Which method can be used to assess listening skills in ESL students?

Using comprehension quizzes based on audio recordings is an effective method for assessing listening skills in ESL students because it directly measures their ability to understand spoken language. This approach allows teachers to evaluate essential listening skills such as identifying main ideas, understanding details, and interpreting context from the audio material. By engaging with recordings, students are placed in realistic listening situations similar to what they might encounter in daily life or in language immersion environments.

Comprehension quizzes based on audio recordings can be tailored to different proficiency levels and types of listening tasks, such as selective listening, listening for gist, or detailed comprehension, ensuring that the assessment aligns with the instructional goals. This direct link between listening activities and assessment makes it a focused and relevant tool for evaluating students' listening capabilities.

In contrast, conducting oral presentations primarily assesses speaking skills rather than listening comprehension. Written tests typically evaluate reading or writing abilities, while assigning reading comprehension tasks focuses on understanding written text rather than auditory information. Thus, these alternatives do not effectively gauge a student's listening proficiency the way comprehension quizzes based on audio recordings do.