Game-based English speaking test: Designing games

This proposal aims to overcome the problem of how to test the English oral skills of a large number of university candidates effectively, from the examiners’ perspective, and objectively from the test-takers standpoint. Thus, the goal of this project is to develop a cross-platform application using gamification to test university students’ speaking skills. This would allow universities to examine a high number of test-takers, and more visually appealing for test-takers. Last year, we carried out a demo that could be administered on mobile phones, computers and tablets. The demo is still at an initial stage of development, but we would like to complete the design by training the bot to understand test-takers’ different responses and to provide a full range of answers, these being very limited at present. The main advantage of this proof of concept lies in the high degree of flexibility it offers since test-takers would not be obliged to take a test at a given time in a given place. This would help promote equality, diversity and social inclusion as it would benefit students with mobility issues and marginalized groups. Furthermore, the fact that no examiner is physically present could reduce the nerves which often affect candidates’ performance. Additionally, we believe that a dynamic and user-friendly application with gamification would be appealing for students, who use mobiles on a regular basis. Thus, our aim
is to create a testing tool that offers greater flexibility when taking a speaking test and could be marketed in the mid-term future to language assessment boards and public bodies. In conclusion, the development of an application to test English oral skills using mobile technologies and gamification constitutes an innovative proposal that meets the demands of the present society, where some proof of the candidates’ level of English for work or study purposes is essential.