Értékelési skálák használata a beszédkészség és íráskészség vizsgákon

Rating scales in speaking and writing performance assessment in high-stakes examinations While assessing examinees’ speaking and writing performances in high-stakes examinations raters / examiners use rating scales. Rater effects like the halo effect, the severity effect, central tendency or inconsistency as construct-irrelevant factors should be minimized by language examination providers; therefore, it is of utmost importance to investigate similarities and differences in raters’ interpretation of the rating scale. For this reason, the present study aims to compare the way in which the same group of examiners use the rating scales for the assessment of candidates’ English B2 level performance in speaking and writing. The data were collected from the online retraining sessions organised for examiners at the BME Language Examination Centre in 2017 and 2018. First, the paper describes the most salient features of the rating scales for assessing speaking and writing performance. Second, it examines how stringently raters apply the different criteria of the two rating scales. Third, it discusses the similarities and differences in the use of the rating scales for evaluating candidates’ production skills.