UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Berkeley/Stanford African Studies Newsletter, Winter 1994-95

Berkeley/Stanford African Studies Newsletter, Winter 1994-95

A Publication of the Berkeley-Stanford Joint Center for African Studies

Winter, 1994-95

Joint Center Announces Upcoming Events

Kipkorir to Speak

On Thursday, January 12, Kenyan Ambassador Ben Kipkorir will speak on "Sub-Saharan Africa: Which Way Ahead?" at the Bechtel International Center Assembly Room from 7 to 9 p.m. This engagement is free and open to the public.

Spring Conference

The Joint Center for African Studies is pleased to announce that it is accepting submissions for panels and discussions for its upcoming Annual Spring Conference, Whither Africa: Second Liberation or Sustained Subordination? Economic, Political, Cultural, and Social Perspectives. Papers on all topics related to Africa are welcome. This year the conference will be held at Stanford campus on Saturday, April 29, 1995. One-page abstracts are due to Marianne Villanueva, African Studies, Littlefield Center Room 14, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5013 no later than February 1, 1995.

Bertram Collins, United Nations

On Wednesday, January 18, Africa Table will feature guest speaker Bertram Collins, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations. Dr. Collins will speak on RThe United Nations and AfricaUs Economic RecoveryS in the Bechtel CenterUs Assembly Room at noon. Collins has had extensive experience in Africa, with thirty years experience in the United Nations.

Rocca Scholarship Winners

The Andrew and Mary Thompson Rocca Scholarship in Advanced African Studies offers assistance to Berkeley graduate students annually. Two recent winners include Mona Younis, Sociology, for her dissertation titled Class, Resources and Resistance: A Comparative Study of National Liberation Movements in South Africa and Palestine/Israel, 1910's-1990's, and Cheryl Zoll, Linguistics, for Ghost Segments in African Language.

Law, Colonialism, and Property Symposium

The Joint Center, UCLA, and the Stanford Humanities Center invite your participation in the spring seminar on May 19-20, 1995 entitled Law, Colonialism, and Property in Africa. Cases about property and "ownership" provide potentially exciting historical evidence to probe changing social and economic relationships. Cases surrounding property, which made their way to colonial court systems, were often about how control over property ramified into ideas and practices of kinship, power, obligations, and accumulation. Of particular interest to this symposium would be studies demonstrating how the colonial legal systems contributed to changing ideas and practices regarding property. The organizers are interested in exploring the range of ways the study of law regarding ownership of resources can provide new insights into change in colonial Africa. Abstracts are due April 1, 1995. Contact Richard Roberts, African Studies, Stanford University 94305-5013 Email:rroberts@leland. stanford.edu.

Faculty and Student Notes

Recent Publications

Stanford Director of African Studies and History Professor Richard Roberts recently had two articles reprinted. One article links the industrialization of textile industry in Pondichery, India, to French West Africa in the nineteenth century. Originally published as RGuinee Cloth: Linked Transformations within FranceUs Empire in the 19th Century,S Cahiers dUEtudes Africaines (#128), 1992, it has been reprinted as RWest Africa and the Pondichery Textile Industry,S in the Indian Economic and Social History Review, 1994, in a volume on textile history edited by Tirthankar Roy, and in another volume entitled RThe Artisan and the World Economy,S edited by Douglas Hayne and Judith Byfield.

Roberts' article with Martin Klein, RPawning in French West Africa during the Depression,S originally published in African Economic History, 1987, has been reprinted in Pawnship in Africa, edited by Paul Lovejoy and Toyin Falola (Westview, 1994).

Scott Pearson of StanfordUs Food Research Institute recently co-authored a book with Eric Monk titled Agricultural Policy in Kenya: Application of the Policy Analysis Matrix. The book will be available from Cornell Press.

Larry Diamond recently edited the textbook edition of Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries (Boulder, Colo. : Lynne Rienner, 1994). Diamond is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Just published is Bibliographies for African Studies, 1987-1993, compiled by Phyllis Bischof, Joseph J. Lauer, Yvette Scheven, and Mette Shayne, and edited by Yvette Scheven (Hans Zell Publishers, London). This volume lists 834 annotated bibliographies and indexes them by subject.

(For recent electronic publicationsby our faculty, please see the Technology section of this newsletter.)

Students Barton and Novy Win Awards in African Studies

Julia Novy, a 1993 Stanford alumna and an African Studies certificate holder, won a Marshall Scholarship for 1995. After graduating with distinction in human biology and a certicate in African Studies, she traveled to Madagascar as a Fulbright Scholar. Presently she is there as an international environmental consultant for the U.S. A.I.D. She intends to pursue a master's degree at Sussex University, focusing on environmental issues in developing areas, including East Africa.

At the recent ASA meeting in Toronto, Berkeley librarian Phyllis Bishof accepted the Conover-Porter Award for Excellence in Africana Reference Works on behalf of former Berkeley graduate student, Thomas G. Barton. Barton, a recent Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology, is presently in Kampala, Uganda. Bischof and Barton worked together extensively in the early stages of BartonUs prize-winning book, Sexuality and Health and Sub-Saharan Africa: An Annotated Bibliography (African Medical and Research Foundation, 1991).

Student and Scholar Programs

The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship applications are now available from the FLAS Fellowship offices. FLAS Fellowships provide tuition and a stipend to students undergoing advanced training in designated foreign languages in combination with area studies, international studies, or international aspects of professional studies. Sub-Saharan African languages are included. Eligibility is extended to graduate students enrolled in advanced degree programs at Stanford University and UC Berkeley. Stanford's deadline for the academic year 1995-96 FLAS application is January 13, 1995. Stanford Summer FLAS applications will be available in March. Contact Jackie Vargo, FLAS Fellowship Coordinator, School of Humanities and Sciences, Building One, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2070. Phone: (415) 723-0564. Berkeley students who are currently receiving FLAS funds may apply for further academic year funds before February 24, 1995. The deadline for the Summer Language Insitute at Berkeley is February 3, 1995. Please note that graduate students planning on attending the Summer Language Insitute may apply for FLAS funds from Berkeley, Stanford, or any other Title VI FLAS-granting institution. All Berkeley FLAS applications are available from Michelle Bullock, Fellowships Office, Graduate Division, 318 Sproul Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-5900. (510) 643-7477.

The Andrew and Mary Thompson Rocca Scholarships in Advanced African Studies assists UC Berkeley graduate students concentrating in African Studies. Funds may be requested for maintenance, travel, or research costs to enhance dissertation research in Africa. Rocca funds may be used to supplement, but not substitute for, other grants. Applications will be available early in the Spring semester and due March 15, 1995. Contact the Berkeley Center for African Studies, 356 Stephens Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720. (510) 642-8338.

The multidisciplinary Center for International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) at Stanford offers various fellowships for the 1995-96 academic year. The Center brings together scholars, policymakers, area specialists, business people, and other experts to focus on a wide range of security questions of current importance. Applications are also welcome from civilian members of the U.S. governments, members of military or diplomatic services from other countries, and journalists interested in arms control and international security issues. Contact Ms. Gerry Bowman, Director of Fellowship Programs, Center for International Security and Arms Control, 320 Galvez Street, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6165. Phone: (415) 723-9626. Fax: (415) 723-0089. The deadline for all applicants is February 1, 1995.

CISAC also offers fellowships through the MacArthur Fellowship Program to assist Stanford students pursuing doctoral research. Please contact Gerry Bowman (address above).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites applications for fellowships in various academic disciplines. The deadline is February 13, 1995. Contact: Graduate Feloowships, Office of Exploratory Research, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460. Email: BROADWAY.VIRGINIA@EPAMAIL. EPA.GOV. Fax: (202) 260-0211.

African Fellowships in Agriculture are available to African nationals to participate in research and analysis in agriculture and natural resources. Contact: PARTS African Fellowship. Fax: (703) 235-3805 by January 31, 1995. (For a photocopy of the application packet, contact program administrator Marianne Villanueva, Center for African Studies, Stanford.)

The Undergraduate Research Office offers small and major grants to cover travel, research, photocopying, and related costs. Contact URO, 122 Sweet Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. Phone: 723-3828.

Journey of the Drums

Erin Thompson and Estella Nieto

The sharp rhythm of the drums reverberated throughout Roble Gym. A man steps out from behind the curtain and stares into the audience. RObatala!S he cries.

On November 7th, the African Studies Program, the Stanford Dance Division, and the Humanities Center presented RJourney of the Drums,S a 90-minute look into the ritualistic traditions of Africa, Brazil, and Cuba. The focus of the evening was the celebration of the orisha (gods): Obatala, Oshun, and Shango.

There were three groups of performers: the Oriki Theater, representing Nigeria; Betho Filho and Gingarte Drummers, representing Brazil; and Roberto Borrell y su Kubat representing Cuba.

Each group demonstrated how the gods were worshipped differently in their specific cultures. For example, the Oriki performers showed us Obatala, the orisha of creativity, as he is perceived by Nigerians. The dancers and drummers were dressed in white, ObatalaUs symbolic color, representing tranquillity and morality. The Brazilian group, on the other hand, demonstrated a different side of Obatala (known in Brazil as Oxala). For Oxala, in their culture, was a blend of two personalities: a sage old man and a fearless young warrior.

Following the three groupsU performances was a question-and-answer session that further explained some of the actions which occurred in the demonstrations. The Gingarte Drummers of Brazil explained the preparations that take place before the performance of the orisha dances. It was revealed that Brazilian dancers must first be possessed by the spirits of the orisha prior to dressing in costume.

The Kubat performers of Cuba talked about the importance of bata drums. In their culture, only heterosexual males are allowed to playQor even touchQthe sacred drums. Not only that, but the drummers must be blessed and have been through an extensive process and series of ceremonies to earn the right to perform on the sacred batas.

The Oriki Theater players discussed the significance of the seashells used in their first vignette. The rolling of the seashells prophesied good or bad luck for the tribal unit. All in all, the performers gave the audience a deeper insight into the ritualistic ceremonies of three cultures bound together by their gods.

(Erin Thompson and Estelle Nieto are first-year Stanford students. This article was written as part of the Community Service Writing Project of Stanford's Program in Writing and Critical Thinking.)

Calendar

Africa Table

The Stanford Center for African Studies continues to host Africa Table, a weekly lecture series, at the Bechtel International Center Assembly Room. Africa Table is held Wednesdays from noon to one throughout the academic year. Please contact the Stanford Center for African Studies for more information. (415) 723-0295.

1/11Professor Bruce Lusignan, Electrical Engineering: An Introduction to Afro-Net: The Pan-African Telecommunications Project

1/18Dr. Betram Collins, Ambassador, U.N., Guyana: The U.N. & AfricaUs Economic Recovery

1/25Michelle Rhee, African Studies Bing Grant Recipient: Clinical Aspects of HIV Infection--A Research Project in Harare, Zimbabwe

2/1Frederic Zimmerman, Food Research Institute: Prospects for Rural Poverty Alleviation in South Africa

2/8Bernadette Muthien, Amy Biehl Fulbright Recipient, 1994: Women and Theories in Africa

2/15Will Leben, Linguistics, Richard Randell, Art, and Awele Ndili, Ph.D. candidate, Mechanical Engineering: Kano Culture: Scenes from an Upcoming Video

2/22Adams Bodomo, Lecturer, Linguistics: Multilingualism and the Challenge to Educational Planning in Ghana

3/1Joel Samoff, African Studies: Contested Transitions: Education Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

3/8Clifton Crais, Humanities Center, Fellow: Subaltern Visions and the Political Imagination in South Africa

Berkeley Events

1/194:00 pm. David Eaton, graduate student, Anthropology: A River With No Source: Thinking About AIDS in Equatorial Africa. 223 Moses Hall.

2/6 7:00 pm. The Research Focus Group on Anglophone/Francophone discourse on Africa and race will be discussing a set of recent articles on African historical topics. Articles available on request. Call (510) 642-8338 for location and details.

3/3 and 3/4. 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Zellerbach Hall. Le Ballet National du Senegal. Tickets: $12-$22. Saturday matinee, children: $6-$11. Call (510) 642-9988 to order tickets.

African Film from the Berkeley Collection. Every Wednesday at noon in February and March. Room and titles to be announced. Contact the Berkeley Center for African Studies for more information. (510) 642-8338.

Oriki Theater

The Oriki Theater will be presenting its 1994-95 season production, "Pulse of Life...Trials of the Soul,S a play set in traditional Africa at the Community Center Theater in Sunnyvale. Dates: Friday, February 3, and Saturday, February 4 at 8:00 pm. Box office: (408) 733-6611. Chike Okpala, Oriki TheaterUs Artistic Director and Choreographer, will be teaching African dance on Tuesday evenings beginning in January. Contact the City of Palo Alto Arts and Culture Division at (415) 329-2527 to register.

The Oriki Theater will also be presenting special celebrations in honor of Black History Month in February. Oriki Theater: 2066 Old Middlefield Way, Suite B16, Mountain View, CA 94043. (408) 236-3383. Email: oriki@aol.com.

Africana Tech.

Welcome to Africa on CD-ROM

In September, Walnut Creek CDROM, Inc. released Stanford assistant professor Marcel FafchampsU CD-ROM Welcome to Africa. Fafchamps describes the program: RWith the help of over 450 original pictures, it introduces the user to all aspects of life in the continent: from history to economics, cities to agriculture, beautiful wildlife and vanishing lifestyles to colorful markets and innovative crafts.S Welcome to Africa puts users in a sophisticated role game Q they will become Yamoussou Ouedraogo, a farmer with a family to take care of and a host of obstacles to overcome. Welcome to Africa runs under Windows 3.1 on a PC compatible computer, 386 or above. A CD-ROM drive and a high color or true color display are required. For more information or to order Welcome to Africa, contact Walnut Creek CDROM, 4041 Pike Lane, Suite D-181, Concord, CA 94520, phone (800) 786-9907, fax (510) 674-0821, or email info@cdrom.com.

Africa on the Internet

Karen Fung, deputy curator of the African Collection at the Hoover Institution, has written a guide for finding topics on African Studies on the internet. The uniform resource locator (URL) for the guide, which is called Africa on the Internet: Selected Resources, is http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/ASA/ETG_Guide.html.

UC Berkeley Library Africana Acquisitions Now Available Via Gopher

Simon Bockie of the UCB library system has given us helpful instructions on how to access new Africana acquisitions on the UC Berkeley Library Gopher:

After logging in to your email account, type gopher infolib.berkeley.edu at the prompt.

This will connect you to the UC Berkeley library gopher, with several options available. Once connected with Infolib, follow these steps by choosing: 1. Research Databases and Resources by Subject (No. 6) 2. International and Area Studies (No. 23, but this number may vary) 3. African Studies (No. 1) 4. Selected Recent Library Acquisitions in Africana (No. 3).

The Africana lists on gopher go back four months. Each monthly list must be accessed separately. You may also search by key words. If you have access to Mosaic or Netscape, you may follow this alternative procedure by choosing: 1. File 2. Open URL 3. At http type: http://infolib.lib.berkeley.edu. Once connected to Infolib, follow the same steps as above. If you still canUt connect, send email to Simon (sbockie@library.berkeley.edu), and he will try to help.

Universities' Africana Information Now on WWW

Hoover Africana curator Karen Fung points out that those users with access to the internet through World Wide Web can find the University of IllinoisU information on African topics. See UI director Al KaganUs home page for specific information. The URL is http://uxl.cso.uiuc.edu/ kagan/cas.html. (That's a RoneS after RuxS and a lowercase letter RLS after htm.)

The Stanford-Berkeley Center now has a web site, although the project is still in the building stages. For more information, check the URL, which is http://ww-portfolio.stanford.edu/103667.

Joint Center Information via Email:
If you would like to receive this newsletter on-line, please send a request to asc@uclink.berkeley.edu and let us know if you'd still like to receive the paper version, too. Thanks for saving a tree!

The Berkeley-Stanford Joint Center for African Studies has issued a Call for Papers for its Annual Spring Conference to be held on Saturday, April 29, 1995, on the Stanford campus. The conference theme is RWhither Africa: Second Liberation or Sustained Subordination? Economic, Political, Cultural, and Social Perspectives.S The Center encourages papers on all topics related to Africa, with a special interest in papers that correspond with the seven conference motifs: Democracy and Liberalization, Law and Colonialism, African Humanities, South Africa in Transition, Natural Resource Management, Disease and Medical Care, and Comparative Anglophone/Francophone Discourse on Africa. The deadline for abstracts is February 1, 1995. Mail one-page (200 word) abstracts for papers or panels to Center for African Studies, Littlefield Center, Room 14, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5013. Acceptance of your paper implies a commitment on your part to register and attend the conference. There are no registration fees, but participants are responsible for their own transportation, lodging, and meals.

Call for papers for a special issue of Mahatu on women and African cinema: A special issue of Mahatu will be published in Spring, 1996 dealing with women and African cinema. The deadline for submissions is May 20, 1995. Submissions should follow MLA style and be between 15 and 20 pages. Please send submissions to Kenneth W. Harrow, Department of English, Morrill Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1036.

The SUNY Buffalo African Student Association will be hosting a Pan-African conference focusing on economic development in Africa and its links, dependencies, and relationships to the social and political climate, as well as the relevance of U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa. The conference is March 24-26, 1995. Send outlines to asaorg@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu. Fax outlines to Guy Kayembe, the President of the Association, at (716) 645-2112. Phone: (716) 645-2950.

Call for proposals: The U. of Pittsburgh's international conference on Black Popular Culture in Africa, the U.S., and the Caribbean, is accepting submissions. Contact: Joseph Adjaye, Africana Studies, U. of Pittsburgh, 3T01 Forbes Quad, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Phone: (412) 648-7544. Email: jadjaye@vms.cis.pitt.edu. Fax: (412) 648-7214. Dealine is mid-January.

Our Lady of Mary, Apostles, Saint George, and Saint Theodore, Central Ethiopia, 1445-80. Tempera on gesso-covered wood panels (44 x 31.3 cm) closed Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia brought more than 100 of the finest surviving examples of Ethiopian religious art from the foremost collections in Ethiopia, Europe, and the United States. The first major exhibition to come out of Ethiopia, African Zion was on display at the African American Museum in Dallas, Texas through November 30, 1994.

Often we use this back page of the newsletter to give you information about us. Now we'd like to know more about you!

Are you an alum of Stanford or Berkeley? (Circle university if applicable)
___ Yes.Year _________________Major ______________________________
___No, but I'm a ________________ (staff member, faculty, K-12
teacher, friend, etc.)

Would you like to continue to receive this newsletter?
___ No, thank you. Please remove me from mailing list.
Name _________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________
School_________________________________________________________
City, State____________________________________Zip__________________
___Yes, please! You have my correct address.
___Yes, but please update my address (please write in above).

Would you like to receive the newsletter via email?
___Yes. Would you also like to keep receiving the paper version?
________
Email addres: ______________________________________________________

What sort of items in this newsltter do you find most interesting or
helpful? What else would you like to see in these pages?
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________
____________________________________________________________________
______________________
Please mail to: Newsletter, Center for African Studies, Littlefield Center Room 14, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5013.

African Studies National Resource Center Joint Center for African Studies

Address correction requested

Joint Center for African Studies

University of California
356 Stephens Hall #2314
Berkeley, CA 94720-2314
(510) 642-8338
asc@uclink.berkeley.edu

Stanford University
Littlefield Center Rm. 14
Stanford, CA 94305-5013
(415) 723-0295

Robert Price, Co-Director
   Political Science, UC Berkeley
Richard Roberts, Co-Director
   History, Stanford
Martha Saavedra, Center
   Coordinator, UC Berkeley

Marianne Villanueva, Co-Editor
Jane Bomberger, Co-Editor
Brett Bowman, Graphic Artist
The African Language Resource Center News was written by Will Leben, Co-Director, ALRC
Erin Thompson, Contributor
Estelle Nieto, Contributor
Where noted, regional African graphics are from African Designs From Traditional Sources by Geoffrey Williams (New York: Dover Publications, 1971).

___________________

NEW COURSE FOR WINTER TERM

Stanford is in the process of making arrangements for a Twi Instructor, visiting from Ghana, to offering Beginning or Intermediate Twi in winter and spring quarters. If you are interested, please phone Marianne Villanueva at (415) 723-0295 or the Special Language Program at 723-3636 and leave your name and phone number so that we can contact you when the course is finalized.

1995 COOPERATIVE SUMMER
AFRICAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

UC BerkeleyUs African Studies Center has announced the Cooperative Summer Language Institute which will take place on the UC Berkeley campus from June 19 to August 11, 1995.

Institute Director Sam A. Mchombo (Linguistics, Berkeley) noted that the following language courses are tentatively slated for the summer program: Amharic I, Bamanankan I, Chichewa I, Hausa II, seTswana I, Swahili I, Swahili II, Tigrinya I, Xhosa I, and Zulu II.

This will be the largest number of offerings ever to appear in a Title VI summer African language program. Registration and fees for an intensive 8 semester unit course (which will cover a full academic year in the language) will be approximately $865. Room and Board costs for the Berkeley summer term are estimated at $1,360 for 8 weeks.

The final program should be ready by January 1, 1995. Contact Martha Saavedra, Joint Berkeley/Stanford Center for African Studies, University of California, 356 Stephens Hall #2314, Berkeley, CA 94720-2314.(510) 642 8338. asc@uclink.berkeley.edu.

For a complete Berkeley Summer Sessions catalog with registration forms, residence hall contracts, and pertinent information call or write: Summer Sessions Office, 22 Wheeler Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-9978 (510) 642 5611.

PROFICIENCY TESTS: A BRIEF EXPLANATION

Students in our language courses occasionally receive oral proficiency tests. These may seem unlike other tests, in that they donUt involve pencil and paper, and in that students donUt get a chance to study for them. Lest their peculiarity be too unsettling for those who are used to more conventional exams, here is a explanation that we have composed for instructors in the position of administering an oral proficiency interview for the first time.

The Oral Proficiency Requirement

An important requirement of StanfordUs FLAS program an assessment of their language proficiency. To reflect the emphasis of our language courses, most proficiency exams are oral. For first year language classes, oral proficiency interviews are conducted at the end of the academic year. For languages classes beyond the first year, oral proficiency interviews are conducted at the beginning and end of the academic year.

Most oral proficiency interviews are conducted on the Stanford campus. But for students studying in Africa, we ask their instructor in Africa to conduct the interview on site and to report the results to us. Here is a description of how to conduct and evaluate an oral proficiency interview.

Conducting Oral Proficiency Interviews

The goal of the oral proficiency interview is to assess the studentUs ability to communicate in a language. It is not a test of specific grammatical points or vocabulary words or cultural information, but a more general assessment of how far along the student is toward native-like proficiency in the language.

A typical oral proficiency test takes about twenty minutes. It consists entirely of a conversation between the interviewer and the student, resembling as much as possible a typical conversation between two people in the target language, but with the interviewer controlling the direction of the conversation.

The basic structure of the interview is a set of questions of increasing difficulty, stopping at the point where the limits of the studentUs proficiency have been exceeded. The interview starts with greetings and other easy exchanges, then progresses to questions that can be answered in simple phrases or sentences, and finally questions that require the student to put several sentences together.

Questions that can be answered in simple sentences should be arranged where possible in order of ascending difficulty. For example, one might start with questions in the present tense, followed with questions the require the past, and then with questions that require the future and more complicated tenses. From RHow would you describe what we are doing right now?S, one might move on to RWhat did you have for breakfast this morning?S to RIf you could change one thing about your stay here, what would it be?S Questions that require several sentences for an answer should go from simple descriptive tasks (RDescribe the room that youUre staying in,S RWhat does a typical house look like in this country?S) to more complicated tasks that involve reasoning (RWhat sorts of things have been done or could be done promote more productive relations between our country and yours?S).

Once the studentUs proficiency limits have been reached and the ability to respond has begun to break down, the interviewer should set the student at ease by returning to a more comfortable level. Once comfort is restored, it is worth trying once again to move the conversation to a more difficult level, perhaps with a different kind of question from the preceding attempt. This gives the student an extra chance to demonstrate proficiency. When the limits are exceeded again, the level should be returned to an easier one and the conversation should be concluded as naturally as possible.

Oral Proficiency Ratings

Ratings for oral proficiency exams are done on a basic four-point scale. The categories and their meanings are:

* NoviceQhas the ability to respond to greetings and to other simple, mostly formulaic expressions.

* IntermediateQcan respond in sentences and phrases that are constructed by the student for the purpose of the interview rather than memorized and recited.

* Advanced--can respond in paragraphs, indicating an ability to connect sentences, to plan an appropriate response, and to execute the plan without a distracting number of grammatical slips. Has enough vocabulary to support the grammar.

* Superior Q indistinguishable in content and nearly indistinguishable in correctness from an educated native speaker.

At the Novice and Intermediate levels, a student whose responses do not consistently maintain that level receives a RLowS: Novice Low, Intermediate Low. If a studentUs responses occasionally reach to the next level up but the student is unable to maintain that level, the rating is at the lower level, with a RHighS: Novice High, Intermediate High. If the student is able to perform to some extent at the Superior level but not consistently, the rating is Advanced Plus.



Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 09:17:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Martha Saavedra [martha@uclink.berkeley.edu]
Subject: African Studies Newletter, Winter, 1994-95 
Message-ID: [Pine.3.89.950

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

Previous Menu Home Page What's New Search Disclaimer