A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Spanish Past Narrations From the ACTFL OPI and OPIc.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Spanish Past Narrations From the ACTFL OPI and OPIc.
Authors:	Brown, Alan V.¹, Cox, Troy L.², Thompson, Gregory L.²
Source:	Foreign Language Annals. Winter2017, Vol. 50 Issue 4, p793-807. 15p.
Subject Terms:	Discourse analysis, Foreign language education, Spanish language, Narration, Oral communication, Human-computer interaction
Abstract:	The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and accompanying proficiency guidelines have become a mainstay in academic foreign language assessment. In 2006, an asynchronous electronic interface of the OPI was made available in which candidates are asked to record themselves responding to questions delivered aurally via computer, labeled the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc). Thompson, Cox, and Knapp () found that both instruments produced similar results but that many students in their sample who scored at the Advanced Low level on the traditional OPI scored one sublevel higher on the OPIc. The primary objective of the present study is to analyze lexical features, i.e., lexical diversity and lexical density, and discursive features, i.e., temporal and repair fluency, of students' speech from a subset of OPI and OPIc exams to examine the relationship between the language elicited from each exam type, i.e., face-to-face and via computer. The research consists of two studies that focus on candidates who received (1) an Advanced Mid rating on both assessments, and (2) those who received Advanced Mid on the OPIc and Advanced Low on the OPI. While the two exams did not seem to elicit disparate levels of lexical density and diversity, significant differences surfaced in measures of fluency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Foreign Language Annals is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and accompanying proficiency guidelines have become a mainstay in academic foreign language assessment. In 2006, an asynchronous electronic interface of the OPI was made available in which candidates are asked to record themselves responding to questions delivered aurally via computer, labeled the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc). Thompson, Cox, and Knapp () found that both instruments produced similar results but that many students in their sample who scored at the Advanced Low level on the traditional OPI scored one sublevel higher on the OPIc. The primary objective of the present study is to analyze lexical features, i.e., lexical diversity and lexical density, and discursive features, i.e., temporal and repair fluency, of students' speech from a subset of OPI and OPIc exams to examine the relationship between the language elicited from each exam type, i.e., face-to-face and via computer. The research consists of two studies that focus on candidates who received (1) an Advanced Mid rating on both assessments, and (2) those who received Advanced Mid on the OPIc and Advanced Low on the OPI. While the two exams did not seem to elicit disparate levels of lexical density and diversity, significant differences surfaced in measures of fluency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	0015718X
DOI:	10.1111/flan.12302