Research Article
The Reliability Analysis of Speaking Test in Computer-Assisted
Language Learning (CALL) Environment
Raja Muhammad Ishtiaq Khan ,
1
Tribhuwan Kumar ,
2
Ahmed Benyo ,
2
Syed Farhat Jahara ,
3
and Mir Mohammad Farooq Haidari
4
1
Majma’ah University, Zulfi, Saudi Arabia
2
College of Science and Humanities at Sulail, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of English Language and Translation, College of Sciences and Arts at Al-Asyah, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
4
Economic Faculty and Research Deputy of Taj University, Afghanistan
Correspondence should be addressed to Tribhuwan Kumar; t.kumar@psau.edu.sa
and Mir Mohammad Farooq Haidari; mir.m.farooqhaidari@gmail.com
Received 9 February 2022; Revised 27 February 2022; Accepted 2 March 2022; Published 15 March 2022
Academic Editor: Ehsan Rezvani
Copyright © 2022 Raja Muhammad Ishtiaq Khan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work
is properly cited.
Speaking ability is regarded as among the essential aspects of language development. Oral examination appeared challenging to
evaluate due to the presence of human evaluators. The speaking method depends on the test’s reliability, determined by the
raters’ scores. The current study is aimed at evaluating the speaking test’s interrater reliability utilized to measure the speaking
performance of Common First Year (CFY) students during remote learning. The data were obtained from 56 EFL learners
using a scoring sheet and rubrics. Eight raters were responsible for rating the study. The speaking test’s reliability was
estimated using quantitative data analysis. Correlation coefficients and the Bland-Altman test were employed to assess raters’
agreement. SPSS was utilized to analyze the data in this investigation. The study’s findings suggested that the speaking exam
used in the CFY program during remote learning has shown some reliability on correlations and acceptable norms on the
Bland-Altman test.
1. Introduction
Education has changed rapidly in recent years, with a notice-
able increase in e-learning, which involves teaching distantly
or remotely and via online platforms [1–3]. Following the
closure of all educational facilities in Saudi Arabia due to
the COVID-19 breakout, an unforeseen quick transition
from the typical “traditional” learning method [4, 5] to the
newly e-learning supported, namely, online learning, has
happened. Adedoyin and Soykan [6] argue that “without
the pandemic’s emergence, our education institutions would
not have been so adept at online instruction.” This suspen-
sion has also impacted the testing and evaluation system,
partially testing language skills. Speaking is an essential skill
in learning any language. It involves interaction and group
discussion, which was significantly impacted by the outbreak
of COVID-19. Institutions were bound to have an online
evaluation during this era.
Language proficiency fosters collaboration and interac-
tion among individuals from varied cultural origins in all
spheres of life, education, and business in the globalized
twenty-first century Kukulska-Hulme et al. [7]. Learning
languages must consequently be a long-term commitment,
implemented in a variety of ways to fulfill societal, profes-
sional, and educational objectives, as well as individual desires
and needs. English is commonly recognized as the globe’s
lingua franca and the most widely spoken language [8–10].
Due to the importance and demand for the English language
in the modern global era, English as a second language
(ESL) students travel from all over the world to study the
language [11, 12]. Consequently, significant effort has been
expended in developing effective methods for learning
Hindawi
Education Research International
Volume 2022, Article ID 8984330, 10 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/8984330