Re-evaluating the assessment of phonetic skills: what we learned during the pandemic

The sudden move to online teaching and assessment during the pandemic proved a challenge for many subjects; this was no less the case for phonetics. This paper describes how we endeavoured to devise comparable online assessment tasks for the evaluation of two aspects, articulatory phonetic skills and understanding of phonetics theory, and our evaluation of the success of the online tasks. Normally assessed under exam conditions with no access to external resources, we altered and developed our assessments so that students could complete the tasks online. Scores from the outcomes of these assessments are compared with pre-pandemic scores. We discuss what we have learned from moving these assessments online, implications for students, and consider whether we will continue with these methods of assessment outside of lockdown conditions.

https://www.icphs2023.org/programme/proceedings/