Interactional Competence in Speaking Assessments

Imagine you're sitting in a speaking exam, nervously waiting to demonstrate your speaking skills. Traditionally, these speaking exams focus on assessing your fluency, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, often overlooking the rich tapestry of nonverbal cues and interactive skills that make real-life communication so dynamic.

Enter Sonca Vo’s groundbreaking and pioneering study, "Exploring the construct of interactional competence in different types of oral communication assessment," which is set to change the way we think about speaking assessments. Vo’s journey into this research began with a simple yet profound question: How can we truly measure someone's ability to interact in a language?

What makes Vo’s study truly revolutionary is that it ventures into uncharted territory. No previous research has comprehensively examined the full spectrum of interactional competence by integrating both verbal and nonverbal communication features. Vo discovered that traditional methods, like scripted interviews, fall short by not capturing the full essence of interactional competence. To address this, she compared these traditional tasks with paired discussions, where participants interact more naturally. Her findings were groundbreaking. By analyzing both verbal and nonverbal communication, Vo identified four key components that define interactional competence: nonverbal communication, topic management, interactional management, and interactive listening.

Vo’s study utilized sophisticated statistical methods to analyze the data. By employing many-facet Rasch analysis, exploratory factor analysis, logistic regressions, and simple regressions, she was able to uncover patterns and relationships within the interaction features. Many-facet Rasch analysis was used to ensure that different speaking prompts measured the same construct of interactional competence and that these prompts were similar in terms of difficulty level. Exploratory factor analysis helped in identifying the underlying structure of interactional competence by revealing the key components and their interrelationships. Logistic regressions provided insights into how various interactional components predicted successful communication outcomes, while simple regressions shed light on the strength and nature of these relationships. This rigorous approach ensured that her findings were not only insightful but also robust and reliable.

Let's delve into the nonverbal aspect, which plays a pivotal role in this study. Nonverbal communication features include hand gestures, body posture, head nods, eye contact, and facial expressions. These elements are crucial because they often convey meaning and emotions that words alone cannot. For example, a student's confident posture and steady eye contact can signal understanding and engagement, while hand gestures and facial expressions can help clarify and emphasize spoken words.

In her research, Vo found that while both individual scripted interviews and paired discussions involve these nonverbal features, the paired discussions offer a richer context for test-takers to demonstrate their interactional skills. In these settings, participants can showcase their ability to manage topics, connect ideas, and respond appropriately in real-time, revealing a deeper level of competence that traditional methods often miss.

The practical implications of Vo’s study are profound. To accurately assess interactional competence, it's essential to combine individual scripted tasks with paired discussions. This approach not only enriches the assessment but also enhances its validity, providing a more comprehensive picture of a student's communicative abilities. Additionally, Vo’s work suggests that the identified interaction features can be integrated into a detailed interactional competence rating scale, with raters trained to use this scale to ensure consistent and reliable evaluations.

The significant contribution of Vo’s study to the field of applied linguistics cannot be overstated. By highlighting the importance of both verbal and nonverbal communication in assessing interactional competence, Vo’s research paves the way for more comprehensive and fair language assessments. Her work challenges traditional methodologies and advocates for a more holistic approach, which has far-reaching implications for language education and policy worldwide. This study not only enriches our understanding of language competence but also promotes more inclusive and effective assessment practices, ensuring that every aspect of a learner's communicative ability is recognized and valued. This groundbreaking research fills a crucial gap, as no previous study has explored these dimensions of interactional competence so comprehensively.

 

Vo’s article is published in Interaction Studies 25 (2024) accessible at https://benjamins.com/catalog/is.00022.vo