“We are not going to hide what they are going to learn” - A Study about Rubrics for Speaking Skills in The English Classroom

Abstract: A rubric specifically for speaking skills was recently implemented and practiced in an English classroom for grade 6, in a school in the south of Sweden. The predetermined effected results of how the rubric works is debated among many schools and researchers, but no research have been done on the actually effects specifically in this area recently. Therefore, the overall aim for this study is to analyse how this specific tool for the spoken language learning works in practice. The study includes theory and previous research, which will be presented and moreover discussed in relation to the findings. Semi-structured interviews will be used and the participants are two teachers who teached year 6 at the same school in a city in the south of Sweden; both used the rubric in the English classroom. I investigated why and how it was implemented and used in the English classroom. Moreover, I answered the questions of what kind of rubric was used; and by comparing the rubric to the knowledge requirement in the syllabus, I determined how it outlined the knowledge requirements. In addition, by analysing the teachers’ answers, I investigated how the rubric affected the students’ learning and how it facilitated the learners’ self-awareness of their language development. The conclusion demonstrates that the rubric for speaking skills is beneficial for the majority of the students, but it has a negative effect on the students who are on a lower knowledge level than the rubric includes.