Talking and Testing
Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency
Editors
This book brings together a collection of current research on the assessment of oral proficiency in a second language. Fourteen chapters focus on the use of the language proficiency interview or LPI to assess oral proficiency. The volume addresses the central issue of validity in proficiency assessment: the ways in which the language proficiency interview is accomplished through discourse.
Contributors draw on a variety of discourse perspectives, including the ethnography of speaking, conversation analysis, language socialization theory, sociolinguistic variation theory, human interaction research, and systemic functional linguistics. And for the first time, LPIs conducted in German, Korean, and Spanish are examined as well as interviews in English.
This book sheds light on such important issues as how speaking ability can be defined independently of an LPI that is designed to assess it and the extent to which an LPI is an authentic representation of ordinary conversation in the target language. It will be of considerable interest to language testers, discourse analysts, second language acquisition researchers, foreign language specialists, and anyone concerned with proficiency issues in language teaching and testing.
[Studies in Bilingualism, 14] 1998. x, 395 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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PrefaceMarianne Celce-Murcia | p. ix
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Language Proficiency Interviews: A Discourse ApproachAgnes Weiyun He and Richard Young | p. 1
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1. Language Proficiency Interviews and Conversation
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Re-analyzing the OPI: How Much Does It Look Like Natural Conversation?Marysia Johnson and Andrea E. Tyler | p. 27
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Evaluating Learner Interactional Skills: Conversation at the Micro LevelHeidi Riggenbach | p. 53
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What Happens When There’s No One to Talk to? Spanish Foreign Language Discourse in Simulated Oral Proficiency InterviewsDale Koike | p. 69
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2. Turns and Sequences in Language Proficiency Interviews
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Answering Questions in LPIs: A Case StudyAgnes Weiyun He | p. 101
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Framing the Language Proficiency Interview as a Speech Event: Native and Non-Native Speaker’s QuestionsCarol Lynn Moder and Gene B. Halleck | p. 117
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Miscommunication in Language Proficiency Interviews of First-Year German Students: A Comparison with Natural ConversationMaria M. Egbert | p. 147
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Knowledge and Communication in Language Proficiency Interviews
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Knowledge Structures in Oral Proficiency Interviews for International Teaching AssistantsBernard A. Mohan | p. 173
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The Use of Communication Strategies in Language Proficiency InterviewsYumiko Yoshida-Morise | p. 205
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Meaning Negociation in the Hungarian Oral Proficiency Examination of EnglishLucy Katona | p. 239
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3. Language Proficiency Interviews as Cross-Cultural Encounters
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Maintaining American Face in the Korean Oral Exam: Reflections on the Power of cross-Cultural ContextCatherine Evans Davies | p. 271
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Confirmation Sequences as Intercational Resources in Korean Language Proficiency InterviewsKyu-hyun Kim and Kyung-hee Suh | p. 297
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Divergent Frame Interpretations in Oral Proficiency Interview InteractionSteven Ross | p. 333
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“Let Them Eat Cake!” or how to Avoid Losing Your Head in Cross-Cultural ConversationsRichard Young and Gene B. Halleck | p. 355
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Index of Names | p. 383
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Index of Topics | p. 391
Cited by (66)
Cited by 66 other publications
Koike, Dale A. & Cecilia Tocaimaza-Hatch
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2021. Policy in Practice: Teachers’ Conceptualizations of L2 English Oral Proficiency as Operationalized in High-Stakes Test Assessment. Languages 6:4 ► pp. 204 ff.
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2019. The form and functions of newcomer EAL students’ speech in English: patterns of progression and communication in semi-structured interview dialogue. Language and Education 33:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
Roever, Carsten & Gabriele Kasper
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Hoekje, Barbara
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2018. Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Second Language Speaking Assessment: Updating the Construct for a New Century. Language Assessment Quarterly 15:3 ► pp. 215 ff.
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Kasper, Gabriele & Johannes Wagner
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Kasper, Gabriele
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Kasper, Gabriele & Steven J. Ross
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Al-Gahtani, Saad & Carsten Roever
2012. Proficiency and Sequential Organization of L2 Requests. Applied Linguistics 33:1 ► pp. 42 ff.
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CF: Linguistics
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General