English Language Program

Screening and Placement in English ClassesMary Wood

SPEAK TestBeverley 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

Part-time Full-timeAcademic

Academic Reading 50 57 Listening 50 57 Grammar 50 57

Essay 33 39

Placement in ELP ClassesFull-time Intensive English Exit Levels

Level

DAS 1 36 Beg 1

DAS 138 Beg 2

DAS 140 Int 1

DAS 150 Int 2

DAS 152(full-time)

DAS 154(part-time)

No ELPClasses

EPT Score

Total50-115

Total 116-135

Total 136-149

Total150-167

Str 46Rdg 46List 46Essay30Spk 3.0

Str 50Rdg 50List 50Essay 33 Spk 3.0

Str 57Rdg 57List 57Essay 39Spk 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 levelOR

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 EnglishStudents clear English by:

Getting a passing EPT score at the end of the semester in a non-exit level (DAS 136-150)

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 infinitivesWriting 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 suprasegmentalsConversational 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 ScoresGuidelines for Grad Students With Low Part Scores

TEST1-2 PART SCORES READING LISTENING SPEAKING WRITING

IBT PBT IELTS

14-19 48-54 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 Part Score

IBT PBT IELTS

< 14 < 48 < 5.0

EPT Indicates full-time English

No Test Scores

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.

Descriptors20 No effective communication30 Communication generally not effective40 Communication somewhat effective50 Communication generally effective60 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 5E.g. Rater 1 Rater 2 Average Final

scoreEx 1 40 45 42.5 45Ex 2 41.66 43.33 42.49 40

Score ranges

Score Low High

40 37.5 - 42.4945 42.5 - 47.4950 47.5 - 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