Rubrics for English speaking and listening exams: a sample scoring guide for teachers

In Turkish state schools, the exam score in a foreign language subject is 50% written exam, 25% listening exam and 25% speaking exam. The Ministry of National Education's directive on written and practical exams says the subject teacher scores listening and speaking separately. The teacher must use a rubric, a grading scale or a checklist to do so. The directive does not set the content of the scale.

This post covers a summary of the rules and the difference between the three tools. It gives a sample speaking rubric based on the criteria the Council of Europe's CEFR uses to assess speaking, and a rubric for listening. The scales are examples; the form of practical exams is decided by each school's subject teachers.

What do the Ministry's rules say?

Under the Ministry of National Education's Assessment and Evaluation Regulation (2023), foreign language exams are held in written and practical form to assess listening, speaking, reading and writing. The form, number and length of practical exams are set by the school's subject teachers and approved by the head. The Ministry's guide to written and practical exams explains how they are run. Listening and speaking exams can be held before or after the written exam. The speaking exam does not have to fall within a set date range. It can be spread over the term, announced or unannounced, with a few learners in part of a lesson or across a whole lesson.

According to the guide, the speaking exam can take place in many in-class and out-of-class activities: a conversation on a topic, continuing a dialogue, rehearsals for an event, posters and presentations. What matters is that learners know they are being assessed and that a scale is used for grading.

In the listening exam the aim is for learners to answer questions about natural conversations or a planned listening text. The text can be played more than once depending on the class, and the question sheet can be handed out before or after listening. The principle the guide stresses is the same for both: the aim is not to ask many questions but to check whether the learner has the skill named in the learning outcome.

Under the directive, exams are scored out of 100; listening and speaking exams are also scored out of 100, each separately. This information was checked on 9 October 2026 against the regulation, directive and guide published by the Ministry; because rules can change, check your school's current guide before the exam.

Checklist, grading scale or rubric: what is the difference?

All three are named in the directive. A checklist marks whether a behaviour happened (“Introduced themselves: yes / no”); it is quick but does not show how well it was done. A grading scale gives each criterion a degree (1 to 4, say) but does not explain what each degree means. A rubric describes every degree of every criterion in a sentence. It takes the longest to prepare. But because every degree is defined, it serves best the two things the guide expects from a scale: objective scoring and feedback to the learner. For a short in-class observation, a checklist may be enough.

Where do the criteria for a speaking rubric come from?

The Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) uses five qualitative criteria to assess speaking: range, accuracy, fluency, interaction and coherence. Its 2020 Companion Volume adds phonology. Each criterion is described separately from A1 to C2. For example, a speaker at A2 is described as linking groups of words with simple connectors like and, but and because. Because the Council's tables may not be reproduced without permission, the rubric below uses only the criteria. The descriptions of each degree were written for this post.

The draft scales the İzmir Assessment and Evaluation Centre published as examples follow a similar path and split speaking in two. The spoken interaction scale uses vocabulary knowledge, language use, comprehensibility, fluency and pronunciation. The spoken production scale uses delivery, content and organisation, language use, clarity and volume. The split is useful. In a dialogue what matters is responding to the other person; in a presentation it is organising your talk.

Sample speaking rubric: spoken interaction

A criterion with no response at all gets 0 points. Read the degrees against the class's target level. A 20-point performance from a 6th grader and one from an 11th grader are not at the same language level, so apply each criterion to what the task expects at that grade. Choose tasks by level too: introducing yourself at A1, giving directions or a shopping dialogue at A2, describing an experience and making a plan at B1, defending a view on a topic at B2.

The same rubric works for presentations if you replace the interaction criterion with organisation and delivery (introduction, body and conclusion, connectors, speaking to the audience without reading notes). To work on common pronunciation difficulties with learners, you can share English pronunciation for Turkish speakers.

A rubric for the listening exam

Most listening exam questions have a right or wrong answer, and an answer key is enough for them. A scale is needed for tasks where learners build the answer themselves, such as summarising what they heard, taking notes or following instructions. Three criteria are often enough for such a task.

When assessing listening, do not take off points for spelling or grammar errors. The skill being measured is listening, not writing. At lower levels, allowing open-ended answers in Turkish is another way to keep listening separate from writing. For how learners can improve their listening while preparing for the exam, you can share how to improve your English listening skills with them.

Running the exam

The guide asks that learners know they are being assessed. Sharing the rubric with them before the exam goes a step further and shows them what to work on. In large classes, spreading the speaking exam over the term, using pair tasks and hearing a few learners in each lesson is a workable way that fits the rules. If teachers in the same department use the same task and rubric, scoring a few sample performances together and comparing results helps keep scores consistent. After the exam, giving each learner their degree on the rubric and one suggestion for a next step provides the feedback the guide expects from a scale.

Sources

Ministry of National Education (2023). Assessment and Evaluation Regulation (Ölçme ve Değerlendirme Yönetmeliği), articles 4 and 5. · Ministry of National Education (2023). Directive on written and practical exams (Yazılı ve Uygulamalı Sınavlar Yönergesi), article 6. https://odsgm.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2023_10/12115933_MEB_yazili_ve_uygulamali_sinavlar_yonergesi.pdf · Ministry of National Education (2023). Guide to written and practical exams (Yazılı ve Uygulamalı Sınavlar Kılavuzu), section 11: Listening and speaking exams. https://www.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2023_12/28140049_Milli_Egitim_Bakanligi_Yazili_ve_Uygulamali_Sinavlar_Kilavuzu.pdf · İzmir Assessment and Evaluation Centre (2023). Sample scales: English speaking assessment scales (draft). https://izmirodm.meb.gov.tr/www/ornek-olcek-ve-analiz-tablolari/icerik/48 · Council of Europe. CEFR, Table 3: Qualitative aspects of spoken language use. https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-3-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-qualitative-aspects-of-spoken-language-use · Council of Europe (2020). CEFR Companion Volume, Appendix 3.

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