Oral Exam and Foreign Language Certificate for Oral Competence
for French Majors Not in the Teacher Education Sequence
All French majors not in the Teacher Education Sequence are now required to take an oral exam
in his or her senior year. Receipt of the major is not dependent upon passing the exam, but those
who do pass the exam will receive the ISU Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
"Foreign Language Certificate for Oral Competence," which they will be able to show to
prospective employers and may help them get a job.
The oral exam will be evaluated by two members of the French faculty using the evaluation
rubric that follows. In order to receive the certificate for oral competence, students must receive
an overall rating of low advanced; this is the same rating required for our teacher education
majors.
The exam will take place during the last four weeks of the semester in which the student chooses
to do the senior research paper. The exam will consist of a five-minute presentation (based on
notes, not read) drawn from the student's senior research project, followed by fifteen to twentyfive minutes of open discussion. The examining committee will consist of the professor who is
supervising the student's project, along with another member of the French faculty. The student
will receive an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of his or her spoken French by the end
of the semester.
Students will be evaluated on the extent to which they can:
1) maintain a conversation;
2) speak in a flowing manner;
3) make themselves understood;
4) link sentences into a coherent description, narrative, or argument;
5) express personal options;
6) discuss a factual topic of general interest;
7) use French syntax and vocabulary correctly;
8) pronounce correctly;
9) use expressions or transition words to convey meaning.
EVALUATION RUBRIC FOR SENIOR ORAL EXAM IN FRENCH
The following categories will be used to evaluate the student’s the level of oral achievement in
categories I-IV. In the 15-25 minute open discussion that follows the five-minute oral
presentation, evaluators will expand the topic, beginning from the oral presentation, in order to
determine the student’s level of communication in each of the categories.
Evaluation Form
I Overall ability
to maintain and
develop
communication
Minimum:
Intermediate High
NOVICE
Minimal
communication,
little dialogue
--2-3 word
utterances
--formulaic and
rote utterances
--lists
--enumerations
INTERMED.
Simple dialogue
in face-to-face
situations
including
--asking and
answering
questions
ADVANCED
Complex
communication
including
description and
narration with all
tenses:
--past
--present,
--future
--imperfect vs.
passé composé
--perfect tenses
SUPERIOR
Discussion of
complex ideas by
means of
--abstract ideas
--hypotheses
--support for
opinions
NOVICE
INTERMED.
ADVANCED
Common and discrete
aspects of daily life
Topics of personal
interest
--common and
discrete events
--common and
discrete settings
--personal opinion
--personal
situations
Topics of general as
well as personal
interest
--familiar to student
SUPERIOR
Wide range of
topics
-- many of general
interest
--some unfamiliar
to student
-- abstract
statements
--some specialized
information
I Rating
II Type (not
accuracy) of
Content
Minimum:
Advanced Low
II Rating
--with concrete
and factual details
NOVICE
INTERMER.
ADVANCED
SUPERIOR
Minimal control,
Memorized
material
Partial control:
--most frequent
constructions
Good control:
--some complex
constructions
Rare deviations
from native syntax
--complex and
infrequent
constructions;
--circumlocution*
NOVICE
Common,
everyday items
INTERM.
ADVANCED
Low (as well as
high) frequency,
general items
(related to
society/life in
general)
-- most common,
general
vocabulary
SUPERIOR
NOVICE
Very strong
interference from
native language
INTERM.
Frequent
interference from
native language
ADVANCED
Some interference
from native
language
SUPERIOR
Little interference
from native
language
NOVICE
No control:
--Unable to adapt
memorized forms
to express
intended meaning:
INTERM.
Limited control:
ADVANCED
Good control:
--Largely
successful in
using syntax and
vocabulary to
convey intended
meaning
SUPERIOR
III Accuracy
A. Syntax
(control over
syntax)
Minimum:
Intermediate High
III.A. Rating
B. Vocabulary
Minimum
Intermediate High
High frequency,
concrete, personal
items (related to
personal life)
Broad, general, and
abstract items
--some specialized
--enough items to
make
circumlocution
possible.
III.B. Rating
C. Pronunciation/intonation
Minimum:
Intermediate High
III.C.Rating
D. Control over
vocabulary and
syntax in order to
convey meaning.
Minimum:
Intermediate High
--Occasionally
successful in using
limited syntax and
vocabulary to convey
intended meaning
Near Perfect Control
-- Confident use
of syntax,
vocabulary,
linking devices,
and
circumlocution to
convey intended
meaning
III.D. Rating
*The student replaces words that he or she does not know with synonyms or phrases with a similar meaning.
E. Fluency
(ability to link
words and ideas
in flowing
expression)
Minimum:
Advanced Low
NOVICE
Innumerable
pauses
--Continuous
groping for words
and forms
INTERM.
Halting speech: -Periodic groping
for words and
forms
--no sentencelinking devices
ADVANCED
SUPERIOR
Imperfect flow:
--Occasional groping
for words/forms;
--Some sentencelinking devices
Smooth flow:
NOVICE
Difficult to
understand, even
for teacher
INTERM.
Often
understandable
with some
repetition for
teacher
ADVANCED
Mostly
understandable
without creating
much difficulty
for native
speakers
SUPERIOR
Fully
understandable for
native speakers
--virtually errorfree
NOVICE
Isolated words
and phrases
INTERM.
Isolated sentences
and strings of
sentences, not
developing a topic
ADVANCED
Paragraph
discourse
--series of 3 or
more sentences
developing same
topic
SUPERIOR
Extended
discourse
NOVICE
INTERM.
ADVANCED
SUPERIOR
--little searching
for words and
forms
--emphasis
--adequate
sentence- linking
devices
III.E. Rating
III. Overall
Accuracy
Minimum:
Advanced Low
III. Rating
IV. Discourse
Type
Minimum:
Advanced Low
IV. Rating
ORAL EXAM
OVERALL
RATING
Minimum:
Advanced Low
The purpose of this exam is to test the oral proficiency of students who have been trained in advanced classes
to communicate on topics concerning French and Francophone literature, culture, and language.
Success in this oral exam is not equivalent to success in the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), although it may
be an indicator of future success on that exam. This exam uses most categories and criteria of the OPI exam,
but some of the descriptive vocabulary has been replaced with synonyms for clarification. Not all OPI
procedures (such as the random choice of cards with different conversation topics) are used. The oral
presentation is not part of the OPI exam.