Assessing listening skills with the GSE

Leonor Corradi
A teacher standing next to a student who is sat down, he has a pen and is gesturing to her work on the table.
Reading time: 4 minutes

In today’s interconnected world, effective communication in English is more crucial than ever. As educators and language learners seek to measure and improve English proficiency, a resource like the Global Scale of English (GSE) offers a valuable framework for assessment. This blog post will explore how the GSE can be used to assess listening skills, providing insights into how it also helps tailor instruction and support language development.

For listening skills, the GSE focuses on how well learners can understand spoken English in different contexts. It assesses comprehension at varying levels of complexity:

Understanding simple information: At lower levels, learners are expected to understand basic information, such as simple instructions or everyday topics. The GSE provides learning objectives for how well learners can grasp essential details.

Understanding main ideas: As proficiency grows, learners should be able to identify main ideas and key points in more complex spoken texts, such as conversations and broadcasts. The GSE outlines how well learners can extract important information from various sources.

Understanding detailed information: At advanced levels, learners are expected to comprehend detailed and nuanced information, including implicit meaning and speaker intent. The GSE describes the level of detail and depth of understanding required at these stages.

The GSE also shows how students engage in different operations of listening, from global comprehension, recognizing information and identifying specific information to extracting information. By taking this into account, teachers can monitor students’ progress and assess their listening skills. An example will show this in action.

Let’s consider a level, say GSE 30-35 (equivalent to low A2 on the CEFR) and focus on how students process information. When checking a listening activity, rather than simply focusing on whether the answers are correct or incorrect, we can analyze our learners using the GSE and see what progress they are making and what we need to do as teachers to help them move on. Heres how:

Learning objectives

GSE

Date 1

Date 2

Date 3

Date 4

Can understand basic information about someone when introduced to them using simple language.

28

Can recognize phrases and content words related to basic personal and family information.

30

Can identify simple information in a short video, provided that the visual supports this information and the delivery is slow and clear.

30

Can extract key factual information - prices, times and dates - from short clear, simple announcements.

30

Can identify basic factual information in short, simple dialogues or narratives on familiar everyday topics, if spoken slowly and clearly.

32

Can understand key information about arrangements in simple dialogues spoken slowly and clearly.

32

Can understand information related to people's daily routines.

32

Can understand the main information in short, simple dialogues about familiar activities, if spoken slowly and clearly.

33

Can identify key information from short audio recordings, if spoken slowly and clearly.

33

Can understand the main information in simple conversations about hobbies and interests.

34

Can extract key factual information such as prices, times and dates from a recorded phone message.

35

Can recognize some fixed expressions used to confirm information.

35

Can identify specific information in short, simple dialogues in which speakers make arrangements to do something, if spoken slowly and clearly.

35

We should analyze the items in the listening activity using the following criteria, criteria that we can find by analyzing the learning objectives
  • Should there be any support?
  • Are learners being asked to use a number of different listening modes?

Every class will include a range of different abilities: some students get all of the questions right, whereas others may not. In this case, the GSE provides teachers with an extremely valuable tool to assess learners’ performance.

We may see that students are performing well at the understanding and recognition level but still find it hard to identify and extract specific information. Will we solve this by simply giving them more listening activities? Well, no. To support them in identifying and extracting specific information, we need to help them understand and identify clues in a text. Analyzing the written audioscripts is the best way to help learners understand what they are listening to.

We can also use the same table, above, to record information each time we do a listening activity.

Students write the date and compare results to the ones they fill out in the future. This way, they can truly see progress and if they’ve mastered a particular learning objective, something hard for them to see, even if we tell them so.

Utilizing the GSE

The Global Scale of English provides a structured and detailed approach to assessing speaking and listening skills. By using theGSE framework, teachers can offer precise, level-appropriate feedback and tailor their instruction to meet learners' needs. This not only enhances the learning experience but also ensures that learners effectively develop their English communication skills. Whether you're a teacher or a learner, embracing the GSE can lead to more targeted, effective, and meaningful language assessment.

Explore the teaching resources available at GSE to support learning, including tools like our .

Read our other posts 'How the GSE can help teachers personalize activities' and 'The Global Scale of English and planning'.

Learn more about the GSE

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    Why don’t my students speak English in class?

    By Silvia Minardi
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Last year, I contributed to a national research project with an article titled “?”. The title originated from a concern expressed by a language teacher involved in the project, highlighting a common challenge faced by numerous language teachers. The difficulty of developing learners’ production and interaction skills is a well-known issue in language education.

    Large and increasingly diverse classes, limited time, and learners’ reluctance to speak in class are significant hurdles. During pair and group work, students often revert to their first language (L1), they lack confidence in speaking activities and end up avoiding all interaction in English. These observations are consistent with recent Global Scale of English (GSE) research findings, which indicate that 52% of English learners leave formal education without confidence in their speaking skills.

    Factors contributing to learners’ reluctance

    Several factors contribute to students’ reluctance to speak English in class. Psychological barriers such as lack of motivation, shyness, low self-confidence, fear of making mistakes, anxiety and concerns about negative evaluation play a crucial role. Linguistic challenges, including limited vocabulary, poor pronunciation, and insufficient grammatical skills, further exacerbate the problem.

    Task-related issues can also hinder speaking, especially when tasks are not well-matched to the learner’s proficiency level or focus more on accuracy than communication. Additionally, the classroom environment may not always be conducive to speaking, particularly for learners who need more time to formulate their thoughts before speaking.

    Positive teacher impact

    Fortunately, teachers can positively influence these intertwined factors. By creating a supportive classroom atmosphere and implementing well-designed tasks that prioritize communication over perfection, teachers can encourage reluctant students to participate more actively in speaking activities.

    Leveraging technology: Mondly by ɫèAV

    One effective tool that can help address these challenges is Mondly by ɫèAV. This learning companion is especially beneficial for learners who are hesitant to speak in class. Mondly by ɫèAV offers over 500 minutes of speaking practice, encouraging learners to use English in real-life situations and tasks that prioritize action and communication over accuracy. This approach allows for mistakes - they are part of the game - thus fostering a positive mindset, which is essential if we want to enhance our learners’ speaking skills.

    AI-powered conversations

    A standout feature of Mondly by ɫèAV is its AI-powered conversation capability, thanks to advanced speech recognition software. This flexibility helps build self-confidence and allows students to experiment with various production and interaction strategies.

    Comprehensive skill development

    Mondly by ɫèAV is designed not only for speaking but also to develop all four language skills—listening, reading, writing and speaking—and is aligned with the Global Scale of English. The vocabulary for each topic is selected from the GSE vocabulary database, ensuring that learners are exposed to level-appropriate words and phrases.

    Integration into classroom teaching

    To facilitate the integration of Mondly by ɫèAV into classroom teaching, three GSE mapping booklets have recently been published. These booklets cater to different proficiency levels:

    • Beginner (GSE range: 10-42 / CEFR level: A1-A2+)
    • Intermediate (GSE range: 43-58 / CEFR level: B1-B1+)
    • Advanced (GSE range: 59-75 / CEFR level: B2-B2+)

    These resources provide practical guidance on how to incorporate Mondly by ɫèAV into lesson plans effectively, ensuring that the tool complements classroom activities and enhances overall language learning.

    Conclusion

    Encouraging students to speak English in class is a multifaceted challenge, but it is not insurmountable. By understanding the various factors that contribute to learners’ reluctance and leveraging innovative tools like Mondly by ɫèAV, teachers can create a more engaging and supportive learning environment. This approach not only boosts students’ confidence in their speaking abilities but also fosters a more inclusive and interactive classroom atmosphere.

    Embracing technology and aligning teaching practices with modern educational standards, such as the Global Scale of English, can lead to significant improvements in language proficiency and student engagement.