The rationale of this article is to review, analyze, and discuss studies concerning the role of Tai Chi in stress management and well-being, linking those studies to research on exercise, yoga, and...

In everyday interaction, people recurrently animate, enact, or report on talk or thought (Clift and Holt, 2007). In this article, enactments of hypothetical, non-narrative talk in advice-relevant sequences are examined, with a focus on their role in modeling desirable stance or conduct. Data consist of interactions in institutional settings, such as performance appraisal interviews, university teaching, and talk show counseling. It is demonstrated how enactments of possible talk are used as devices for hands-on demonstrations of proper or improper conduct in sequences involving orientations to some kind of problematic behavior or stance, which in turn works to make assessments about different types of conduct. The accomplishment of contrasts between desired and undesired conduct is central, and contributes to the assessment of particular behaviors or stances. Different delivery formats of enactments are examined and compared to the action accomplished. It is argued that modeling talk enactments (MTEs) constitute resources for doing implicit criticism and ‘positive socialization’ in interaction, and that through enactments, participants may perform both explicit and implicit moral work.

In this review article, empirical studies published from 2004 through 2014 on second‐language (L2) oral proficiency testing are analyzed, with a specific focus on discourse and social interaction in such tests. Taking three common test setups, oral proficiency interviews (OPIs), paired peer tests, and group peer tests as an organizing principle for the studies examined, recent developments in L2 oral proficiency testing research are situated, reviewed, and discussed, with a particular focus on tests conducted in face‐to‐face contexts. Findings from the review of selected journals, databases, monographs, and edited collections indicate (1) a prevalence of studies of the OPI format, but a growing research base on paired and group tests, (2) an absence of oral test studies in discourse journals, and (3) an emphasis on assessment, validation, and rater perspectives, as opposed to detailed analyses of interaction in L2 tests.

In the present paper, we report findings from a study of performance appraisal interviews between middle managers and employees. The study is based on analysis of video uptake of authentic performance appraisal interviews, and through detailed examination of participant conduct and orientation, we point to structural mechanisms and institutional norms which limit the possibilities for employees to raise topics connected to negative experiences of stress in performance ap- praisal talk. It is argued that norms concerning ideal employeeship are shaped by a partly hidden curriculum in the organization which in turn is talked into being in the performance appraisal interviews.The study concludes that empirical attention to the social interplay in performance ap- praisal interactions reveal how participant conduct aligns or disaligns with institutional and social underpinnings of workplace ideals.

The main objective of this study was to examine whether a Rater Identity Development (RID) program would increase interrater reliability and improve calibration of scores against benchmarks in the assessment of second/foreign language English oral proficiency. Eleven primary school teachers-as-raters participated. A pretest–intervention/RID–posttest design was employed and data included 220 assessments of student performances. Two types of rater-reliability analyses were conducted: first, estimates of the intraclass correlation coefficient two-way random effects model, in order to indicate the extent to which raters were consistent in their rankings, and second, a many-facet Rasch measurement analysis, extended through FACETS®, to explore variation regarding systematic differences of rater severity/leniency. Results showed improvement in terms of consistency, presumably as a result of training; simultaneously, the differences in severity became greater. Results suggest that future rater training may draw on central components of RID, such as core concepts in language assessment, individual feedback, and social moderation work.