An analysis of results from the ACTFL oral proficiency interview and the Chinese proficiency test before and after intensive instruction in Chinese as a foreign language

ABSTRACT The study reported here investigated the nature of progress made in learning Chinese as a foreign language by adult learners in an intensive summer program in an American university setting. The Chinese language ability of 222 students was measured by a multiple‐choice examination and an interview test, which were, respectively: the Center for Applied Linguistics' Chinese Proficiency Test (CRT) and the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPT). There were 122 students who took the two exams both at the beginning and at the end of a nine‐week period of study. Analysis of the test scores yielded three main findings: 1) There was a moderate correlation between OPI scores and CPT scores; 2) Gains occurred on both exams, with more than half of the students improving on the OPI, and nearly all of them improving on the CPT; 3) Those students who improved on the OPI tended to have higher CPT scores than other students who had the same initial OPI score. The presentation of these results will help to document the extent to which it is possible for adults to master a foreign language under immersion conditions in a domestic setting. The data will be interpreted and discussed in terms of implications for language teaching and testing.