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Language Proficiency Interviews and Emerging Alternatives

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Interviewing for Language Proficiency

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Abstract

This final chapter reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the language proficiency interview and contrasts them with the currently growing movement to automate speaking assessments with the use of narrative speaking tasks and fluency assessments. Alternatives to the face-to-face interview such as the simulated oral proficiency interview, the computer-delivered oral proficiency interview, speaking assessments that deliver narrative tasks via the Internet, and fully automated semi-indirect tests such as the Versant test are described. The alternatives to the LPI are considered in terms of their cost-effectiveness and in light of construct, content, and consequential validity criteria. The focus is on what kinds of tasks are arguably best assessed with the LPI, and for which languages, and what tasks might be efficiently assessed with automated scoring systems powered by natural language processing technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Languages Literatures, and Cultures, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Steven J. Ross

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  1. Steven J. Ross
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Ross, S.J. (2017). Language Proficiency Interviews and Emerging Alternatives. In: Interviewing for Language Proficiency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60528-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60528-9_12

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60527-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60528-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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