The art of nonconversation [[electronic resource] ] : a reexamination of the validity of the oral proficiency interview / / Marysia Johnson

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910451850603321
• Autore: Johnson Marysia <1958->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2001
• ISBN: 1-281-73025-4; 9786611730253; 0-300-12944-0
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (256 p.)
• Disciplina: 418/.0076
• Soggetti: Language and languages - Ability testing; Oral communication - Ability testing; Communicative competence - Testing; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-226) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1. Overview of the Book -- Chapter 2. The Genesis and Evolution of the OPI System -- Chapter 3. A Critical Appraisal of the OPI -- Chapter 4. Theoretical Bases for Investigating the OPI Speech Event -- Chapter 5. A Discourse Analysis Study of the OPI -- Chapter 6. Native Speakers' Perceptions of the OPI Speech Event -- Chapter 7. A Prototypical Model of the OPI Communicative Speech Event -- Chapter 8. Communicative Competence versus Interactional Competence -- Chapter 9. The Practical Oral Language Ability: The Application of Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory to Language Testing -- Appendixes -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is a widely accepted instrument for assessing second and foreign language ability. It is used by the Foreign Language Institute, the Defense Language Institute, Educational Testing Service, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, and at many universities in the United States. The Art of Non-Conversation examines the components of speaking ability and asks whether the OPI is a valid instrument for assessing them. Marysia ; Johnson applies the latest insights from discourse and conversational analysis to determine the nature of the OPI's communicative speech event and investigate its construct validity within Messick's definition of validity. She discusses models of speaking ability-several communicative competence models, an interactional competence model, and a model of spoken interaction based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning. Finally she proposes a new model to test language proficiency drawn from sociocultural theory, one that considers language ability to be reflective of the sociocultural and institutional contexts in which the language has been acquired.