Assessing speaking skill in English in Cuban Higher Education

Objective: This paper aims at describing a set of tasks and an analytical rating scale to evaluate the student's performance in English speaking skills at the university level. Methods: To achieve this objective empirical and theoretical methods were used, as well as, mixed-methods which include qualitative and quantitative paradigms. Results: As the main finding, a task proposal was done to evaluate speaking skill, which is made up of three parts and includes both production and interaction. Similarly, an analytical rating scale was developed, based on the descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, adapted to the Cuban context. Conclusions: This paper has shown that task design and rating scale development are processes that comprise deep literature review several rounds of revisions and reformulation until getting high-quality products. It has also opened a path on tasks design and rating scales development in Cuba based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.