Assessing Conversation Ability in Proficiency Tests : Can Group Discussion Tests Do the Trick?
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In the field of the direct assessment of speaking ability, the most influential format has been the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language’s (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The OPI has been criticized for being unable to elicit basic features of conversation such as topic nomination. In the OPI it is the interviewer who dominates the topic. This is not surprising since the role of ‘interviewer’ and ‘test-taker’ are inherent to the interview format. An alternative format is the Group Discussion Test (GDT) in which three or four students discuss a topic with no intervention from an interviewer. This pilot study analyses the transcripts of ten GDTs for topic nomination to investigate patterns of interaction. In this data three distinct patterns of topic nomination are identified: ‘interview’, ‘layer-cake’ and ‘balanced’. Of these, ‘balanced’ discussions are the most similar to what might be expected in conversation. The three patterns are discussed and the circumstances in which ‘balanced’ GDTs take place are analysed. The paper ends with a discussion of the results and suggestions for further research.
Abstract
In the field of the direct assessment of speaking ability, the most influential format has been the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language’s (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The OPI has been criticized for being unable to elicit basic features of conversation such as topic nomination. In the OPI it is the interviewer who dominates the topic. This is not surprising since the role of ‘interviewer’ and ‘test-taker’ are inherent to the interview format. An alternative format is the Group Discussion Test (GDT) in which three or four students discuss a topic with no intervention from an interviewer. This pilot study analyses the transcripts of ten GDTs for topic nomination to investigate patterns of interaction. In this data three distinct patterns of topic nomination are identified: ‘interview’, ‘layer-cake’ and ‘balanced’. Of these, ‘balanced’ discussions are the most similar to what might be expected in conversation. The three patterns are discussed and the circumstances in which ‘balanced’ GDTs take place are analysed. The paper ends with a discussion of the results and suggestions for further research.
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