ERIC Number: ED239520
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Oral Proficiency Testing and Programs at the University of South Carolina.
Millstone, A.
Workshops on proficiency testing attended by foreign language faculty at the University of South Carolina provided the starting point for extradepartmental involvement in proficiency testing. As a result of funding requirements and a cooperative arrangement between the foreign languages department and the Masters in International Business program (MIBS), faculty in French and Spanish received training in, and derived very different applications of, proficiency testing. The French faculty approach has been to establish the oral proficiency interview as a degree requirement, with the curriculum developed to prepare students for it. Some problems have resulted from student anxiety over the interview as a hurdle to be overcome late in their program, but more time is thought necessary to evaluate it. The Spanish faculty has made curricular changes designed to develop proficiency and has created an additional series of proficiency-based intensive courses using oral proficiency interviews as an integral feature. Problems foreseen in global application of proficiency testing in the foreign language curriculum include misunderstandings of what proficiency means and developing a single proficiency standard for all students. At the University of South Carolina, language proficiency testing has also been used to place students and predict their success in an international business internship program. (MSE)
Descriptors: Business Administration Education, College Faculty, College Second Language Programs, Communicative Competence (Languages), Competency Based Education, Cooperative Programs, Degree Requirements, Departments, Faculty Development, French, German, Higher Education, International Education, Internship Programs, Interviews, Language Proficiency, Language Tests, Professional Associations, Program Descriptions, Second Language Instruction, Spanish, Testing, Workshops
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A