Interactional competence has been variously defined as turn-taking ability, paralinguistic features of communication such as eye contact, gesture, and gesticulation, and listener responses. In existing assessment systems such as the oral proficiency interview (OPI), interactional competence is only rarely explicitly factored into the holistic…

In the assessment of speaking, a psycholinguistically based speaking construct has predominated. In this paper, we argue for the integration of the construct of interactional competence (IC) in speaking assessments to broaden the range of defensible inferences from speaking tests. IC emphasizes the co-constructed nature of interaction and enables…

We investigated how young language learners process their responses on and perceive a computer-mediated, timed speaking test. Twenty 8-, 9-, and 10-year-old non-native English-speaking children (NNSs) and eight same-aged, native English-speaking children (NSs) completed seven computerized sample TOEFL® Primary™ speaking test tasks. We investigated…

The present paper looks at the issue of standardization in L2 oral testing. Whereas external examiners are frequently used globally, some countries opt for test-takers' own teachers as examiners instead. In the present study, Sweden is used as a case in point, with a focus on the mandatory, high-stakes, summative, ninth-grade national test in…

The effectiveness of individualized feedback on rater behavior has been investigated in several previous studies (e.g. Elder, Knoch, Barkhuizen, & von Randow, 2005; Lunt, Morton, & Wigglesworth, 1994; O'Sullivan & Rignall, 2007; Wigglesworth, 1993). The findings of these studies are somewhat inconclusive. However, all of these studies investigated…

This paper presents evidence that supports the valid use of scores from fully automatic tests of spoken language ability to indicate a person's effectiveness in spoken communication. The paper reviews the constructs, scoring, and the concurrent validity evidence of "facility-in-L2" tests, a family of automated spoken language tests in Spanish,…

Speaking tasks involving peer-to-peer candidate interaction are increasingly being incorporated into language proficiency assessments, in both large-scale international testing contexts, and in smaller-scale, for example course-related, ones. This growth in the popularity and use of paired and group orals has stimulated research, particularly into…

This article presents the goals, design, and pilot-testing results of a new oral interview procedure for eliciting a representative sample of spontaneous Japanese language abilities from children aged 5 through 10. Pilot results show that the procedure elicits a language sample that is superior in quality and quantity to other existing Japanese…

Suggests that performance tests as currently represented in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)-Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) may not adequately address the basic concerns brought about by the perceived shortcomings of academic second language programs. Supports this argument with a critical analysis of the ACTFL…

Presents a qualitative analysis of one aspect of interviewer-candidate interaction, i.e., the types of linguistic and interfactional support that the native speaker interlocutor provides to the nonnative speaker candidate in a one-on-one interview. Results indicate there are eight types of interlocutor support, a positive finding. (63 references)…

In an examination of definition of oral proficiency, this study investigated the phenomenon of variation in questions posed by interviewers at key junctures in the interview process. It is argued that perceptions of oral proficiency are reflected in the extent of accommodation in interviewer questioning. (23 references) (Author/LB)

In a study of teenage learners of French, the aspect of teachers' language that was found to be most responsive to the ability of their students was lexical diversity. Focuses on this finding using a new measure. (Author/VWL)

Examines the question of variation among interviewers of oral language proficiency interviews in the ways that they elicit demonstrations of communicative ability and the impact of this variation on candidate performance and raters' perceptions of candidate ability. A discourse analysis of two interviews involving the same candidate with two…

Examines what opportunities test takers have to display their knowledge of managing conversations in the second language in two types of tasks: nonscripted interviews and guided role-play activities. Data consists of 30 interviews and 30 role-play activities between near-native examiners and intermediate learners used in language exams in Hungary.…

Classical test theory and correlational techniques such as factor analysis have been unable to deal with many language tests' measurement problems. The Partial Credit Model, a latent trait model for the analysis of data scored in ordered categories, is used to construct and analyze an oral interview test of English as a Second Language. (28…