Language Interviews

Since arriving in Nicaragua, I have had three language interview. One my first few days in country, one during my sixth week and one during my tenth week. The interviews are face-to-face and are supposed to give the participant “an opportunity to demonstrate, in a realistic conversation, the extent of your spoken proficiency as well as your ability to understand the spoken language.” The interviews last about 20 minutes and cover a variety of topics. Some of it is describing people in your family, telling a story, explaining about your daily activities, comparing different things, asking questions, acting out a role play and more. The interviews are graded using the ACTFL Guidelines’ criteria: functions, content, accuracy and text type.

·         Function- refers to what the individual can do with the language, including asking questions, giving information, describing and persuading

·         Content- includes the topics of the spoken message and the breath of vocabulary used

·         Accuracy- refers to the precision, quality, and acceptability of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency and sociolinguistic appropriateness of the spoken message

·         Type- refers to the quantity of speech and conciseness of the message

My first interview I scored Intermediate Low. It was quite disappointing. I knew I hadn’t spoken Spanish on a regular basis since 2005/2006, but I expected that I would have done better. The detailed explanation says “able to handle a limited number of interactive, task-oriented, and social situations… within these limitations, can perform such tasks as introducing self, ordering a meal, asking directions, and making purchases… intermediate low speaker can generally be understood by sympathetic listeners.” 

My second interview I definitely made fewer mistakes in regards to verb tense since I have been able to remember a lot of what I learned in high school with the limited grammar review we have done in language class. My mistakes were more grammatical. I did not include the “a” after ayudar and other verbs that need it. I also did not included necessary helping verbs like aprender a leer. I mixed up ser y estar and por y para, something that I am slowly improving on. I scored Intermediate Mid.

My final interview was last week. I felt like I had done a little better than my second interview but not much. I was aware of the errors I had made and tried to not make the same mistakes. I don’t know what I said incorrectly, since I did not received a detailed list, but I ended up scoring Advanced Low! According to the description, I can now “converse in a participatory fashion; initiate, sustain, and bring closure to a wide variety of communicative tasks; satisfy the requirement of school and work situations; and, narrate and describe with paragraph-length connected discourse.” 

I still have a lot to work on but at least I am making progress every day. Being at site, only speaking Spanish, will definitely help!
And so will my Skype conversations with Jesus and Laura. I wouldn’t be at the level I am at today without their help!!