scholarly journals Line, please? An analysis of the rehearsed speech characteristics of native Korean speakers on the English Oral Proficiency Interview—Computer (OPIc)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwyneth Gates ◽  
Troy L. Cox ◽  
Teresa Reber Bell ◽  
William Eggington
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Proficiency Tests ◽  
American Council ◽  
Oral Responses ◽  
Oral Proficiency Interview ◽  
Score Interpretation ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Speech Characteristics

Abstract Two assumptions of speaking proficiency tests are that the speech produced is spontaneous and the the scores on those tests predict what examinees can do in real-world communicative situations. Therefore, when examinees memorize scripts for their oral responses, the validity of the score interpretation is threatened. While the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines identify rehearsed content as a major hindrance to interviewees being rated above Novice High, many examinees still prepare for speaking tests by memorizing and rehearsing scripts hoping these "performances" are awarded higher scores. To investigate this phenomenon, researchers screened 300 previously rated Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc) tests and found 39 examinees who had at least one response that had been tagged as rehearsed. Each examinee’s responses were then transcribed, and the spontaneous and rehearsed tasks were compared. Temporal fluency articulation rates differed significantly between the spontaneous and rehearsed segments; however, the strongest evidence of memorization lay in the transcriptions and the patterns that emerged within and across interviews. Test developers, therefore, need to be vigilant in creating scoring guidelines for rehearsed content.

Assessing the Oral Proficiency of Heritage Speakers According to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 – Speaking

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Martin ◽  
Elvira Swender ◽  
Mildred Rivera-Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
American Council ◽  
Oral Proficiency Interview ◽  
Resource Center ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
Language Resource ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

The article discusses the preliminary findings of a joint National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)/American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) project conducted in 2010-11, Exploring Linguistic Profiles of Heritage Speakers of Spanish and Russian, that used the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 –Speaking (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2012b) to assess and analyze the oral proficiency of heritage speakers. The discussion of these findings follows a general discussion of what a rating based on an official ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) actually does and does not tell us about speakers, including heritage or native speakers, who fall into various ACTFL rating ranges. The joint NHLRC/ACTFL research project analyzed which features typically characteristic of heritage speakers of Spanish and Russian prevent them from receiving higher ratings on an official ACTFL OPI, and these findings are the focus of this article. Finally, some general recommendations related to instructional implications of these findings are discussed.

Assessing Speaking

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 192-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Turner
Keyword(s):  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Second Language Instruction ◽  
Functional Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency Interview ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Interview Format ◽  
Meaningful Interaction

The publication of the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Guidelines (1986) and the creation and popularization of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (ACTFL-OPI) have had a profound effect on foreign and second language instruction and assessment, drawing attention to language students' abilities to use language in performing particular functions and tasks rather than to what they have learned about language. The growing interest in communicative language teaching, with its emphasis on meaningful interaction in the language as opposed to knowledge of linguistic rules, has complemented interest in the ACTFL Guidelines' descriptions of functional language ability and the interview-format oral proficiency interview.

scholarly journals The effect of vocabulary size in oral productions on the speaking proficiency of EFL learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 150-154
Author(s):  
Ehsan Kazemi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Proficiency Interview ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Freshman Students ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigates the effect of using a bigger vocabulary size in oral classroom presentations on the speaking proficiency of students in English as a foreign language. The study was conducted with 30 freshman students doing their listening and speaking course in Semnan University. For the entire course of 12 weeks, the students in the experimental group were asked to present their productions in terms of the vocabulary they employed, which was also the focus of the teacher’s evaluation in each session. At the end of the course, they were interviewed for their proficiency in speaking. The descriptive and inferential calculations were done based on a modified version of an oral proficiency interview scale suggested by Penny Ur. The answers were recorded and their fluency and accuracy were graded. The results suggest that students with a vocabulary-rich production improved their speaking proficiency in English more than other students did.   Keywords: Vocabulary size, speaking proficiency, production, fluency, accuracy, interview.    

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