ABSTRACT
This chapter examines misunderstandings arising from a pervasive interactional practice, the use of repetition. It suggests that candidates with little exposure to oral target language discourse may tend to focus their attention on the interviewers' words without also processing the prosodic composition of repetitions. The chapter examines misunderstandings of elaborative repeats in the Oral proficiency interviews (OPI) corpus against the backdrop of frame conflicts or Rich Points. OPIs are speech events designed to measure a candidate's speaking ability in a target language. It considers for analysis are genuine, correct, partial, literal and spontaneous. The OPI format and rating scales are employed in academic, business, government and military contexts in the United States and internationally. The chapter shows that the candidate, in certain environments, appears to expect a receipt and upon its absence does not resume his/her turn. It examines how the candidate treats the interviewer's repeats in his/her subsequent turn and the interactional consequences ensuing from her responding action.
