ABSTRACT

This chapter outlines the introduction of clinical communication skills as an extension of the construct underpinning the speaking subtest of the Occupational English Test ® (OET), a test of English for specific purposes in the healthcare domain. It focuses on the process of developing the indigenous assessment criteria for clinical communication on the OET speaking subtest and establishing defensible cut-scores. The chapter addresses the implications in terms of the wider policy and practice. It describes the standard-setting exercise that was performed in order to arrive at the cut-scores for the clinical communication criteria. The chapter analyzes the implications of introducing clinical communication criteria as part of the OET speaking subtest with regard to stakeholders and the wider policy. It provides an overview of the panel and the methods used for collecting data during the standard-setting exercise. Since clinical communication criteria are quite distinctive, fairness issues may potentially arise which could threaten the validity of the score outcomes.