Abstract: There has always been a hot debate on whether the teacher should teach to the test or they should not. The answer varies depending on the situation. This present study explores whether the use of the TOEIC speaking test tasks in Freshman English classes could facilitate students’ learning of oral English when most students have recognized the importance of the speaking skill to them. In a Freshman English pre-class survey on students’ language needs in a technological university in Taiwan, students overwhelmingly indicated their high interest in oral English than any other language skills. In that regard, three classes of Freshman English in the school were chosen for the present study — two classes, forming the experimental group (EG), were geared towards the improvement of students’ speaking ability in spite of the common four-skill teaching materials required for all the freshman students in the school. The other class, the control group (CG), was taught following the common syllabus. In order to emphasize the teaching of speaking to the EG as well as to address the research questions, test-oriented teaching was incorporated into the school’s common syllabus for the EG students, focusing on students’ mastery of the speaking tasks in the TOEIC test. Quantitative data were then collected from both the EG’s and CG’s pre- and posttest scores on the TOEIC speaking tests, while qualitative data were gathered through interviews with students in the EG. The results of this mixed-methods study will show whether the test-oriented teaching could improve students’ learning of oral English in such a context. Furthermore, the question whether teaching to the test could facilitate or harm learning will also be discussed.

 

Key words: test-oriented teaching, TOEIC speaking test, Freshman English