Oral Proficiency Interviews: Selected References

The International Research Foundation

for English Language Education

ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEWS: SELECTED REFERENCES

(Last updated 26 December 2016)

ACTFL, Inc. (1999). ACTFL proficiency guidelines speaking: Revised 1999. Retrieved from http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/public/Guidelinesspeak.pdf

ACTFL, Inc. (2012). ACTFL proficiency guidelines 2012. Retrieved from http://www.actfl. org/sites/default /files/pdfs/ public/ ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines2012_FINAL.pdf

ACTFL, Inc. (2012). ACTFL: Oral Proficiency Interview familiarization manual. White Plains, NY: ACTFL, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.language testing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/OPI.FamiliarizationManual.pdf

ACTFL, Inc. (2014). ACTFL sponsored workshops. Retrieved from http://www.actfl. org/professional-development/professional-development-workshops/actfl-sponsored-workshops

ACTFL, Inc. (2014). Becoming an ACTFL certified OPI tester & frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.actfltraining. org/actfl_posting. Cfm ?recno=10

Amadei, A. (2016). 1,000 currently certified ACTFL OPI testers... and counting. The Language Educator, 11(3), 12-16.

Bachman, L.F. (1988). Problems in examining the validity of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10(2), 149–161.

Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1981b). The construct validation of the FSI Oral Interview. Language Learning, 31(1), 67-86.

Bachman, L. F., & Savignon, S. J. (1986). The evaluation of communicative language proficiency: A critique of the ACTFL oral interview. The Modern Language Journal, 70(4), 380-390.

Barnwell, D. (1991). Proficiency testing and the schools. Hispania, 74(1), 187-189. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/344579

Berwick, R., & Ross, S. (1996). Cross-cultural pragmatics in oral proficiency interview strategies. In M. Milanovic & N. Saville (Eds.), Studies in language testing 3: Performance testing, cognition, and assessment: Selected papers from the 15th language testing research colloquium (pp. 34-54). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Breiner-Sanders, K.E., Lowe, P., Miles, J. & Swender, E. (2000). ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Speaking (Revised 1999). Foreign Language Annals. 33(1), 13-18.

Brown, A. (2004). Discourse analysis and the oral interview: Competence or performance. In D. Boxer & A. D. Cohen (Eds.), Studying speaking to inform language learning (pp. 263-282). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Brown, A., & Hill, K. (1998). Interviewer style and candidate performance in the IELTS oral interview. IELTS Research Reports, 1, 1-19. Retrieved from https://www.ielts.org/PDF/Vol1_Report1.pdf

Byrnes, H. (1987). Features of pragmatic and sociolinguistic competence in the oral proficiency interview. In A. Valdman (Ed.), Proceedings of the symposium on the evaluation of foreign language proficiency (pp. 167-177). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.

Carey, M. D., & Mannell, R. H. (2009). The contribution of interlanguage phonology

accommodation to inter-examiner variation in the rating of pronunciation in oral

proficiency interviews. IELTS Research Reports, 9, 217–236

Carpenter, K., Fujii, N., & Kataoka, H. (1995). An oral interview procedure for assessing second language abilities in children. Language Testing, 12(2), 157-181.

Chalhoub-Deville, M., & Fulcher, G. (2003). The oral proficiency interview and the ACTFL guidelines: A research agenda. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 498-506.

Clark, J. L. D. (1986). Development of a tape-mediated ACTFL/ILR scale-based test of Chinese speaking proficiency. In C. W. Stansfield (Ed.), Technology and language testing (pp. 129-146). Washington, DC: TESOL.

Clark, J. L. D. (1987). A study of the comparability of speaking proficiency interview ratings across three government language training agencies. In K. M. Bailey, T. L. Dale, & R. T. Clifford (Eds.), Language testing research: Selected papers from the 1986 Colloquium (pp. 132-179). Monterey, CA: Defense Language Institute.

Clark, J. L. D. (1988). Validation of a tape-mediated ACTFL/ILR-scale based test of Chinese speaking proficiency. Language Testing, 5(2), 187-205.

Clark, J. L. D., & Clifford, R. T. (1988). The FSI/ILR/ACTFL proficiency scales and testing techniques: Development, current status, and needed research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10(2), 121-147.

Clark, J. L. D., Clifford, R. T., & Hooshmand, D. (1992). “Screen-to-screen” testing: An exploratory study of oral proficiency interviewing using video teleconferencing. System, 20(3), 293-304.

Dandonoli, P., & Henning, G. (1990). An investigation of the construct validity of the ACTFL proficiency guidelines and oral interview procedure. Foreign Language Annals, 23(1), 11-22.

Edwards, A. L. (1996). Reading proficiency assessment and the ILR/ACTFL text typology: A reevaluation. Modern Language Journal, 80(3), 350-361.

Egbert, M. M. (1998). Miscommunication in language proficiency interviews of first-year German students: A comparison with natural conversation. In R. Young & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 149-172). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

Elder, C., Iwashita, N., & McNamara, T. (2002). Estimating the difficulty of oral proficiency tasks: What does the test-taker have to offer? Language Testing, 19(4), 347-368.

Firth, J. D. (Ed.). (1980). Measuring spoken language proficiency. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Fulcher, G. (1996). Invalidating validity claims for the ACTFL oral rating scale. System, 24(2), 163-172.

Gardner, A. (2016). The certification experience: Becoming an ACTFL OPI tester and its impact. The Language Educator, 11(3), 17.

Glisan, E., Swender, E., & Surface, E. (2013). Oral proficiency standards and foreign language teacher candidates: Current findings and future research directions. Foreign Language Annals, 46(2), 264–289.

Halleck, G. (1992). The oral proficiency interview: Discrete point test or measure of communicative language ability? Foreign Language Annals, 25(3), 227-231.

He, A. W. (1998). Answering questions in LPIs: A case study. In R. Young & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 101-116). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

He, A. W., & Young, R. (1998). Language proficiency interviews: A discourse approach. In R. Young, & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 1-24). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Henning, G. (1983). Oral proficiency testing: Comparative validities of interview, imitation, and completion methods. Language Learning, 33(3), 315-331.

Henning, G. (1992). The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview: Validity evidence. System, 20(3), 365-372.

Iwashita, N., McNamara, T., & Elder, C. (2001). Can we predict task difficulty in an oral proficiency test? Exploring the potential of an information-processing approach to task design. Language Learning, 51(3), 401-436.

Johnson, Y. (1997). Proficiency guidelines and language curriculum: Making ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines effective in furthering Japanese language proficiency. Applied Language Learning, 8(2), 261-284.

Johnson, M. (2000). Interaction in the oral proficiency interview: Problems of validity. Pragmatics, 10(2), 215–231.

Johnson, M. (2001). The art of non-conversation: A re-examination of the validity of the Oral Proficiency interview. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Johnson, M., & Tyler, A. (1998). Re-analyzing the OPI: How much does it look like natural conversation? In R. Young & W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 27-51). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Kang, O., & Rubin, D. L. (2012). Intra-rater reliability of oral proficiency ratings. International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 12(1), 43-61.

Kasper, G. (2006). When once is not enough: Politeness of multiple requests in oral proficiency interviews. Multilingua, 25, 323-349.

Kasper, G. (2013). Managing task uptake in oral proficiency interviews. In S.J. Ross & G. Kasper (Eds.), Assessing second language pragmatics (pp. 258-287). Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kasper, G., & Ross, S. (2003). Repetition as a source of miscommunication in oral proficiency interviews. In J. House, G. Kasper & S. Ross (Eds.), Misunderstanding in social life: Discourse approaches to problematic talk (pp. 82-106). Harlow, UK: Longman/Pearson Education.

Kasper, G. & Ross, S .J. (2007). Multiple questions in oral proficiency interviews. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 2045-2070.

Ke, C., & Reed, D. J. (1995). An analysis of results from the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview and the Chinese Proficiency Test before and after intensive instruction in Chinese as a foreign language. Foreign Language Annals, 28(2), 208-222.

Language Testing International. (n.d). Oral proficiency interview. Retrieved from http://www.languagetesting.com/oral-proficiency-interview-opi.

Lantolf, J. P., & Frawley, W. (1985). Oral proficiency testing: A critical analysis. The Modern Language Journal, 69(4), 337-345.

Lazaraton, A. (1992). The structural organization of a language interview: A conversation analytic approach. System, 20(3), 373-386.

Lazaraton, A. (1996). Interlocutor support in oral proficiency interviews: The case of CASE. Language Testing, 13(2), 151-172.

Lazaraton, A. (1997). Preference organization in oral proficiency interviews: The case of language ability assessments. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 30(1), 53-72.

Liskin-Gasparro, J. E. (2003). The ACTFL proficiency guidelines and the oral proficiency interview: A brief history and analysis of their survival. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 483–490.

Magnan, S. S. (1987). Rater reliability of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview. Canadian Modern Language Review, 43(2), 267-279.

Magnan, S. S. (1988). Grammar and the ACTFL oral proficiency interview: Discussion and data. The Modern Language Journal, 72(3), 266-276.

Malone, M.E. (2003). Research on the oral proficiency interview: Analysis, synthesis, and future directions. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 491-497.

Malvern, D., & Richards, B. (2002). Investigating accommodation in language proficiency interviews using a new measure of lexical diversity. Language Testing, 19(1), 85-104.

Nagata, H. (1995). Testing oral ability: ILR and ACTFL oral proficiency interviews. In J. D. Brown & S. Yamashita (Eds.), Language testing in Japan (pp. 08-118). Tokyo: JALT Applied Materials.

Norris, J.M., & Pfeiffer, P.C. (2003). Exploring the uses and usefulness of ACTPL Oral Proficiency Ratings and Standards in college foreign language departments. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 572-581.

Okada, Y. (2010). Role-play in oral proficiency interviews: Interactive footing and interactional competencies. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(6), 1647-1668.

Okada, Y., & Greer, T. (2013). Pursuing a relevant response in oral proficiency interview role plays. In S. J. Ross & G. Kasper (Eds.), Assessing second language pragmatics (pp. 288-310). Basingstoke, Hamsphire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ross, S. (1992). Accommodative questions in oral proficiency interviews. Language Testing, 9(2), 173-186.

Ross, S. (1998). Divergent frame interpretations in language proficiency interview interaction. In R. Young, & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 333-353). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Ross, S. J. (2007). A comparative task-in-interaction analysis of OPI backsliding. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 2017-2044.

Ross, S., & Berwick, R. (1992). The discourse of accommodation in oral proficiency interviews. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14(2), 159-176.

Salaberry, R. (2000). Revising the revised format of the ACTFL oral proficiency interview. Language Testing, 17(3), 289-310.

Savignon, S. J. (1985). Evaluation of communicative competence: The ACTFL provisional proficiency guidelines. The Modern Language Journal, 69(2), 129-134.

Seedhouse, P. (2013). Oral proficiency interviews as varieties of interaction. In S.J. Ross & G. Kasper (Eds.), Assessing second language pragmatics (pp. 199-219). Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Shohamy, E. (1983). Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of oral interview and concurrent validity with cloze procedure. In J. Oller (Ed.), Issues in language testing research (pp. 229-236). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Shohamy, E. (1983). The stability of oral proficiency assessment on the oral interview testing procedures. Language Learning, 33(4), 527-540.

Stansfield, C. W. (1991). A comparative analysis of simulated and direct oral proficiency interviews. In S. Anivan (Ed.), Current developments in language testing (pp. 199-209). Singapore: SEAMEO RELC.

Stansfield, C. W., & Kenyon, D. M. (1992). Research on the comparability of the oral proficiency interview and the simulated oral proficiency interview. System, 20(3), 347-366.

Stansfield, C. W., & Kenyon, D. M. (1996). Comparing the scaling of speaking tasks by language teachers and by the ACTFL guidelines. In A. Cumming & R. Berwick (Eds.), Validation in language testing (pp. 124-153) Cleveland: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Surface, E. A., & Dierdorff, E. C. (2003). Reliability and the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview: Reporting indices of interrater consistency and agreement for 19 languages. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 507-519.

Swender, E. (Ed.). (1999). ACTFL oral proficiency interview tester training manual. Yonkers, NY: ACTFL.

Swender, E., & Sandrock, P. (2012). ACTFL performance descriptors for language learners. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL.

Swender, E., & Vicars, R. (2012). ACTFL oral proficiency interview tester training manual. Alexandra, VA: ACTFL.

Thompson, I. (1995). A study of inter-rater reliability of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview in five European languages: Data from ESL, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Foreign Language Annals, 28(3), 407-422.

Tominaga, W. (2013). The development of extended turns and storytelling in the Japanese oral proficiency interview. In S.J. Ross & G. Kasper (Eds.), Assessing Second Language Pragmatics (pp. 220-257). Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

van Compernolle, R.A. (2011). Responding to questions and L2 learner interactional competence during language proficiency interviews: A microanalytic study with pedagogical implications. In J.K. Hall, J. Hellermann & S. Pekarek Doeher (Eds.), L2 interactional competence and development (pp. 117-144). Bristol: Multi Matters.

van Lier, L. (1989). Reeling, writhing, drawling, stretching, and fainting in coils: Oral proficiency interviews as conversation. TESOL Quarterly , 23(3), 489–508. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3586922.

Watanabe, S. (2003). Cohesion and coherence strategies in paragraph-length and extended discourse in Japanese oral proficiency interviews. Foreign Language Annals, 36(4), 555-565.

Wu, S., & Ortega, L. (2013). Measuring global oral proficiency in SLA research: A new elicited imitation test of L2 Chinese. Foreign Language Annals, 46(4), 680-704.

Yoffe, L. (1997). An overview of the ACTFL proficiency interview: A test of speaking ability. JALT Testing and Evaluation SIG Newsletter, 1(2), 1–13. Retrieved from http://jalt.org/test/PDF/Yoffe1.pdf

Yoshida-Morise, Y. (1998). The use of communication strategies in language proficiency interviews. In R. Young & A. W. He (Eds.), Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency (pp. 207-242). Philadelphia, PA, John Benjamins.

Young, R. (1995). Conversational styles in language proficiency interviews. Language Learning, 45(1), 3-42.

Young, R., & He, A.W. (Eds.) (1998). Talking and testing: Discourse approaches to the assessment of oral proficiency. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Young, R., & Milanovic, M. (1992). Discourse variation in oral proficiency interviews. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14(4), 403-424.

Zhang, Y., & Elder, C. (2011). Judgments of oral proficiency by non-native and native English speaking teacher raters: Competing or complementary constructs? Language Testing, 28, 31-50.

8

177 Webster St., #220, Monterey, CA 93940 USA

Web: www.tirfonline.org / Email: