Speaking Competence Research Articles

Apprehension, self‐perceived competency, and teacher immediacy in the laboratory‐supported public speaking course: Trends and relationships

This study examines trends and relationships among public speaking anxiety, self‐perceived public speaking competency, and teacher immediacy for students with high, moderate, and low communication apprehension in the laboratory‐supported public speaking course. Public speaking anxiety and self‐perceived competency were measured at three points during the semester. Trends of anxiety and self‐perceived competency for high, moderate, and low apprehensives were examined using two 3 × 3 mixed‐model factorial ANOVAs (one‐between and one‐within factors). All three apprehension groups perceived significant gains in competency and significant decreases in anxiety. Analyses failed to find differences among high, moderate, and low apprehensives in the amount of perceived improvement and anxiety decrease. Correlations revealed a significant negative relationship between anxiety and self‐perceived competency at each of the three test times. Correlations also revealed that there is a significant positive relationship b...

Questions of Regionalism in Native Speaker OPI Performance: The French‐Canadian Experience

ABSTRACT The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) has been submitted to external scrutiny and has been accepted by many foreign language educators as an accurate method of assessing speaking competence of foreign language learners. Recognizing, however, that every test has its limitations, and that the nature of all good systems of evaluation is to evolve in order to meet growing needs, an OPI is herein examined in the context of evaluating native speakers. A 1991 workshop in Quebec City and a 1989 Canadian Study on French regional speech provide the framework for an honest discussion of sociolinguistic competence and the suitability of the OPI for testing native speakers. An invitation for further dialogue on this issue follows a list of recommendations that: a) ACTFL should further define the role of the sociolinguistic element of accuracy; b) ACTFL testers should be sensitive to the issue of regional variants when testing native speakers in order to distinguish a “pattern of errors” from bona fide regionalism; c) Canadian testers should beware of the danger of overlooking errors of high frequency usage that appear acceptable by virtue of their common occurrence; and d) ACTFL needs to reexamine the notion that all compensation ceases at the superior level.Finally the author suggests that Canadian French is to European French as American English is to British English, and hence should be accepted in a North American context, as a bona fide variant of the language.

Effects of Language Choice on Acculturation

The present study investigates whether language preference is associated with different acculturation attitudes. As residents of Montreal, 103 Portuguese immigrants or firstgeneration Canadians of Portuguese descent completed a questionnaire in their preferred language (English, French, or Portuguese) assessing their modes of acculturation, selfreported ethnic identity, self-esteem, individualistic and collectivistic tendencies, and self-reported competence in speaking and reading English, French, and Portuguese. The results indicated that language preference was associated with ethnic identity. Moreover, there was a strong identification with the North American culture by the English respondents and a weaker association with the French-Canadian culture by French respondents. These results indicate that language choice strongly reflects different acculturation attitudes and that research should be directed toward both macro-and microcultural levels in a "dominant" society.

FL conversational skills in tertiary education: A socio‐cultural and autonomous approach1

Abstract The teaching of conversational skills in a FL is still greatly underdeveloped in tertiary education. This is principally because of the demands it makes on staff time, and also because sending students to live in the foreign country is thought to be more effective than teaching. The paper proposes a variety of conversational training that maximises learner autonomy and focusses on socio‐cultural competence in speaking. Students recorded role‐plays that required good sociolinguistic knowledge and then compared the discourse generated with native speaker equivalents. Strategies of this kind increase student self‐motivation without making excessive demands on staff time, and they lead to direct improvement of important conversational skills. The future of conversational training at third level is discussed in the light of this model, with special reference to recent developments in the Netherlands.

Correlation of Foreign Language Speaking Competency and Grades in Ten Midwestern Liberal Arts Colleges*

IN THE Fall of 1960 the Associated Colleges of the Midwest1 embarked upon a program of experimentation and research in modern foreign languages to study different approaches to language learning as well as to improve teaching materials and raise proficiency levels of foreign language students. The program involves standardized testing and evaluation, preparation of special materials and test instruments and a comparison of results achieved by the use of a variety of teaching materials and teaching methods. Various types of electromechanical, textual and visual materials are being tested. Because of the keen interest and concern

Correlation of Foreign Language Speaking Competency and Grades in Ten Mid-Western Liberal Arts Colleges

Correlation of Foreign Language Speaking Competency and Grades in Ten Mid-Western Liberal Arts Colleges