OPI practice round

Earlier this summer I participated in ACTFL oral proficiency interview training (see early June posts for more information). I am now in the process of applying for certification and am thus working on completing interviews for my practice round.

There are several interesting things that I have learned from participating in this process:

• This is a wide range of ability within one course level. In a given day, I can meet with three or four students from the same class/teacher. Although they were all placed in the same level (based on test scores from writing, reading, listening, speaking, and grammar), their range of speaking ability is remarkable. Some seem to peak beyond what our Center teaches for speaking skills, whereas those students' classmates can barely get out a coherent sentence on a simple topic. I suppose that is the nature of level placement based on a holistic decision based on all test scores.
  
• Just because students "know" grammar, does not mean that they use it. Level 4 students, for example, learn complex grammar patterns and can easily understand verb use in all major time frames. Yet many Level 4 students frequently make errors in any time from but the present, and even then many make basic subject-verb agreement errors. I wonder why it is that some students can quickly translate what they learn into what they use, and others have very week production skills even after prolonged exposure to the grammar.
• It is a difficult process to learn to be both a test creator and evaluator at the same time. ACTFL OPIs require the interviewer to develop the questions on the spur of the moment based on the flow of the conversation (and following basic structural patterns to cover a variety of topics and levels of difficulty). However, the dynamic nature of the interview does lend to its authenticity. It is a valuable learning experience for someone who is interesting in language assessment.
  

I hope that my participation in this process benefits the Center. I also hope that it provides me with a better understanding of language assessment and will positively influence my PhD research as well as my job prospects once I finish.