a type of speaking test that elicits and assesses a ratable sample of a test
taker’s oral language proficiency in a structured interview format where the
tester and test taker are engaged interactively in oral communication tasks.
The test taker’s spoken language production is often tape-recorded and
later rated by one or multiple raters on the basis of a predetermined rating
scale. The most widely known and influential OPI is the ACTFL OPI that is
a criterion-referenced, direct, face-to-face (or telephone), integrative inter-
view where an ACTFL certified tester takes a test taker through the four
phases such as a warm-up, repeated level checks and probes, and a wind-
down until the tester can identify the test taker’s upper limitation or ceiling.oral reading n
see reading
order of acquisition n
also acquisition order
the order in which linguistic forms, rules, and items are acquired in first- or
second-language learning.
see alsolanguage acquisition, natural order hypothesis
ordinal scale n
see scale
orientation^1 n
see attention
orientation^2 n
see motivation
orientation^3
see listening comprehension
orthography n orthographic adj
The term “orthography” is used:
1 for spelling in general.
2 for correct or standard spelling.
For some languages, the orthography is based on generally accepted usage
and is not prescribed by an official body. For other languages, e.g. Swedish,
it is laid down by official or semi-official organizations. Like the term
“spelling” itself, the term “orthography” is more likely to be used of alpha-
betic writing than of syllabic writing, and is unlikely to be used of character-
based writing systems (see writing systems).
oral reading