Contextualized Speaking Assessment (CoSA)

The Contextualized Speaking Assessment (CoSA) is part of the Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments (MLPA) battery of instruments developed for the purpose of certifying the second language proficiency of secondary and post-secondary students.

The CoSA is a test of oral proficiency at the Intermediate-Low level of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. It is modeled on the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and the Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) developed and disseminated by the Center for Applied Linguistics.

The CoSA, like the SOPI, is a tape-mediated instrument requiring students to listen to a master cassette while recording their responses on a second cassette. Individuals taking the test need only a quiet area and two tape recorders. The test can also be administered to large groups in a language lab or large room, such as an auditorium, library, or cafeteria. In the language lab, the master cassette is played on the console and student responses are recorded at individual stations. In settings where a language lab is not available, test takers are provided individual recorders and are spread out in a large space where they will not disturb each other during the test. The master cassette is then played over a public address system or a large tape player.

The CoSA has several important differences from the OPI and the SOPI:

The CoSA certifies proficiency at one level of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. The CoSA model is thus the most efficient choice in situations where it is necessary to establish that the speaker's performance meets a minimal criterion, such as for fulfilling a graduation requirement or as a criterion for placement in postsecondary intermediate level course sequences. CoSAs at various proficiency levels are currently proposed for development to meet a variety of purposes, such as immersion program standards, fulfillment of language requirements at postsecondary institutions, minimum standards for language majors, and so on.
The CoSA requires little time to administer (about 20 minutes). The Intermediate-Low CoSA consists of five scored tasks, plus a warm-up and wind-down.
In the CoSA, all scored tasks target language functions, topics, and discourse within situations appropriate to the Intermediate level.
All tasks in the CoSA are organized around a theme. Each task is preceded by a description of the context which relates the task to the overall theme. The contextualized tasks engage the test taker in a logical sequence of events with a limited number of interlocutors.

Test takers follow along in a test booklet as they listen to the master cassette. After listening to the instructions, a sample response, and a description of the overall theme for the test, the test takers are presented with situations and topics for their responses. All instructions are provided in English.

In each segment, after listening to a description of the situation and the task, test takers are allowed 15 seconds "thinking time" to plan what they will say. They then hear a prompt in the target language. The prompt is not printed in the test booklet. Following the prompt, test takers are given 60 seconds in which to provide a response. A tone sounds after 55 seconds to alert test takers that their time is almost up. A second tone sounds five seconds later when time is up.