As you progress through your English language studies, you

should be thinking about these areas and the language tasks

you must perform. Although you cannot study for the
interview as you would study for a book quiz, you need to be
building skills in expressing yourself in the ways mentioned in
this handout.

ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW

Certain students in the general English, Specialized, and
Instructors Development Sections will be required to undergo an
oral interview conducted by two faculty members in order to
determine comprehension and speaking ratings (C/S). During the
interview you will be asked to give some autobiographical
information and participate in conversation by both asking and
answering checked by the interviewers, you may be asked to
describe something; give directions or instructions; narrate a series
of events in present, past, and future; take part in a dialog; state
and support opinions; hypothesize; etc. If the interviewers say
something that you do not understand, you should ask them to
repeat so that you can answer better. However, they will not correct
you, help you with vocabulary, or tell you when you have
misunderstood something or made a mistake. In other words, do
not expect them to act like your teachers.
You should relax as much as possible, answer the questions and
performs the tasks to the best of your ability, and use your best
English. Remember that the interview is a performance test, a
measure of how well you understand and speak English on a
particular day at a particular time. Although it provides an
indication of your ability to handle the oral language, it is by no
means a judgement of your total ability to communicate in English.
The interviewers will listen to your speech as you perform the
task they give you. They will pay special attention to the
vocabulary and structure you use, your pronunciations and
fluency, and the awareness of the culture that you display in your
use of language. Afterwards, they will give you a rating in
comprehension and speaking based on what you said. Your rating
will probably fall somewhere between 0 and 3. There are also +
levels (0+, 1+, 2+). To achieve a + you must be able to operate
at the next higher level at least 60% of the time.

For example, a 1+ speaker can do the same things with the

language a 2+ speaker can, but he/she will not do them as
well. The 1+ speakers vocabulary, structure, pronunciation,
and/or fluency will not be as good as a 2+ speakers.
A person who achieves a 1+ in speaking can survive in the
language, and a person who reaches a 1+ and 2 can do
much more.
Below is a description of the base levels for speaking and
what speakers at these levels are able to do with the language:
a: Level 0: Speakers at this level have no proficiency in the
language.
b: Level 1: Speakers at this level have the ability to
participate in short conversations, ask and answers questions
about themselves, their families, their background, and handle
everyday survival situations. They communicate in sentences
(not just phrases) and actually create with the language; that
is, they do not merely repeat lines memorized in a dialog. Their
pronunciation must be intelligible to a native speaker used to
dealing with internationals. Survival topics include :
Ordering a meal in a restaurant
Obtaining a hotel room
Making all arrangements for travel
Changing money
Telling time and identifying days, weeks, months
Talking on a telephone
Asking directions (inside of a building/city/rural area)
Purchasing items in stores
Making introductions
Using appropriate social greeting and social cliches, i.e.
(excuse me, sorry, Im late, etc.)

Describing basic medical problems

Describing personal background
Describing personal comfort requirements (thirst, etc.)
Issuing invitations
Asking people to restate for clarity
c. Level 2: Level 2 speakers can talk about themselves and the
world around them. They are able to fully participate in casual
conversation; can express facts; give instructions (how to do
something); give directions; describe; report on arid provide
narration about past, present, and future activities. They can handle
non/routine situations; lack of language would not prevent them
from solving a situations with a complication.
They generally speak in paragraphs and control basic
sentence structures, including present, past, and future tenses.
Their pronunciation must be intelligible to native speakers not
used to dealing with internationals.
Level 2 topics include:
Background / Family / Interests
Work / Travel / current Events
d. Level 3: Level 3 speakers can converse in formal and
informal situations, resolve problem situations, deal with
unfamiliar topics, provide explanations, describe in detail, offer
supported opinions, and hypothesize. Speakers at this level use
complex sentence structures with frequency and facility, and their
broad vocabulary includes many abstract nouns. Their
pronunciation and communication errors almost never interfere
with a native speakers understanding and listening comfort.
Level 3 topics include:
Practical issues / social concerns
Professional subjects
Abstractions / Particular interests
Special fields of competence