˜Theœ Art of Non-conversation A Reexamination of the Validity of the Oral Proficiency Interview

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. 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__ examinesthe 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. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 11 Chapter 1. Overview of the Book 15 Chapter 2. The Genesis and Evolution of the OPI System 20 Chapter 3. A Critical Appraisal of the OPI 34 Chapter 4. Theoretical Bases for Investigating the OPI Speech Event 55 Chapter 5. A Discourse Analysis Study of the OPI 90 Chapter 6. Native Speakers’ Perceptions of the OPI Speech Event 135 Chapter 7. A Prototypical Model of the OPI Communicative Speech Event 154 Chapter 8. Communicative Competence versus Interactional Competence 166 Chapter 9. The Practical Oral Language Ability: The Application of Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory to Language Testing 195 Appendixes 221 Bibliography 227 Index 241