American Association of Teachers of German

A Presentation Available to AATG Chapters for Chapter Meetings

What? A 48-minute video introduction to the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in German, produced by Arthur D. Mosher, Karl F. Otto, Jr., and Erwin Tschirner and sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany, AATG, and ACTFL. The video includes a complete German-language oral proficiency interview and a thorough discussion of it that illustrates the structure of the OPI, various techniques for eliciting language in the interview, and the basis for the rating of the speech sample obtained.

Why? Most German instructors have heard of the OPI, but many have never been through even an OPI Familiarization Workshop or have never seen an actual OPI. Awareness of the principles behind OPI testing can have a significant effect on the organization and implementation of classroom activities. This video provides a relatively short, yet complete introduction to the procedure and allows instructors to ask questions following its showing.

How? Chapter presidents or facilitators contact one of the ACTFL German trainers listed below. Once the trainer and the chapter have agreed on a date and time, the trainer will send a copy of the video and the Facilitator's Guide to the chapter facilitator. The facilitator agrees to organize the program according to the instructions in the Facilitator's Guide. The program includes a telephone question and answer session with the ACTFL trainer immediately following the video.

ACTFL German Trainers:
Art Mosher (University of Dayton) - <arthur.mosher@notes.udayton.edu>
Karl F. Otto, Jr. (University of Pennsylvania, Emeritus) - <karlotto@comcast.net>

Suggested Program:
* Short introduction by chapter facilitator (provided in "Facilitator's Guide"; 5 minutes)
* Showing of Video (48 minutes)
* Telephone question-and-answer session with German trainer (up to 60 minutes)

Chapter Responsibilities: Chapters are responsible for
1) selecting and contacting a trainer.
2) making all meeting arrangements.
3) setting up a long-distance phone connection with a speaker phone for the Q & A session following the video.
4) sending the video and the evaluations back to the trainer immediately following its showing.

The only costs to the chapter are the long-distance phone charges and the return postage for the video.