Evaluating Speaker - Adv-Superior Deportes

ACTFL Level: Advanced High/Superior

Topic: Sports

Interview Prompt: ¿Qué opinas de la importancia que se le da a los deportes en esta universidad?

Features of speaker performance:

• Express opinions about abstract/controversial issues
• Support opinions about abstract/controversial issues in response to objections/arguments
• Produce coherent argumentation in extended discourse
• Use anecdotes only to support arguments, not in place of them
• Control use of subjunctive and other low-frequency or complex structures
• Easily use paraphrasing and other strategies to compensate for gaps in lexical knowledge
• Errors still present, but do not distract from the content of the discourse

More About the Advanced High/Superior Speaker: Speakers at the Advanced High/Superior level can participate in conversations on practical, social, professional, and controversial topics. They speak in extended discourse to present, elaborate on, and defend a point of view. They can also provide hypotheses and detailed descriptions to support their arguments by discussing the consequences of a possible course of action. They control low frequency and complex structures (e.g., various uses of the subjunctive) and an ample lexicon to present their arguments in a professional, formal manner.

• Expanding on the opinion. 
•  ¿Cómo traen dinero a la universidad los programas de deportes?
• Supporting the opinion.
•  Comprendo lo que dices, pero algunas personas dicen que cuando se les da tanta importancia a los programas de deportes, inevitablemente se les da mucho poder también y que este poder da lugar a mucha corrupción. ¿Cómo respondes a este argumento?
• Hypothesizing about the consequences of a course of action
•  ¿Cuál sería el impacto de reducir el número de becas que se les da a los equipos de fútbol? ¿Afectaría la importancia de estos equipos a nivel institucional y a nivel nacional?
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  3. Evaluate the Speaker
  Looking only at the speaker’s performance, and keeping in mind the linguistic features associated with this level, discuss the following:
• Does the speaker express an opinion, support that opinion, and hypothesize about possible consequences?
• Is the opinion well developed?
• Is the speaker able to expand on the opinion and defend it against objections in response to the follow-up questions?
• Is the speaker able to link ideas together in coherent, sophisticated discourse? Does the speaker control the constructions (e.g., subjunctive) needed to defend opinions and speak hypothetically?
• Are the grammatical errors few enough that they do not distract the listener from the message?
• Is the speaker able to speak at length about ideas and concepts?
• Does the speaker develop and sustain an argument?http://oralproficiency.coerll.utexas.edu/spanish/module-2-8/http://oralproficiency.coerll.utexas.edu/spanish/module-2-8/
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  What proficiency level do you give to the response? Select among the following and justify your choice with evidence from the speech sample:
• Below Advanced High/Superior: Does not fulfill the criteria of the Superior level. Recounts experience rather than argue a point of view.
• Advanced High/Superior. Fulfills the criteria for the task, and does so with ease and fluency consistently or most of the time. Produces a coherent argument, develops it, and supports it. Talks about ideas, principles, and issues, using anecdotes and examples only for (not instead of) illustration.  Sometimes recounts experience rather than argue a point of view.
• Above Advanced High/Superior: Fulfills and goes beyond the criteria for the task with ease and fluency.