Increasing language awareness and self-efficacy of FL students using self-assessment and the ACTFL proficiency guidelines

Abstract

This study describes how oral language was assessed in an advanced-level college foreign language (FL) conversation course. Learners used the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines to guide self-analyses of their oral production at intervals throughout the course. The intent was to provide opportunities for learners to develop an understanding of what constitutes oral proficiency, gauge their own progress, and set personal goals. Learners' self-analysis narratives suggested they began to notice different aspects of their speech and to better articulate their abilities and limitations. Broadly speaking, the results suggest that self-assessment of oral performance guided by the Proficiency Guidelines is an effective way to increase FL students' language awareness and self-efficacy. Pedagogical implications and limitations to this approach are discussed.

Keywords:

• language awareness
• self-efficacy
• self-assessment
• foreign language pedagogy
• oral proficiency

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions for improving the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We acknowledge that ‘language awareness’ is a multifaceted construct that has been conceptualised both more broadly and more narrowly within the fields of applied linguistics (see van Lier, 2001), second language acquisition (see Leow, 2006), and education (e.g. Bilash & Tulasiewicz, 1995).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth M. Kissling

Elizabeth M. Kissling is an assistant professor of Spanish and linguistics in the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian studies at the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA, USA. Her research focuses on second language teaching methods, particularly for oral skills and pronunciation, and Spanish phonetics.

Mary E. O'Donnell

Mary E. O'Donnell is an assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, USA. Her research and teaching focus on teacher training, FL assessment, reading and writing in a FL, and learner self-assessment.