[Abstract]：The establishment of computer-assisted oral test system is one way to improve college students’ English communication skills. This thesis gives a brief analysis of how to set up a scientific system in colleges from the characters of oral activities，oral ability and its features，the patterns of English oral test and the abilities tested.

[Key words]：college English； computer-assisted oral test； system

I. INTRODUCTION

Oral English has always been the weak part in college English education. Its test is also not so easy，thus is seldom taken in the requirement of English examination. Faced with the large number of non-English major students，we must work out such problems as exploring the theory and methods of oral test and how to test students’ communication ability in a scientific and fair way in order to promote oral English teaching.

So called computer-assisted oral test means the process of making use of modern language laboratory system to conduct tests involving conversations between men and computers. Students’ real-time answers will be automatically transmitted into teachers’ computers by means of digital audio files，and then recorded digitally by computers. Computers will automatically generate independent comprehensive databases based on students’ information bases，which can be copied and preserved. Teachers can grade each student according to computer-generated recording files in the database.

II. ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED ORAL TEST

It takes 25 hours to test 1000 students in 4 rooms in each of which there are 2 teachers，allowing each student 6 minutes，while only 90 minutes are needed for computer-assisted test with 15 minutes for each. So，we can see，under circumstances of the same manpower and number of students，time spent on computer-assisted tests is much less than that of traditional ones.

There are many subjective variables in traditional tests which may be unfair，such as teachers’ attitude and pronunciations，etc. While in computer-assisted tests，students know well the required talking questions since they are shown on the screens simultaneously，the demand of listening ability is decreased to the lowest point. Each student has the same length of answer time，which is fair to all and can avoid various of subjective factors by the greatest extent. Advanced equipment is fully used to test 1000 students with only 5 sets of questions. The same question is used in 4 rooms without repetition，which can avoid the exchange of questions among students.

Questions used in computer-assisted tests as well as various of audio and visual materials and students’ original voice data can be all saved conveniently into servers，movable hard disks or copied in CD for file. Teachers can do all kinds of analysis after grading that will be reference and evidence to future tests，research and teaching work，while face-to-face tests cannot achieve this.

In computer-assisted tests，students do not feel nervous，so they can give full play to their real abilities. Faced with computers，students can calm down and enter the given language environment，having enough time to answer different kinds of questions，expressing themselves as much as possible. In such a way，the results can reflect students’ real level more objectively and truthfully.

III. IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED ORAL TESTS

We used 4 labs with 48 computers in each to test，each of which has a test system software installed in the master computer which forms a controlling system that will make all-directional test monitor. Questions will be transmitted by teachers from the main computer console，and there is a small question base（including 5 sets of questions）. To make sure that the tests will be conducted successfully，such work as examiners’ training and students’ training needs to be done in advance.

Text reading---demands clear pronunciation，correct tone and fluent reading. Reading passages are shown on screens. Students are familiar with the texts，so the reading will cause students to study harder the course of reading and writing. The topics are mainly about everyday life and social life，allowing students 2 minutes. Comprehensive grading is used，say，teachers grade each part of the tests and form a total score.

There are 2 teachers in each room，one of whom operates the computer console，the other monitor the test and keep order. Step 1：check students’ valid documents to confirm their identifications. Step 2：students input their ID numbers to enter the test system and adjust the equipment. There is a trial recording and listening to the reading before tests begin. Step 3：tests begin simultaneously in the 4 rooms，one set of questions is used in one test without repetition. Students give their answers based on the question demands on the screens. Step 4：computers automatically store students’ recordings and submit answers as soon as the time is up. The operating teacher plays the recordings to students to confirm there is nothing wrong，then students leave the rooms. Step 5：having decided on the same grading standard，teachers grade students’ tests through the oral test grading system.

IV. GRADING OF THE TESTS

When tests are finished，all the data will be inputted in the movable hardware and made CD files. With the same grading standard，teachers will use the software to grade，based on pronunciation，tone，fluency，sentence coherence，vocabulary and sentence pattern. Besides，whether there are breaks and grammar mistakes are examined. After all these work，teachers will output all the scores in Excel to form one part of the final grade of college English. In computer-assisted oral tests，test and grading are separated so that teachers can re-listen，compare and modify when there is an uncertainty，so the grading is more precise. We can draw a conclusion that the reliability of computer-assisted test is higher than that of face-to-face one.

V. CONCLUSION

After the tests，a survey was conducted among students，which shows：most of the students think that computer-assisted tests will promote communication ability，that students will normally give full play to their abilities without being nervous compared with face-to-face tests，that students’ speaking level can be better examined. Computer-assisted oral test will inevitably improve and promote English education in higher institutes.