this part the experts validated the blueprint of the test. They were invited to give comments
whether the indicators
suitable to measure
the children’s communicative competence. In the second part of the questionnaire all the
respondents evaluated the manifestation of the theoretical model to the iconic model. They were also invited to give their opinion, judgement, and suggestion to
validate the iconic model.
1. The Results of the Experts’ Validation on the Theoretical Model.
This research was conducted to find more appropriate testing model for young language learners. Based on the library studies and experience, as has been
stated in chapter I, it was found the test model for elementary school students were only emphasised on the written aspect. The students in Indonesia rarely had
the spoken English test. Considering this matter this study was conducted in order to find out what would the appropriate test model for elementary school students
be like. The aim is to designed more communicative spoken English test for elementary school students in Indonesia.
As stated in Chapter II, from the study then came to the decision that Mckay’s communicative competence theories is more appropriate for the
elementary school students. This theory was derived from the model of Bachman and Palmer theories about communicative competence. Here is Bachman and
Palmer’s model of language ability as a theoretical construct.
Table 4.1 Some characteristics of oral language ability based on Bachman and Palmer’s 1966 model of language knowledge
Organisational knowledge Grammatical knowledge: Children’s knowledge of vocabulary, syntax and
phonology needs to grow and deepen. Their syntax needs to increase in accuracy. Their knowledge of phonology needs to improve – they need to utter sounds, words
and sentences clearly with appropriate pronunciation and intonation. They need increasingly to understand others’ pronunciation and intonation clearly. They need
increasingly to be able to understand the different meanings implied by different intonation patterns e.g., ‘You’re going home now? You’re going home now. ’
Textual knowledge: Children need to be increasingly able to speak in ways that are cohesive and well-organized; they need to do this both in conversational interactions
and in extended speaking turns. For example, they need to be able to use and understand conjunctions that join sentences and paragraphs together but, then,
and, though.They need to improve in their ability to use relative clauses That is the house that my uncle lives in. They need to learn how to refer back to other parts of
the sentence That’s my uncle’s house. Let’s go in and meet him. In listening, children need to improve their ability to use textual knowledge to understand what is being
said. They need to learn how to listen both to conversations and to extended texts.
Pragmatic knowledge Functional knowledge: Children’s ability to use language for many different
functions needs to grow. They need to learn how to use language to get what they want, to learn, to imagine things, to think about things. They need to learn how to
understand the purposes behind the language that is spoken to them, even when those purposes are not directly stated. e.g., if the teacher says You can go outside if
you want to do that again, does the child understand that she is really saying that she should stop? Experience of the context tells the child that no one goes outside the
classroom unless they are in trouble.’
Sociolinguistic knowledge: Children need to learn to use oral language appropriate to the language use situation that they are in. They need to learn to use and
understand the idioms and cultural references that they encounter in target language situations Do they understand, for example, that they can say See ya to friends, but
Goodbye to the teacher? They need to learn how to appreciate the humour, the attitudes, beliefs, ideals and values inherent in the talk of other people from di
fferent cultures, and to communicate and act in ways that help them to reach out to people
from another culture.
This theory was chosen to formulate the blueprint of the testing model. Yet, not all of Bachman and Palmer’s model can be applied in Indonesia. There
are still some aspects that is difficult to fulfill such as the condition of education in Indonesia, the children’s development of oral ability, the children’s
characteristics and also needs. In order to have spoken communicative competence the children must be able to 1 understand the meaning of spoken
texts organizationally and pragmatically and 2 produce meaningful spoken texts organizationally and pragmatically. These categories elaborated into
indicators in order to measure the students’ spoken competence. For that reason the spoken test covered the listening comprehension and the speaking sections.
Not all indicators are suitable to the children, the adopted indicators had been matched with the condition and situation in Indonesia. Considering the condition
of the elementary school students’ abilities in Indonesia, therefore their language knowledge needs to be accentuated. From the questionnaires distributed it
appears that the respondents accepted the chosen indicators. They said the indicators were appropriate to measure the elementary school students’ ability,
whose language knowledge were still limited and mostly gained from the school. The students’ competence in understanding the spoken text is mesured from four
indicators, the ability to 1 discriminate sounds, stress, and intonation of words, 2 listen and understand a growing range of vocabulary, 3 listen and
understand a growing range of structure of sentences and short dialogue, 4 predict meaning from a range of cues in the dialoges, and 5 understand the
connection between ideas by recognizing words and sentences of the context .The respondents believed that the chosen indicators were appropriate and reasonable
for the children since their language knowledge were still limited. Whereas the
students’ competence in producing the meaningful spoken test would be measured from the children’s ability to 1 utter sounds, words, and sentences clearly with
appropriate pronunciation and intonation, 2 speak with cohesive and well- organized sentences, 3 use language to get what they want, to learn, to imagine
things, to think about things and 4 use oral language appropriate to the language use situation that they are in.
One of the respondents found the indicators were adequate to be implemented in the measurement considering the
students’ spoken ability. She advised to use the term “appropriate” in the indicators. This refers to the limitation of the childrens’ language development.
Moreover, in Indonesia English is considered as the foreign language, that is why the term of “grammatical correctness” was avoided. It means this was fair
enough for the chidren to produce meaningful spoken texts considering the limitation of their experiences and opportunities to explore English in their daily
life. Even one of the respondents claimed it was enough for the elementary school students in Indonesia if they can explain their hobbies in appropriate language.
Furthermore, she said, the students were still in elementary school, in the future they might have more experiences. Therefore, the indicators chosen must support
and challenge them to develop the students’ spoken competence.
Table 4.2. The Spoken English Competence for Children in Indonesia
Communicative Competence
Language Knowledge Indicators
The learners are able to:
Item number
Task Type Text
understanding The learners are
able to
understand the
meaning of
spoken texts
Organizationally and
pragmatically. Organizational
Knowlegde Grammatical
Knowledge discriminate
sounds, stress,
and intonation of words.
Listening Part 1
Multiple choice
listen and
indentify a
growing range of vocabulary.
Listening Part 2
Multiple choice
listen and identify a growing range
of structure of sentences
and short dialogue.
Listening Part 3
Multiple choice
Textual Knowledge
predict meaning
from a range of cues
in the
dialogue. Listening
Part 4 Matching
Pragmatic Knowledge
Functional Knowledge
and Sociolinguistic
Knowledge use
the connection
between ideas by recognizing
words and
sentences of the context.
Listening Part 5
Answering question
The learners are able to produce
meaningful spoken
text Organizationally
and pragmatically.
Organisational Knowlegde
Grammatical Knowledge
utter sounds,
words, and
sentences clearly with appropriate
pronunciation and intonation.
Speaking Part 1
Monologue
Textual Knowledge
speak with
cohesive and
well-organized sentences.
Pragmatic Knowledge
Functional Knowledge
and Sociolinguistic
Knowledge use language to
get what
they want, to learn, to
imagine things, to think
about things.
Speaking Part 2
Dialogue
use oral language appropriate to the
language use
situation that they are in.
2. The results of the experts’ validation on test items
