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 c. Level 2: Level 2 speakers can talk about themselves and the
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
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