A Microanalytic Perspective on Discourse, Proficiency, and Identity in Paired Oral Assessment

Autor/inn/en	Lazaraton, Anne; Davis, Larry
Titel	A Microanalytic Perspective on Discourse, Proficiency, and Identity in Paired Oral Assessment
Quelle	In: Language Assessment Quarterly, 5 (2008) 4, S.313-335 (23 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1543-4303
Schlagwörter	Language Tests; Interviews; Language Proficiency; Second Languages; Evaluation; Reliability; Validity; Scores; English (Second Language); Communicative Competence (Languages) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Language test; Sprachtest; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Second language; Zweitsprache; Evaluierung; Reliabilität; Gültigkeit; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Communicative competence; Languages; Kommunikative Kompetenz; Sprache
Abstract	The increasing popularity of paired format in oral testing has engendered legitimate scrutiny of its reliability and validity as compared with the more traditional interviewer-interviewee arrangement. Although characteristics such as the gender, cultural/L1 background, and language proficiency of one's interlocutor likely affects the discourse produced with a partner, the question remains whether this interlocutor effect influences scores on the test. In this article, the construct interlocutor effect is further examined. Initially, transcript data from two large-scale speaking tests were analyzed by working backward from testtaker scores to locate discourse features to support those scores; identity formulations, such as "proficient" and "competent," as constructed in and through the discourse test takers produce, emerged as a salient feature of the talk. Specifically, we posit that a test taker brings a language proficiency identity to a test task, and this identity is constructed, mediated, and displayed in the talk. We argue that "proficiency" is fluid, in that it will shift--on a turn-by-turn basis--based on who we are talking to in a second language and what sort of identity(ies) we bring to and are mediated in that interaction. It is this aspect of the interlocutor effect that merits more attention. (Contains 4 footnotes and 1 table.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10