Strategic Competence and L2 Speaking Assessment

Autor/in	Seong, Yuna
Titel	Strategic Competence and L2 Speaking Assessment
Quelle	In: Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 14 (2014) 1, S.13-24 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1936-7384
Schlagwörter	Competence; Language Proficiency; Second Language Learning; Language Skills; Applied Linguistics; Literature Reviews; Taxonomy; Language Tests; Speech Tests; Oral Language + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kompetenz; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Linguistics; Linguistik; Angewandte Linguistik; Taxonomie; Language test; Sprachtest; Sprechtest; Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch
Abstract	Assessing second language speaking has long been an important part of language testing in both large-scale assessment settings and in smaller scale classroom-based assessments. Accordingly, researchers in the second language (L2) assessment field have made efforts to establish a better understanding of the nature of speaking ability and its underlying competences. With speaking tests increasingly involving test takers' performances on certain tasks, test takers are required to utilize their language knowledge by means of their "strategic competence" (i.e., skills necessary to put language knowledge into use), which has been considered an integral component of communicative language ability (e.g., Bachman & Palmer, 1996) and L2 speaking ability (e.g., Bygate, 1987; Fulcher, 2003). However, what strategic competence in speaking entails remains unclear, as its definition has varied greatly across different theoretical models and empirical studies. This paper provides a brief overview of the varying approaches to defining "strategic competence," and reports on major empirical findings related to the conceptualization of this important facet of speaking ability, surveying the extensive literature in the broader fields of applied linguistics and L2 assessment in particular. The paper starts with (1) a review of the applied linguistics literature on the major influential approaches to understanding oral strategic competence, followed by (2) an in-depth review of how the L2 assessment literature has conceptualized "strategic competence" in relation to different theoretical models, and lastly, (3) a discussion of empirical studies examining strategic competence in the context of speaking test performance. The paper concludes with directions for future research. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. e-mail: tcwebjournal@tc.columbia.edu; Web site: https://tesolal.columbia.edu/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01