English Language Program
Screening and Placement in English Classes
Mary Wood
SPEAK Test
Beverley Earles
Screening and Placement in
English Classes
 Placement
in English classes
 Clearing English
 ELP curriculum
 New screening policy for graduate
students
Minimum Passing Test Part Scores
iBT
20
PBT
55 5.0 on the TWE (Test of Written English)
IELTS
6.5 (≈54-57 PBT, 19-21IBT)
The equivalent score on the EPT is 57-60, with an
Essay of 39 equivalent to a TWE of 5.0.
EPT Scores For Beginning Academic Work
Reading
Listening
Grammar
Essay
Part-time
Academic
50
50
50
33
Full-time
Academic
57
57
57
39
Placement in ELP Classes
EPT Score
Level
Full-time Intensive English Exit Levels
DAS DAS DAS
1 36
138
140
Beg 1 Beg 2 Int 1
DAS
150
Int 2
Total
50115
Total Str 46
150- Rdg 46
167 List 46
Essay30
Spk 3.0
Total
116135
Total
136149
DAS 152 DAS 154 No ELP
(full(partClasses
time)
time)
Str
50
Rdg 50
List 50
Essay 33
Spk 3.0
Str
57
Rdg 57
List 57
Essay 39
Spk 3.0
Placement at the End of Semester in
Non-exit Level Courses
Students move to the next level of English by:


Getting the EPT scores needed for that level
OR
Passing all of the Final Achievement Tests in their
classes with grades of 70% or higher
Students can skip a level with the appropriate EPT
scores.
Finishing English
Students clear English by:

Getting a passing EPT score at the end of
the semester in a non-exit level (DAS 136150)

Getting grades of A, B, or C in their exit
level classes (DAS 152, 154)
Reading Courses (152/154/176)
Comprehension
 Comprehend un-simplified texts
 Identify main ideas, supporting details, and conclusions
 Preview and make predictions
 Recognize organizational patterns
 Make inferences
 Paraphrase and summarize
 Read critically
 Apply ideas to new contexts
Fluency

Read text at minimum of about 220 WPM with at
least 70% comprehension (UG native speakers = 250
WPM)
Vocabulary
 Understand and use vocabulary at university level
 Guess meanings of words in context
 Use word forms accurately
 Recognize and use collocations and connotations
Classroom and Test-taking skills
 Discuss readings
 Use a mono lingual English dictionary
 Respond to readings in short and/or essay-length
answers
 Understand and formulate appropriate responses to
academic test questions and directions
Writing Courses (152/154/177)
Grammar Skills in Sentence Level Writing
 Can use all verb tenses
 Can use simple, compound, and complex sentences
 Can use noun clauses, adjective and adverb clauses in
writing
 Can use conditionals
 Can use gerunds and infinitives
Writing Skills (without plagiarizing)
 Can use appropriate academic vocabulary and style
 Can write essays in different modes
 Can summarize articles
 Can respond to readings
 Can synthesize, citing sources appropriately
Speaking Courses (152/154/179)
Basic Language Skills for Oral Communication
 Be able to use appropriate vocabulary and good oral grammar in speaking on a
range of non-personal topics
 Produce consonant and vowel sounds, and can manage suprasegmentals
Conversational Communication
 Demonstrates fluency in conversing about academic and non-academic topics
 Demonstrates fluency in “small talk” in non-academic situations
 Follow and participate in conversations
Academic Communication
 Give sufficiently detailed explanations with appropriate academic vocabulary
 Demonstrates ability in basic communication, including working with a group,
agreeing/disagreeing, interrupting, active listening, and impromptu speaking
 Support answers with clearly related reasons and examples
 Give summaries of academic material
Listening Courses (152/154/178)
Comprehension
 Has sufficient vocabulary to comprehend an unsimplified
academic lecture
 Can paraphrase academic discourse effectively in writing.
 Can paraphrase academic discourse effectively in
discussion.
Note-taking
 Can identify main idea and supporting details of a short
unsimplified academic lecture
 Can take independent, thorough, well-organized notes on
short unsimplified academic lectures.
 Can integrate information based on notes from multiple
sources
For Grad Students With TOEFL Scores
TEST
Guidelines for Grad Students With Low Part Scores
1-2 PART
SCORES
READING LISTENING SPEAKING WRITING
IBT
14-19
PBT
48-54
IELTS 5.0-6.4
DAS 176
OR 154
Reading
DAS 178
OR 154
Listening
DAS 179
OR 154
Speaking
DAS 177
OR 154
Writing
1. Before the beginning of the semester, students will take a
diagnostic for the area (s) in which they have low scores:
Ex. IBT Reading 18, Writing 16 – take Reading and Writing
diagnostics.
2. The diagnostic will be the Final Exam for the course indicated.
The test is written to the SLOs for the course(s).
Test
IBT
PBT
IELTS
No
Test
Scores
Part
Score
< 14
< 48
< 5.0
EPT
Indicates full-time English
EPT
EPT scores will indicate
the English courses needed
SPEAK Screening and Policies
SPEAK test overview
 Scoring
 Rater training
 SPEAK Policies
 IBT – SPEAK comparison

What does the SPEAK assess?

The SPEAK test is a measure of oral language ability,
particularly that needed by teaching assistants in the U.S. It
focuses on the following:








pronunciation
fluency
oral grammar
vocabulary usage
register or appropriateness of answer
organization and presentation of ideas
test taking ability
It does not assess teaching ability.
SPEAK Scoring

Each test is scored independently by two raters

Questions are scored with whole number scores(20,
30, 40, 50 or 60) for each of 12 questions

The two scores are averaged.

The resulting score is rounded.
Descriptors
20
No effective communication
30
Communication generally not effective
40
Communication somewhat effective
50
Communication generally effective
60
Communication almost always
effective
Factors
•Task completion
•Appropriateness
•Coherence
•Accuracy
•Fluency
Averaging Scores
Scores for the 12 questions are averaged to get
an overall score for each rater
 The scores for the two rates are averaged
 The resulting score is rounded to the nearest 5

E.g. Rater 1
Rater 2
Average
Final score
Ex 1
Ex 2
45
43.33
42.5
42.49
45
40
40
41.66
Score ranges
Score
Low
40
45
50
37.5
42.5
47.5
High
-
42.49
47.49
52.49
Discrepancy in Scores
ETS allows a rater discrepancy of 10
 ELP


allows a discrepancy of 8
 requires a third grading if the score is split
Rater Training

Training program developed by ETS


tapes with examples, explanations & practice
areas covered include


score levels
types of problems
 norming with other ELP raters
6



test tapes – no discrepancies
ELP – first year, new rater paired with experienced
rater
All ratings checked by SPEAK supervisor
Rater reliability database maintained
SPEAK Testing Policy





The SPEAK policy is from the Board of Regents. SPEAK raters rate
according to ETS criteria.
For Admitted students
 first two tests are free.
 subsequent tests are $10.
January and August tests are reserved for newly admitted students only.
Students who fail the test twice must seek remediation, DAS 179 or DAS
154.
Students may schedule an appointment to go over the raters’ comments.
What does the speaking component of
the iBT assess?

The Speaking section of the iBT includes the following
components:



2 independent tasks about familiar topics (based on personal
experience)
4 integrated tasks (based on short listening and reading selections)
The spoken responses are evaluated in the following areas:



delivery
language
topic development
Questions