| Publications using this data should cite: Chambers, F., & Richards, B.J. (1995). The “free conversation” and the assessment of oral proficiency. Language Learning, 11, 6-10. |
Reading Corpus
Description
Reading Corpus 1 French L2 (no sound files)
Description
This was a project funded by the Research Endowment Trust Fund of the University
of Reading to provide transcripts of secondary school students taking their
GCSE oral tests. The GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is
a national examination taken by school students in Britain at the age of 16.
Unlike many other summative oral language tests conducted at key points in
students’ education, the GCSE regulations require that candidates are
both tested and their performance simultaneously scored, not by a stranger,
but by their own class teacher. The fact that this situation exists in a national
examination system makes it an important context for investigation.
Reading corpus II Native Speakers (no sound files)
Description
This was also a project funded by the Research Endowment Trust Fund of the
University of Reading. The main objective was to provide transcripts of French
students covering the same topics as the British GCSE Higher Level interviews
and using a format as close as possible to that of the GCSE.