ACCESS Speaking Skills 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On the ACCESS Speaking test, what linguistic feature is evaluated under 'linguistic complexity'?
- The student's handwriting legibility
- The length and variety of oral sentences and discourse (Correct answer)
- The accuracy of the student's spelling
- The speed at which the student speaks
Correct answer: The length and variety of oral sentences and discourse
Linguistic complexity on ACCESS Speaking refers to the length, variety, and organization of sentences and discourse produced by the student.
Question 2: A student consistently uses present tense when discussing past events on the ACCESS Speaking test. Which domain of language is affected?
- Phonology
- Vocabulary
- Grammar (Correct answer)
- Discourse
Correct answer: Grammar
Using incorrect verb tense is a grammatical error, which falls under the grammar domain of language proficiency.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of an academic language function tested in ACCESS Speaking?
- Greeting a friend informally
- Explaining the cause and effect of a scientific phenomenon (Correct answer)
- Singing a memorized song
- Repeating back a list of numbers
Correct answer: Explaining the cause and effect of a scientific phenomenon
Explaining cause and effect is an academic language function that ACCESS Speaking assesses at higher proficiency levels.
Question 4: Why is the ACCESS Speaking test administered by a trained teacher rather than a computer scoring system?
- Computers cannot run the test software
- Spoken language requires human judgment to assess nuanced proficiency (Correct answer)
- The test is too long for computers to score
- Students perform better when no technology is present
Correct answer: Spoken language requires human judgment to assess nuanced proficiency
Scoring spoken language requires human raters to evaluate nuanced features like fluency, intonation, and contextual appropriateness.
Question 5: A student says 'I go to the store yesterday' during an ACCESS Speaking task. Which error type is this?
- Pronunciation error
- Vocabulary error
- Morphosyntactic error (Correct answer)
- Discourse error
Correct answer: Morphosyntactic error
Using 'go' instead of 'went' is a morphosyntactic error because it involves incorrect verb morphology for past tense.
Question 6: Which grade cluster uses the most complex speaking prompts on the ACCESS for ELLs?
- Kindergarten
- Grades 1–2
- Grades 3–5
- Grades 9–12 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Grades 9–12
The 9–12 grade cluster uses the most complex speaking prompts, requiring extended academic discourse and argumentation.
Question 7: What does 'vocabulary usage' assess in the ACCESS Speaking scoring rubric?
- How many words per minute the student speaks
- The specificity and appropriateness of words chosen in context (Correct answer)
- Whether the student uses English or their home language
- The student's ability to spell words aloud
Correct answer: The specificity and appropriateness of words chosen in context
Vocabulary usage on ACCESS assesses whether students select words that are specific, precise, and contextually appropriate.
ACCESS Speaking Skills 3
On the ACCESS Speaking test, what linguistic feature is evaluated under 'linguistic complexity'?