THE CONCEPTUAL COMPONENTS OF SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT

Speaking is widely recognized as a fundamental skill in foreign language education, yet its complexity is often underestimated in instructional and assessment practices. Rather than constituting the mechanical production of memorized structures, speaking represents an interactive and cognitively demanding process that integrates linguistic, socio-pragmatic, and discourse-oriented abilities. This article examines the conceptual components of speaking—pronunciation, fluency, accuracy, interactional competence, and discourse organization—and discusses their pedagogical implications for assessment in school-based foreign language contexts. The argument put forward is that assessment criteria must reflect the multidimensional nature of spoken communication to support valid evaluation and guide learner development.