Teachers' Perspectives on Assessing English Speaking Skills: A Post-New Exam Model Investigation

This study investigates the secondary school English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perspectives on assessing English speaking skills after the new regulations introduced in the 2023-2024 academic year by the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE). With the new regulations, students started to take English speaking exams for the first time in secondary schools in Türkiye. The focus of the study is on EFL teachers' perspectives, feelings, experiences, and thoughts regarding pre-, during, and post-exam situations in this adaptation process. In this qualitative study, data was gathered from 11 teachers via one-on-one semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. The thematic analysis revealed that EFL teachers find the speaking exams significant, necessary, and useful. Teachers reported that they had become more motivated about speaking activities and using English in the lessons after the regulations. While teachers generally expressed positive sentiments regarding the introduction of speaking exams in secondary schools and the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues during the adaptation process, they also reported experiencing negative emotions, including feelings of unpreparedness, stress, burnout, fatigue, and hopelessness, largely due to the abrupt timing of the change. Challenges such as difficulties in adaptation, ineffective exams, increased teacher workloads, impractical grading processes within the e-school system, and teachers' demanding schedules were also reported. For the future of speaking exams, teachers believe that these exams will/should continue but need to be improved. The findings of this study can serve as a valuable resource for English testing and evaluation, curriculum development, educational planning and programming, material development, in-service teacher training, and the preparation of pre-service EFL teachers, particularly in relation to speaking exams in secondary schools