Evangelia Vovou, PhD candidate University of Athens Department of German Studies Research assistant for the KPg Examination http://languagetestingproject.eu

Teaching Languages and Cultures 2014 Niš Serbia

Oral Language Assessment from an Ecolinguistic Perspective –

The way forward?

Language ecology: “The study of interactions between any given language and its environment” (Haugen 1972b:325) Language systems resemble the

ecosystem Languages interrelate Language users or groups of users

interrelate Ecological parameters: social, cultural,

psychological, interactional, political, ethnographic and linguistic (Haarmann 1980:199).

Why Ecolinguistic?

Communicative approach (language-oriented) multicultural language users should be able to

communicate provided they possess a common code

different spatiotemporal realities, different memories are not taken into consideration

Weakness of communicative approach in today’s globalized societies.

Ecolinguistic approach (user-oriented) multicultural language users experience

different spatiotemporal realities. language users in multicultural settings should

consider each other’s social reality.

Why Ecolinguistic?

Lieux de mémoire

Sites, where cultural memory crystallizes and

secretes itself (Pierre Nora 1989)

Specific recollections/mental images

Specific timeframe

Specific place

Social reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT0kzF4A-WQ(01:45 – 03:48)

Culture of origin (Self ) VS

target culture (Other)

Establish a Third Place (Peirce, Bhabha) or Third Culture (Kramsch 1993)

Common symbolic world through the development of a symbolic competence

Overcoming cultural barriers

“A particularly acute ability to play with various linguistic codes and with various spatial and temporal resonances of these codes” (Kramsch/Whiteside 2008)

Update of the communicative competence destined for language users in multicultural environments

Notion of symbolic competence

From society to second language acquisition Heteroglossic language learners aiming at

perpetuating particular cultural contexts (Kramsch 1993,1994, 2006, 2008)

From second language acquisition to second language assessment Oral evaluation processes resemble intercultural

discourse processes

Ecolinguistic at a micro level

KPg German Language Exam Greek high-stakes language assessment system

designed mainly for native speakers of Greek Designed according to the CEFR levels B1-level oral examination simulation

interviewer: Greek interviewee: Greek target-language: German

Goethe Institut Zertifikat B1 German high-stakes language assessment system

designed for German learners from around the globe Designed according to the CEFR levels B1-level oral examination simulation

interviewer: German interviewee: Spanish target-language: German

Language Data

Standard oral examinations are vis-à-vis intercultural interactions.

Interviewer and interviewee must keep pace with the ecolinguistic aspects of the examination.

Signs of social deixis Opportunistic character of utterances Interviewer dominance

Exercise of symbolic power through: Use of accomodation towards the candidate Use of control in order to frame the interview

questions

SimilaritiesTesting Discourse non-test Discourse Interviewer native speaker Interviewee non-native speaker

Display questions / Topic presentation and topic development by the use of questions

Request for clarification Either-/Or-questions Comprehension check Grammatical simplification Lexical simplification Topic introduction Tempo variations / slowdown Overarticulation Other-expansion (topic expansion by the interviewee) Self-repetition

Interviewer’s Symbolic Competence Accommodation

Features

(Berwick/Ross 1993)

Topic nomination

Topic abandonment

Self-expansion (topic expansion by the

interviewer)

Reformulation

Interviewer’s Symbolic Competence Control Strategies

(Berwick/Ross 1993)

KPg Oral Proficiency German Language Examination

B1-level simulation

German text English translation

Interviewer Wie heißen Sie? What is your name?

Interviewee A Ich heiße Evangelia Tikoudi. My name is E. Tikoudi.

InterviewerA, hm. (Affirmative nod)

Und Sie bitte? And yours please?

Interviewee B Eftihia Petika.

Interviewer

Petika […] Eftihia. Ok. (Affirmative repetition)

[eee] Wie alt Sind Sie?[eee] How old are you?

(Display question)

Interviewee B [eee] Ich bin 15 Jahre alt. [eee] I am 15 years old.

KPg Transcription (segment I)

German text English translation

Interviewee A

dann reise ich und gehe […] wo […] ein […] ins Ausland oder in Griechenland, in Athen

after that I go […] where […]one […]abroad or in Greece, in Athens

Interviewer

Aha, ok.

Und sehen Sie sich bitte, Frau Petika, die Fotos vier und sechs an. In einem Freizeitmagazin finden Sie verschiedene Freizeitvorschläge. Was machen Sie lieber? Was finden Sie uninteressant und warum?

And please, Miss Petika, take a look at photos four and six. In a leisure-time magazine you find several leisure-time offers. Which one do you prefer? Which one do you find unappealing and why? (Either-/or-options)(topic introduction)

Interviewee B

[eee] ich mach lieber [eee] mit meine Freunde ins Café gehen [eee] ich finde ich [eee] nicht so interessant fernsehen [eee] denn du nicht Vieles machst oder du […] du nur […] du bist allein [eee] αυτά

[eee] I prefer [eee] with my friends in the café go [eee] I find [eee] not so interesting watching tv [eee] because you don’t do much or you […] you only […] you are alone [eee] that’s about it

Interviewer Also Sie verbringen Ihre Freizeit gern mit Anderen oder allein?

So do you spend your free time preferably with others or alone? (comprehension check AND other-expansion/self-expansion, topic nomination)

Interviewee B

[eee] Ich mochte mit meinen Freunden [eee] wir gehen spazieren oder ins Kino [eee] und danach ins Café.

[eee] I would like with my friends [eee] we take walks or to the movies [eee] and after that in the café.

KPg Transcription (segment II)

Goethe Institut Oral Proficiency Examination B1-level simulation

German text English translation

Interviewer: Wie heißen Sie? What is your name?

Interviewee:

Ich heiße Oskar Sandiago. My name is O.S.

Interviewer: Aha

Interviewee:

und ich komme aus Espanien. and I come from Spain. (no display-question)

Goethe Institut Transcription (segment I)

German text English translation

Interviewer: Und im zweiten Teil der Prüfung geht es um ein ganz interessantes Thema, hat auch mit Spanien zu tun, nämlich Ferien und Reisen.

And the second part of the examination is about a very interesting topic, it’s about Spain too, that is vacation and journeys. (topic introduction)

Interviewee: Ah

Interviewer: Ja Yes

Interviewee: Sehr interessant Very interesting

Interviewer: Sehr interessant Very interesting

Es gibt hier auch eine Tabelle dazu, [hmm] schauen Sie sich die noch mal an.

There is also a chart, [hmm] take a look at it.(topic introduction)

Interviewee: [… …] Ah, die Deutschen […] Ich muss etwas […]? [… …] Ah, the Germans […] I must something […]?

Interviewer: [uh ah] Sind Sie fertig dann? [uh ah] Are you ready then?

Interviewee: Ja [ah] Yes [ah]

Interviewer: Dann fange ich an. Ich frage eine Frage, d.h. welche Informationen gibt es in dieser Tabelle also […]

Then I shall start. I will ask a question, that is, which information are on the chart so […] (topic introduction, topic nomination)

Interviewee: Es gibt hier [eee] was ist die Name [eee]die [eee] There is here [eee] what is the name of it [eee] the [eee]

Interviewer: Tabelle? Chart? (unsuccessful lexical and comprehension check)

Interviewee: [eee] Percent? [eee] percentage?

Interviewer: Ja Yes (affirmation, yet no lexical simplification nor comprehension check)

Interviewee: Percent, weiß ich nicht Deutsch, glaube ich Percentage, I don’t know German, I think

Interviewer: Richtig, korrekt Right, correct (affirmation, yet no lexical simplification)

Interviewee: [ah] Percent? So es gibt die Percent of verschiedenen Preisen [ah] percentage? So there is the percentage of different prices

Interviewer: Aha

Goethe Institut Transcription (segment II)

Signs of symbolic competence

Accommodation features Control strategies

KPg examinationGreek

interviewer-Greek interviewee

•asks for information already know to him (display question) • uses affirmative utterances and repetitions• gives either-/or-options• uses tempo variations and slowdowns• checks on the interviewee’s immediate utterance (comprehension check)• draws on the interviewee’s utterance and elaborates on phrases within the utterance (other-expansion)

• nominates topic• extends the content of the interviewee’s preceding utterance

Goethe InstitutGerman

interviewer-Spanish

interviewee

• no display-question • affirmative nods, but no affirmative repetition• no tempo variations or slowdowns• introduces topic, uncertainty is created• no lexical simplification • no comprehension check

• nominates topic

Interviewer Symbolic Competence Comparison

Accommodation Features

+Control Strategies

Signs of symbolic competence

Culture dependent

Culture defined ratings

Impact on evaluation

process/ratings

Negative impact on validity and reliability

Oral evaluation processes are not culture-

neutral

Are interviewers aware of the impact of their

cultural memory?

To what extent does the cultural memory affect

test qualities?

To what extent can cultural interferences in oral

examinations be reduced?

Can we use feedback to the benefit of society?

Conclusion

Thank you!

Evangelia Vovou, PhD candidateUniversity of AthensDepartment of German Studies http://languagetestingproject.eu evovou@ltproject.eu