An alternative observation-based approach to assessing oracy skills within a multicultural EFL context.

The widespread use of English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF), namely a contact language between speakers from different lingua-cultural backgrounds (Firth, 1996), has affected all aspects of human activity, including those of English language teaching and assessment. Regarding the latter, its reorientation towards an ELF-aware paradigm that meets the numerous non-native speakers' needs for effective intercultural communication is definitely called for as the number of multicultural EFL classes and the instances of ELF interaction outside the English class are steadily increasing. This reorientation could involve a shift from conventional testing based on Standard English norms towards alternative modes of assessment that reflect the features of intercultural communication and focus on the strategies employed by efficient ELF speakers as these are demonstrated in relevant literature and studies. When it comes to the assessment of oracy skills within a multicultural EFL context, which is the focus of this paper, learners' performance could be assessed through systematic observation and the use of ELF-aware speaking tasks and criteria, whose effectiveness was investigated in a relevant small-scale study, conducted within a multicultural Greek EFL context. This study indicated that despite its excessive demands on time, effort and concentration, observation-based assessment has significant potential in stimulating and promoting the development of communicative oracy skills and strategies. The elements of observation that contribute to its effectiveness are analysed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]