Last week, I posted that one of my #MyFives goals for 2019 was to improve my Spanish proficiency.
While I had never taken an OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview), I can tell based on my confidence and fluidness in speaking with native speakers that my oral proficiency has declined in the last 10 years. As someone who develops materials for Spanish learners, I believe that it is my professional obligation to maintain an extremely high level of proficiency. ¡Manos a la obra!
What is an OPI?
The OPI is ACTFL’s flagship assessment. It is administered through Language Testing International by ACTFL Certified Testers.
The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) measures your ability to speak in a particular language. It is an unscripted, approximately, 30 minute conversation on the phone with a Certified ACTFL Tester.
Oral Proficiency Interview – Language Testing International
An official, or “certified” OPI is rated by two certified testers, and the highest possible rating on an ACTFL OPI is Superior.
Note: An OPI can also be requested on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale or the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) instead of the ACTFL scale.
Setting my goal for the OPI
I read through the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and initially guessed that I am currently at Advanced High. My initial goal was to schedule an OPI for December of 2019 and to be scored at Superior. After talking to some friends and considering the structure of the interview, I adjusted my goal down one level: guessing that I am probably at Advanced Mid, I published my official goal as Advanced High by December of 2019.
It’s not easy to post uncomfortable goals for the world to see; no more so than it is easy to post any idea on a blog for unseen critics to review. But you know what? It is always worth it, and sharing this goal reminded me of that!
OPI, Take 1
You might be familiar with Florencia Henshaw from Episode 57 of We Teach Languages. Florencia is the Director of the Center for Language Instruction and Coordination (CLIC) at the University of Illinois.
Perhaps you–like me–have recently seen CLIC advertising their Spring lineup of FREE WEBINARS on your favorite social media platform. CLIC is the hub for language teaching and learning at the University of Illinois, and Director Florencia is committed to providing ever better access to professional development for language teachers and learners. See the bottom of the post for more information about CLIC.
It also happens that Florencia is a Certified OPI Tester.
…and it also happens that Florencia reads my blog!
When she saw my goal to take the OPI at the end of 2019, she reached out to me and offered to do an unofficial, trial run OPI with me so that I could get a feel for the interview and find out if my goal was attainable!
As terrified as I was to take an OPI–albeit unoffical–ELEVEN MONTHS before I had planned, I had to take her up on the offer. And so…I did!
What happened during my mock OPI
Florencia and I scheduled a call over an online video platform. We were able to see and hear each other throughout the entire interview.
My tester (Florencia) began by reiterating that this was not an official interview and that the results would therefore be neither official nor endorsed by ACTFL or Language Testing International. Then, she explained to me that she might ask me questions about controversial subjects. She affirmed that she was evaluating only the language that I used and that she would listen without judgement to any opinion or idea that I shared. Florencia also told me that if she asked any questions that I was not at liberty to answer, I could tell her that and she would ask a new question. (Phew! I didn’t have to compromise my Top Secret security clearance ;-)).
The interview began with a few basic questions about myself and my life. We talked about who I am, what I do, where I live, where I lived in the past, and what my community is like here. Based on what I shared, Florencia asked related questions that slowly became more and more abstract in nature. We talked about what the people in my community value and what issues matter to them. We talked about language learning and what possible solutions there are to the problems that our programs are facing. We even talked about gun control!
I’m not sure how long the actual interview lasted (because we talked a little before and afterward), but I would guess between 25-30 minutes.
What the OPI felt like
I was SO stressed out leading up to the interview. I woke up with a stress headache that didn’t dissipate until the interview began. To get myself in Spanish mode, I listened to a Radio Ambulante podcast episode on the way to and from my Spanish lesson. I was hoping that learning about Puerto Rico’s honeybees would distract me from the task at hand, but it didn’t!
When I finally sat down and connected with Florencia, my fears were instantly put at rest. Her smile and reassured me and put me at ease.
Through the interview, Florencia really didn’t say much; she asked me detailed questions but then listened to me talk and elaborate on my responses without interjecting and asking rapid-fire follow up questions. For this reason, I don’t think that the format of the interview (phone or computer) would make much of a difference in either user experience or end result.
As Florencia moved from questions about me to questions about ideas and concepts, I could feel the intentionality of her questioning. I knew what she was trying to do. Like a good coach, however, I felt like she was on the sideline of the race that I was running: pushing for me out of my comfort zone, but from a place of advocacy. She was on my side, and she wanted me to do my best. I was able to reach the ceiling of my proficiency without feeling like I was failing. And then, poof! Florencia had what she needed, and the interview was over!
In retrospect, transitions between the four official phases of the interview (Warm-up, Level checks, Probes, and Wind-down) were seamless, and I felt like we were just having a conversation, albeit somewhat one sided.
What I learned from my mock OPI
Based on my performance, Florencia said that she would have scored me Advanced High, had this been an official interview (which it wasn’t).
I was surprised when Florencia said that–had I responded differently to some of her questions–she might have been inclined to rate me at Superior.
What does it take to hit Superior on an OPI?
Achieving a Superior rating takes two things: ability and strategy.
Ability
To hit Superior, it is necessary to be able to sustain communication at the Superior level of proficiency. See ACTFL’s Proficiency Guidelines for a description of the Superior Proficiency Level.
Strategy
To hit Superior, it is also necessary to be strategic about how you respond to the Tester’s questions. While I think that my ability is not yet solidly Superior, I think that the Strategy piece is really what limited my score at Advanced High.
When Florencia asked me more abstract questions, I stated my opinion and then supported it with largely anecdotal reasons. For example, when she asked about gun control, I talked about how my experience having a child in school and living in Alaska and not being confident in my own gun shooting abilities informed that opinion. To hit Superior, I need to be able to present and evaluate diverse opinions. A better response would have been to say that “some people say this” and “some people say that”, and offering my opinion on each of those arguments.
Another strategic failure on my part was saying “I’m not sure” when I didn’t have a solid opinion. I wasn’t able to elaborate on my answers and give detailed support for my assertions, and so I just kind of trailed off on some of the questions. Florencia was asking questions about topics for which there aren’t clear answers. For the purposes of the interview, it mattered less that I presented my own, honest, clear argument, and more that I demonstrated that I could present a clear, detailed argument. When it comes to the OPI–if I run out of things to say because I don’t know WHAT I think about a topic, I know now to make stuff up so that I can keep talking!
Do I agree with my unofficial OPI score?
Based on my experience in the mock OPI and knowing what I know now about strategy, I think that on a good day I might be able to score Superior on the test, even now. I think that I could sustain Superior performance for the duration of an interview, but I don’t think that I could sustain Superior performance on many interviews with many different testers.
I feel confident that Advanced High was the correct, unofficial rating on my mock OPI.
How will I score Superior in December?
Originally, my plan to ensure that I scored Advanced High in December 2019 involved
- watching TV programs in Spanish
- reading books in Spanish
- having a weekly Spanish conversation date
Now that I know that I am already at Advanced High and need to push to Superior, I am adjusting my plan. Moving into Superior is not as easy because it takes a special kind of input. All of the things that I was planning to do consist mostly of quotidian language and have very small doses of the more abstract, academic conversations that I need to immerse myself in in order to prepare well for my December OPI.
In order to move from Advanced High to Superior, Florencia advised that I look for input sources that discuss social, economic, and global issues at a high level. Because I spend a lot of time each week reading the news and historical commentary as Maris and I prepare the articles for El Mundo en tus manos, I have a good bit of reading input in this area. Now, I need to layer in listening and speaking. Here is what my adjusted steps to achieve my goal looks like:
- watching documentaries in Spanish
- listening to podcasts in Spanish
- having a bi-weekly Spanish conversation date TO DISCUSS A PODCAST OR DOCUMENTARY.
Join my book club!
To that end, if you are a native Speaker of Spanish OR someone else who is pushing for a Superior OPI rating and would like to join a “book club” (where “book” could be a book, podcast, or documentary), please email me at INFO AT COMPREHENSIBLE CLASSROOM DOT COM. I will wait and see how many folks we have interested to make a specific plan, but ideally we would be meeting virtually (in a video call) bi weekly to discuss the content.
Where can I learn more about CLIC?
I cannot sufficiently express just how grateful I am to Florencia for sharing her time and expertise with me. I feel so much better equipped to tackle my goal for the year!
If you, like me, have professional goals that you would like to reach this year, please connect with CLIC. Here’s how:
- Learn more and browse scheduled webinars on the CLIC website.
- Receive updates in your Newsfeed by “Liking” CLIC on facebook.
- Stay up to date with CLIC on Twitter!
Thank you so much for being brave and sharing your goal with us. It was nice to hear again that not even all native speakers get to superior. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to share. Your specific pointers on what to do to improve are fabulous! Might it be a good idea to form a group also of advanced mid that want to move to advanced high? Just an idea. 🙂
Yes, a really great idea!
One of the ways a professor of mine explained the Superior rating to us is that it is more specified and professional vocabulary. For example, you are in the medical field and know the medical vocabulary terms in Spanish. Or an art teacher who can explain art concepts/history/painters etc in Spanish. Specialized vocabulary for a type of job, or to think of a higher academic setting such as university professors who are teaching in Spanish or giving special presentations/reports.
So just like you said, not even native speakers get Superior. Think about English (or whatever L1) – not everyone can go up front and explain calculus in English so we might not score Superior either.
Congratulations on your unofficial OPI rating! ¡Ándale, chica! Reading your post brought me back to the stress of my OPI years ago… I’m not sure I ever want to relive that kind of stress… although I’d love to see how my proficiency level has changed over the years (for the better, I hope!!)
Glad I’m not the only one that was shaking in my shoes about it! 😉
This is awesome! What a great experience to have– and great insights.
Generally speaking, do I understand correctly that if I am ignorant of a certain subject (and can’t even make up dialogue about it!) that I would automatically not be superior despite being consistently highly skilled at communicating known ideas and concepts? What a bummer!
That’s a great question, and I am not sure of the answer. I’d reach out to ACTFL about it, or a certified tester!
Carissa: I’m happy to address your question. The topics are largely determined by what you are sharing with the interviewer, so you won’t be asked a question about a subject you don’t know anything about. Also, you are not rated on the veracity or depth of the content. For example, in my spare time, I do a lot of dog training. Could I be asked a question along the lines of “what do you think about the fact that certain breeds, like Pit Bulls, are banned from apartment buildings or even entire cities, like it happened in Montreal?” (hypothetical question). Yup, that’s a fair question since I disclosed that I am passionate about dog training. Would I need to have a degree on Animal Science to answer it? Not at all. I can argue, for example, that aggressive behavior is more likely to be the result of the environment (or human influence) as opposed to nature alone. The interviewer or perhaps even animal behaviorists might disagree with me (and maybe I am way off!), but that doesn’t matter when it comes to rating my language skills. It’s not necessary to cite studies or research in order to justify your opinion. Here’s how ACTFL describes the performance of a superior-level speaker: “use extended discourse without unnaturally lengthy hesitation to make their point, even when engaged in abstract elaborations.” An one more thing to keep in mind: you are also able to say that you don’t feel comfortable talking about a topic and move on. So, going back to my example, I actually had a traumatic experience involving a pit bull, so I could just tell the interviewer: “I’m sorry, I don’t feel comfortable talking about that given a personal experience I had. Could we talk about something else?” — and that won’t could against you at all.
Florencia, once again THANK YOU, this is such a helpful elaboration!
Thank you Martina for always inspiring us to be our best by sharing with us all of your experiences as a teacher and language learner! This helps me a lot and also inspires me to listen more to podcasts and documentaries to enhance my own Skills!
I have a similar goal to take the OPI around the end of the year, and this was helpful information!
Something I learned during student teaching: “Todo es posible en la clase de español” and to adopt that mindset so that students can’t say “I don’t know” or “I have no idea”. They must come up with something, and it doesn’t matter if it’s not true (unless it is necessary that it be true – describing the color in a picture, duh). So you are right with your reflection on creating SOME kind of answer/opinion even if you don’t fully agree/know how you feel, just say something. One of my college professors was wonderful had had leveled role play cards that we used to practice with – our class was a film class so the speaking abilities were spread all over which was great to have her pair us with a more experienced student who could help us get out the words we wanted.
In Ohio we are required to take the OPI and WPT for licensing and luckily I scored the minimum level needed – I did not study abroad so some people would say this is a factor but I disagree since I found a town (where I now live) and church bustling with Latinos who have become friends. So I am planning to take my OPI again as well sometime around May or perhaps June.
Buen trabajo, Martina.
Here’s a post I wrote about my own journey towards Superior. A lot in common with what you’re saying!
https://senordineroman.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/the-road-to-superior-and-getting-heritage-teachers-there/
Oooh, thank you for sharing this!
Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been wanting to do an OPI myself, but I have another wrench to figure out. Three and a half years ago I was diagnosed with a mild to moderate hearing loss and now wear hearing aids. This has definitely affected my confidence in many areas – especially in speaking Spanish with others and ESPECIALLY on the phone (in English and in Spanish!) The hearing aids definitely help me as a teacher of high schoolers learning another language, but they aren’t perfect. Thanks for the ideas on how to continue to improve in proficiency.
That DOES present a challenge! I would imagine that there would be some kind of an accommodation available for hearing impairment; perhaps reach out to LTI?
Hi Martina! I’d love to hear your thoughts on a department all getting OPI trained? I work in a 6-12 school and In the middle school we are 100% CI, upper school, not so much… and as a department starting to get lots of OPI training. Is this good PD for CI teachers??
I think that an OPI training is important training for ALL language teachers, regardless of teaching philosophy or methodologies used. 100% YES!
Martina, I just came across your blog and I’m interested in getting in contact with you about getting to OPI superior. My email is amontoya@fit.edu. I also have a blog where I write about my experiences using Spanish in the US. The most popular post is about getting to Advanced Low. I have had full training in OPI testing (Spanish) and have done 2 interviews, one official , one unofficial. I hope we can share learning and teaching experiences. I also use CI at the university level. Thank you for your time.
hello everyone I am taking the OPIc and WPT in Spanish on 12/29/2022 and I am a little nervous. I live in SC so all I need to make is an advanced low to apply for Spanish teaching license do anyone have any suggestions for obtaining an advanced low
Yep- practice telling stories revolving around your interests!