Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore by Kay Cheng Soh

Author:Kay Cheng Soh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

Toward a Framework of the Assessment of Interactional Competence

Based on the above analysis, we can now propose a framework of the assessment of interactional competence with reference to the structure of discourse in Chinese language. Chinese discourse focusing on a thematic topic can be divided into four phases, namely the introduction (起 qi, the opening of a topic), the development (承 cheng, the development of a topic), the transition (to another viewpoint) (转 zhuan, the inclusion of an alternative viewpoint), and the conclusion (合 he, the meeting of minds or conclusion) (iii). To apply this model into the analysis of a conservational discourse, qi is the initiative turn, cheng is the taking over and a continuation of a turn, zhuan may be understood as the expansion of a turn, and he refers to the conclusion or the meeting of mind in the end. These four phases can also be understood as four functions, and this means that there are some expressions and structures closely related to them. For example, some discourse markers in the final phase may include “to sum up” and “in short”.

Interaction is a dynamic system, in which interlocutors are alternatively a speaker and a listener, prepared to take over or yield a turn, and sometimes try to hold a turn or interrupt it, and usually there will be some accompanying prosodic changes (iv). For example, to examine the second phase (cheng) of an oral discourse, it should be noted how a turn is taken up without unnatural delay. To examine the third phase (zhuan) of an oral discourse, how relevant is the added topic? The following table describes the assessment framework of interactional competence with some examples (Table 4).Table 4Framework of the assessment of interactional competence

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