Turn-taking practices in multi-party EFL oral proficiency tests
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v5i3.297Keywords:
conversation analysis, turn-taking, peer-to-peer oral proficiency tests, multi-party talk, embodied action, novice L2 talkAbstract
This study focuses on multi-party talk among EFL learners during peer-to-peer interaction in oral proficiency tests. We conduct a micro-analysis of the way test-takers in small groups use questions like ‘How about you?’ to manage turn-taking when speaking in rounds or through a pivot. We find that these deceptively simple questions have both an indexical referential element and an addressee-determining element that is used in conjunction with bodily conduct to select next-speaker, making them in fact a sophisticated interactional achievement. The study concludes by discussing how turn-taking practices in multi-party speaking tests can help make visible novice language users’ orientations to learning.
References
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Brouwer, C. E. (2003) Word searches in NNS-NS interaction: Opportunities for language learning? The Modern Language Journal 87 (4): 534–545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00206
Brown, A. (2003) Interviewer variation and the co-construction of speaking proficiency. Language Testing 20 (1): 1–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0265532203lt242oa
Carroll, D. (2005a) Vowel-marking as an interactional resource in Japanese novice ESL conversation. In K. Richards and P. Seedhouse (eds) Applying Conversation Analysis, 214–234. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Carroll, D. (2005b) Co-constructing Competence: Turn Construction and Repair in Noviceto- Novice Second Language Interaction. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. University of York, York.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992) Analyzing talk at work: An introduction. In D. Boden and D. H. Zimmerman (eds), Talk and Social Structure, 3–65. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Egbert, M. (1997) Some interactional achievements of other-initiated repair in multiperson conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 27 (5): 611–634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00039-2
Egbert, M. (1998) Miscommunication in language proficiency interviews of first-year German students: Comparison with natural conversation. In R. Young and A. He (eds) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency, 147–169. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Ford, C. and Thompson, S. (1996) Interactional units in conversation: Syntactic, intonational, and pragmatic resources for the management of turns. In E. Ochs, E. Schegloff and S. Thompson (eds), Interaction and Grammar, 134–184. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, C. (1980) Restarts, pauses, and the achievement of a state of mutual gaze at turn-beginning. Sociological Inquiry 50 (3–4): 272–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1980.tb00023.x
Hauser, E. (2009) Turn-taking and primary speakership during a student discussion. In G. Kasper and H. T. Nguyen (eds) Talk-in-Interaction: Multilingual Perspectives, 214–244. Honolulu, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
He, A. W. (2004) CA for SLA: Arguments from the Chinese language classroom. The Modern Language Journal 8 (4): 568–582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.t01-19-.x
He, A. W. and Young, R. (1998) Language proficiency interviews: A discourse approach. In R. Young and A. He (eds) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency, 1–24. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Hughes, A. (1989) Testing for Language Teachers (2nd edn) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, S., and Parra, I. (2003) Multiple layers of meaning in an oral proficiency test: Complementary roles of nonverbal, paralinguistic and verbal behaviors in assessment decisions. The Modern Language Journal 87 (1): 90–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00180
Johnson, M. (2000) Interaction in the oral proficiency interview: Problems of validity. Pragmatics 10 (2): 215–231.
Kasper, G. (2004) Participant orientations in German conversation-for-learning. The Modern Language Journal 88 (4): 551–567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.t01-18-.x
Kasper, G. (2006) When once is not enough: Politeness of multiple requests in oral proficiency interviews. Multilingua 25 (3): 323–350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/MULTI.2006.018
Kasper, G. and Ross, S. J. (2007) Multiple-questions in the oral proficiency interview. Journal of Pragmatics 39 (11): 2045–2070. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.07.011
Lazaraton, A. (1997) Preference organization in oral proficiency interviews: The case of language ability assessments. Research on Language and Social Interaction 30 (1): 53–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3001_2
Lazaraton, A. (2002) A Qualitative Approach to the Validation of Oral Proficiency Tests. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lazaraton, A. and Davis, L. (2008) A microanalytic perspective on discourse, proficiency, and identity in paired oral assessment. Language Assessment Quarterly 5 (4): 313–335.
Lerner, G. (1996) On the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-ininteraction: ‘Second-person’ reference in multi-party interaction. Pragmatics, 6 (3): 281–294.
Lerner, G. (2003) Selecting next speaker: The context-sensitive operation of a contextfree organization. Language in Society 32 (2): 177–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S004740450332202X
Pomerantz, A. (1984) Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/ dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds), Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 57–101. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. and Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking in conversation. Language 50 (4), 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977) The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language 53 (2): 361–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/413107
Schegloff, E., Koshik, I., Jacoby, S. and Olsher, D. (2002) Conversation analysis and applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 22: 3–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0267190502000016
Tanaka, H. (1999) Turn-taking in Japanese Conversation: A Study in Grammar and Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Young, R. F. and He, A. (eds) (1998) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Brouwer, C. E. (2003) Word searches in NNS-NS interaction: Opportunities for language learning? The Modern Language Journal 87 (4): 534–545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00206
Brown, A. (2003) Interviewer variation and the co-construction of speaking proficiency. Language Testing 20 (1): 1–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0265532203lt242oa
Carroll, D. (2005a) Vowel-marking as an interactional resource in Japanese novice ESL conversation. In K. Richards and P. Seedhouse (eds) Applying Conversation Analysis, 214–234. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Carroll, D. (2005b) Co-constructing Competence: Turn Construction and Repair in Noviceto- Novice Second Language Interaction. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. University of York, York.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992) Analyzing talk at work: An introduction. In D. Boden and D. H. Zimmerman (eds), Talk and Social Structure, 3–65. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Egbert, M. (1997) Some interactional achievements of other-initiated repair in multiperson conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 27 (5): 611–634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00039-2
Egbert, M. (1998) Miscommunication in language proficiency interviews of first-year German students: Comparison with natural conversation. In R. Young and A. He (eds) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency, 147–169. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Ford, C. and Thompson, S. (1996) Interactional units in conversation: Syntactic, intonational, and pragmatic resources for the management of turns. In E. Ochs, E. Schegloff and S. Thompson (eds), Interaction and Grammar, 134–184. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, C. (1980) Restarts, pauses, and the achievement of a state of mutual gaze at turn-beginning. Sociological Inquiry 50 (3–4): 272–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1980.tb00023.x
Hauser, E. (2009) Turn-taking and primary speakership during a student discussion. In G. Kasper and H. T. Nguyen (eds) Talk-in-Interaction: Multilingual Perspectives, 214–244. Honolulu, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
He, A. W. (2004) CA for SLA: Arguments from the Chinese language classroom. The Modern Language Journal 8 (4): 568–582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.t01-19-.x
He, A. W. and Young, R. (1998) Language proficiency interviews: A discourse approach. In R. Young and A. He (eds) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency, 1–24. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Hughes, A. (1989) Testing for Language Teachers (2nd edn) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, S., and Parra, I. (2003) Multiple layers of meaning in an oral proficiency test: Complementary roles of nonverbal, paralinguistic and verbal behaviors in assessment decisions. The Modern Language Journal 87 (1): 90–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00180
Johnson, M. (2000) Interaction in the oral proficiency interview: Problems of validity. Pragmatics 10 (2): 215–231.
Kasper, G. (2004) Participant orientations in German conversation-for-learning. The Modern Language Journal 88 (4): 551–567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.t01-18-.x
Kasper, G. (2006) When once is not enough: Politeness of multiple requests in oral proficiency interviews. Multilingua 25 (3): 323–350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/MULTI.2006.018
Kasper, G. and Ross, S. J. (2007) Multiple-questions in the oral proficiency interview. Journal of Pragmatics 39 (11): 2045–2070. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.07.011
Lazaraton, A. (1997) Preference organization in oral proficiency interviews: The case of language ability assessments. Research on Language and Social Interaction 30 (1): 53–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3001_2
Lazaraton, A. (2002) A Qualitative Approach to the Validation of Oral Proficiency Tests. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lazaraton, A. and Davis, L. (2008) A microanalytic perspective on discourse, proficiency, and identity in paired oral assessment. Language Assessment Quarterly 5 (4): 313–335.
Lerner, G. (1996) On the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-ininteraction: ‘Second-person’ reference in multi-party interaction. Pragmatics, 6 (3): 281–294.
Lerner, G. (2003) Selecting next speaker: The context-sensitive operation of a contextfree organization. Language in Society 32 (2): 177–201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S004740450332202X
Pomerantz, A. (1984) Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/ dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds), Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 57–101. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. and Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking in conversation. Language 50 (4), 696–735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977) The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language 53 (2): 361–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/413107
Schegloff, E., Koshik, I., Jacoby, S. and Olsher, D. (2002) Conversation analysis and applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 22: 3–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0267190502000016
Tanaka, H. (1999) Turn-taking in Japanese Conversation: A Study in Grammar and Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Young, R. F. and He, A. (eds) (1998) Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Published
2015-09-14
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Greer, T., & Potter, H. (2015). Turn-taking practices in multi-party EFL oral proficiency tests. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 5(3), 297-320. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v5i3.297
