Raters as scale makers for an L2 Spanish speaking test: using paired test discourse to develop a rating scale for communicative interaction

This paper reports on the development of an evidence based rating scale to rate peer-peer L2 communicative interaction. The scale was based on experienced judges' comments on videoed student samples filmed during operational paired candidate tests of beginner level Spanish. Six trained and experienced raters generated criteria for communicative interaction which were incorporated into a tool for developing sample based rating scales, the Empirically-based, Binarychoice, Boundary-definition (EBB) method (Turner and Upshur, 1996), was adapted for the context. The findings reported on in this article examine the features of paired candidate interaction which raters used to define the boundary between performance levels. Three main criteria emerged as the boundaries used to define levels of interaction: non-verbal interpersonal communication, interactive listening and interactional management. These new notions are evidence of how peer-peer interaction can bee rated and also advance our understanding of the significant features of interaction in this rating context.