Communicative Proficiency in a Foreign Language, and Its Evaluation

Download or read book Communicative Proficiency in a Foreign Language, and Its Evaluation written by Paul Hellgren and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study is presented which attempts to clarify the notion of communicative proficiency in a foreign language and which outlines an instructional model that incorporates the insights of the study. Communicative proficiency is defined as fluent mastery of the foreign language in different contexts. The definition was operationalized into discourse processing by means of an instructional model to guide teaching, choice of contents, and evaluation. An account is given of how the instructional model was used to develop a model for evaluating communicative proficiency in a foreign language. Discourse processing as a bidirectional interpreting skill is seen in terms of oral proficiency as a function of speaking and listening, and written proficiency as a function of writing and reading. A simulation of the instructional model is employed in a form in which oral proficiency is rated by written products and written proficiency by oral products. In other words, a hypothesis is made of a unitary structure of English proficiency. This hypothesis was tested by a communicative test given to third-form students in 10 senior secondary schools in Finland. The test required oral and written responses to questions about the contents of an interview heard on tape. Analysis of results showed the test to be a reliable instrument with the asset of simplicity and ease of administration. (Author/AMH)