge English exams encourage teachers and learners to take a balanced approach to language learning, ensuring that the learners develop the ability to use the language effectively in the real world.

Cambridge English research suggests that one of the main reasons ministries and school groups introduce Cambridge English exams is because they test all four skills and as a result increase the focus on speaking and listening. This helps learners to develop competence to communicate in English (Ashton, Salamoura and Diaz 2012, Khalifa and Docherty 2016).

A test based solely on the ‘passive’ skills of Listening and Reading does not give employers what they need

If an employment context only involves listening and reading, then a test focusing solely on listening and reading may be enough. However, most work contexts involve speaking and writing skills, and the use of English in both formal and informal situations, such as giving presentations, participating in a discussion, writing reports, participating in meetings and writing e-mails (Fitzpatrick & O’Dowd 2012, Kassim & Ali 2010, Stevens 2005,). Having staff who cannot use the language to communicate greatly limits an employer’s flexibility.

Research carried out by Cambridge English shows in detail the importance which employers attach to the four skills: englishatwork.cambridgeenglish.org/ 

Of course, some employers and other organisations wish to focus on particular skills to meet the requirements of specific roles. For these situations, Cambridge English provides a number of modular tests such as BULATS and Linguaskill which can be used to focus on individual skills.

For further information

Further information in the academic literature about the communicative approach to assessment can also be found in:

• Bachman, L., & Palmer, A. (1996). Language testing in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
• Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Fitzpatrick, A., & O'Dowd, R. (2012). English at Work: The International Research Foundation for English Language Education report.
• Kassim, H & Ali, F (2010) English communicative events and skills needed at the workplace: Feedback from the industry. English for Specific Purposes, 29(3), 168-182.
• Powers, D. E. (2010) The case for a comprehensive, four-skills assessment of English Language Proficiency. TOEIC Compendium Study. ETS Publications.
• Sawaki, Y, Stricker, L. J and Oranje, A. H (2009) Factor structure of the TOEFL Internet-based test, Language Testing, 26 (1) 5-30.
• Stevens, B. (2005). What communication skills do employers want? Silicon Valley recruiters respond. Journal of Employment Counseling, 42, 2-9.
• Weir, C J, Vidakovic, I and Galaczi, E D (2013) Measured constructs: A history of the constructs underlying Cambridge English examinations 1913–2012 (Studies in Language Testing, volume 37), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

These articles focus on the impact of Cambridge English exams in a range of educational contexts, and provide evidence for the benefits of including the four skills in assessment:

• Ashton, K, Salamoura, A and Diaz, E (2012) The BEDA impact project: A preliminary investigation of a bilingual programme in Spain, Research Notes 50, 34–42.
• Chambers, L, Elliott, M and Jianguo, H (2012) The Hebei Impact Project: A study into the impact of Cambridge English exams in the state sector in Hebei province, China, Research Notes 50, 20–23.
• Gu, X, Khalifa, H, Yan, Q and Tian, J (2012) A small-scale pilot study investigating the impact of Cambridge English: Young Learners in China, Research Notes 50, 42–48.
• Gu, X and Saville, N (2012) Impact of Cambridge English: Key for Schools and Cambridge English: Preliminary for Schools – parents’ perspectives in China, Research Notes 50, 48–56.
• Hawkey, R and Ellis, S (2016) Impacts of international language assessments on multilingualism: Evidence from an iterative impact study of Progetto Lingue 2000, in Docherty, C and Barker, F (Eds) Language Assessment For Multilingualism: Proceedings of the ALTE Paris Conference, April 2014, (Studies in Language Testing, volume 44), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 182–208.
• Khalifa, H, and Docherty, C (2016) Investigating the impact of international assessment: A convergent parallel mixed methods approach, in Moeller, A, Creswell, J and Saville, N (Eds) Second Language Assessment and Mixed Methods Research (Studies in Language Testing, volume 43), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 269-295).
• Khalifa, H, Nguyen, T and Walker, C (2012) An investigation into the effect of intensive language provision and external assessment in primary education in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Research Notes 50, 8–19.
• Salamoura, A, Hamilton, M and Octor, V (2012) An initial investigation of the introduction of Cambridge English examinations in Mission laïque francaise schools, Research Notes 50, 24–33.