What Our Students Say Conditional Undergraduate Admission TOEFL Linguistics/ TESL at Iowa Photo Gallery	SPEAK Test, ELPT, & TAPE Classes Testing If you would like to become a TA, your first step is to contact the department where you wish to be a TA. If they are interested in hiring you, they will complete a three-part carbonless Request for Evaluation for TA Certification form and send it to ESL Programs. (Request forms can be obtained by contacting the ESL Programs Office.) FOR STUDENTS TO BE TESTED IN AUGUST 2007, REQUEST FORMS ARE DUE TO THE ESL PROGRAMS OFFICE BY AUGUST 7. If the ESL Programs office has received the necessary form from your department, you will receive a letter informing you that you need to officially register for the SPEAK test. The letter will be sent to your department mailbox, not to your home. You will be told to come to 1112 University Capitol Centre the day before your scheduled SPEAK test to register for a specific time to take the test. On the day before the test, you will sign up for a specific time and we will inform you of the location of the test and answer questions you may have. If you would like to see sample SPEAK test questions, please visit the ETS website. Click here for detailed information about the SPEAK test and how it is scored. When you take the SPEAK test, you will be told when the results will be available. Come to 1112 University Capitol Centre on that day to check your results. The ELPT is given on the day after you receive your results. If you score 50 or 55 on the SPEAK test but do not come in on the assigned day to check your results, you will miss the ELPT and have to wait until the next test date. If you score a 50 or 55 on the SPEAK test, sign up immediately for the ELPT. (The ELPT is a lecture test during which a student gives a ten- to fifteen-minute presentation on the topic of his or her choice). If it is important that you take the ELPT at a certain time of day, come as early as possible to check your results, as more time slots will be available. A photo ID is required to register for the tests, to take the tests, and to pick up results. NO EXCEPTIONS will be made. If you do not bring an ID, you will not be allowed to test or pick up results. A student ID, driver's license, and passport are all acceptable forms of ID. Students who score 60 on the SPEAK test are not required to take the ELPT. They are fully certified TAs and are able to assume full responsibility for a lecture or discussion class. Classes If you score less than 60 on the SPEAK test, sign up immediately for a TAPE class, as classes fill up quickly. If you wait too long to sign up, the classes will be full. If you have taken the SPEAK test at least once and are eligible to take TAPE classes the following semester, it is highly recommended that you sign up the first day of registration. If you are currently taking a TAPE class and will be taking the SPEAK test or ELPT after the first day of registration, you should still sign up while spaces are available. If you wait until you receive the results of your test, it is likely that the classes will be full. If you pass the test, you can simply drop the class. If classes are full, you should put your name on a waiting list, and as spaces become available (because of drops or no-shows), students from the waiting list will be offered a place in class. If a you sign up for a class in a timely matter after taking the SPEAK test for the first time but you get put on a waiting list and no space becomes available in the class, you will be allowed to retake the SPEAK test the following semester without taking a class. This rule only applies one time. If we offer you a space in a class and you turn it down, you lose the chance to be retested. If you are in the TAPE program because you have previously taken the SPEAK test or you are in a TAPE class and you do not sign up early enough to get into a TAPE class, you will NOT be allowed to be retested if your name is on the waiting list. If you choose not to take a TAPE class, you will not be allowed to retake the SPEAK test until you have taken a TAPE class or until one year has passed since your last test. If you have been given permission to register by the ESL Programs Office, a seat is reserved for you in a TAPE class. However, this is a reservation only; you are not registered until you do it yourself through ISIS or go to the Registration Center. Also, please note that this reservation is only held until the last weekday before classes start. If you have not registered by that date, your spot will be given to a student on the waiting list. In most cases, students who have not scored at least 50 on the SPEAK test will be required to take the TA Preparation: Fluency Building and Culture and/or TA Preparation: Pronunciation class. Students who have scored 50 or above on the SPEAK and received a C or above on the ELPT are eligible to take the Presentations course. Due to limited space availability, students are usually allowed to take only one TAPE class per semester. Students who have taken the ELPT and received a certification level of A or B, who are teaching for the first time and whose teaching responsibilities include conducting a discussion section or taking full responsibility for a lecture class are required to attend an Orientation workshop. You should attend the Orientation class the first semester that you teach. Sign up for this class at the ESL office. If you drop a TAPE class two semesters in a row, you will not be allowed to register for a class the next semester. You will have to wait one semester before registering for another class. If you receive a U in a TAPE class, you will not be allowed to register for a class the following semester.

What Our
Students Say

Conditional Undergraduate Admission

TOEFL

Linguistics/
TESL at Iowa

Photo Gallery

SPEAK Test, ELPT, & TAPE Classes

Testing

If you would like to become a TA, your first step is to contact the department where you wish to be a TA. If they are interested in hiring you, they will complete a three-part carbonless Request for Evaluation for TA Certification form and send it to ESL Programs. (Request forms can be obtained by contacting the ESL Programs Office.)

FOR STUDENTS TO BE TESTED IN AUGUST 2007, REQUEST FORMS ARE DUE TO THE ESL PROGRAMS OFFICE BY AUGUST 7.

If the ESL Programs office has received the necessary form from your department, you will receive a letter informing you that you need to officially register for the SPEAK test. The letter will be sent to your department mailbox, not to your home. You will be told to come to 1112 University Capitol Centre the day before your scheduled SPEAK test to register for a specific time to take the test.

On the day before the test, you will sign up for a specific time and we will inform you of the location of the test and answer questions you may have.

If you would like to see sample SPEAK test questions, please visit the ETS website.

Click here for detailed information about the SPEAK test and how it is scored.

When you take the SPEAK test, you will be told when the results will be available. Come to 1112 University Capitol Centre on that day to check your results. The ELPT is given on the day after you receive your results. If you score 50 or 55 on the SPEAK test but do not come in on the assigned day to check your results, you will miss the ELPT and have to wait until the next test date.

If you score a 50 or 55 on the SPEAK test, sign up immediately for the ELPT. (The ELPT is a lecture test during which a student gives a ten- to fifteen-minute presentation on the topic of his or her choice). If it is important that you take the ELPT at a certain time of day, come as early as possible to check your results, as more time slots will be available.

A photo ID is required to register for the tests, to take the tests, and to pick up results. NO EXCEPTIONS will be made. If you do not bring an ID, you will not be allowed to test or pick up results. A student ID, driver's license, and passport are all acceptable forms of ID.

Students who score 60 on the SPEAK test are not required to take the ELPT. They are fully certified TAs and are able to assume full responsibility for a lecture or discussion class.

Classes

If you score less than 60 on the SPEAK test, sign up immediately for a TAPE class, as classes fill up quickly. If you wait too long to sign up, the classes will be full.

If you have taken the SPEAK test at least once and are eligible to take TAPE classes the following semester, it is highly recommended that you sign up the first day of registration. If you are currently taking a TAPE class and will be taking the SPEAK test or ELPT after the first day of registration, you should still sign up while spaces are available. If you wait until you receive the results of your test, it is likely that the classes will be full. If you pass the test, you can simply drop the class.

If classes are full, you should put your name on a waiting list, and as spaces become available (because of drops or no-shows), students from the waiting list will be offered a place in class.

If a you sign up for a class in a timely matter after taking the SPEAK test for the first time but you get put on a waiting list and no space becomes available in the class, you will be allowed to retake the SPEAK test the following semester without taking a class. This rule only applies one time. If we offer you a space in a class and you turn it down, you lose the chance to be retested.

If you are in the TAPE program because you have previously taken the SPEAK test or you are in a TAPE class and you do not sign up early enough to get into a TAPE class, you will NOT be allowed to be retested if your name is on the waiting list.

If you choose not to take a TAPE class, you will not be allowed to retake the SPEAK test until you have taken a TAPE class or until one year has passed since your last test.

If you have been given permission to register by the ESL Programs Office, a seat is reserved for you in a TAPE class. However, this is a reservation only; you are not registered until you do it yourself through ISIS or go to the Registration Center. Also, please note that this reservation is only held until the last weekday before classes start. If you have not registered by that date, your spot will be given to a student on the waiting list.

In most cases, students who have not scored at least 50 on the SPEAK test will be required to take the TA Preparation: Fluency Building and Culture and/or TA Preparation: Pronunciation class. Students who have scored 50 or above on the SPEAK and received a C or above on the ELPT are eligible to take the Presentations course. Due to limited space availability, students are usually allowed to take only one TAPE class per semester.

Students who have taken the ELPT and received a certification level of A or B, who are teaching for the first time and whose teaching responsibilities include conducting a discussion section or taking full responsibility for a lecture class are required to attend an Orientation workshop. You should attend the Orientation class the first semester that you teach. Sign up for this class at the ESL office.

If you drop a TAPE class two semesters in a row, you will not be allowed to register for a class the next semester. You will have to wait one semester before registering for another class.

If you receive a U in a TAPE class, you will not be allowed to register for a class the following semester.