Defining the construct of interaction for paired assessment purposes has been difficult, despite the evolution of our view of language to include the social perspective of co-construction, and the fact that such discourse is increasingly taught and assessed. In this volume three sequenced studies define interaction in paired oral assessment through the verbal protocols of learners of Spanish and their assessors. Assessors then scale performances from videoed test performance data resulting in the development of an evidence based rating process which includes non-verbal interpersonal communication, interactive listening and interactional management.

Contents: Issues relevant to assessing communicative interaction in pairs - Interlocutor effects in testing speaking - Developing rating scales - Rater orientation to peer interaction in speaking tests - Candidate orientation to peer interaction - Developing a data based rating procedure from observed peer interaction

Ana Maria Ducasse holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics, lectures and is head of program in Spanish at La Trobe University in Australia. Prior to this she taught and managed ESL programs. Teaching first Italian, then ESL, and now Spanish kindled an interest in second language acquisition, in particular spoken language. Experience as an IELTS assessor developed a parallel interest in language testing which has become a major research focus.