All students for whom English is not a first language and who have first-time appointments as TAs are required to take a test to assess their effectiveness in speaking English before they are assigned assistantship responsibilities. The SPEAK test assesses students' language and comprehension skills for teaching undergraduates in a typical American university classroom situation. To participate in this program, students must be enrolled in a graduate program at The University of Iowa, and an academic department must be considering hiring them as teaching assistants.
All students to be tested must first register for the SPEAK test through their
departments. When a department offers (or is thinking about offering) a teaching
assistantship to a student who has never before been a TA at the University,
the department sends a three-part carbonless Request for Evaluation form to the ESL Programs Office. (To obtain additional forms, departments should contact the ESL Programs Office.)
The ESL Coordinator sends the student (via the department) a letter indicating the time and place
of the appropriate SPEAK testing.
Students who would like to see sample SPEAK
test questions should visit the ETS website.
Students take the SPEAK test in the audio classroom of the Language Media Center,
where their answers are recorded. Their performance on the test
is evaluated by two certified ESL raters. At the SPEAK testing, students are given a time
when they should go to the ESL Programs Office (1112 University Capitol Centre) to find out
if they have attained an acceptable SPEAK score (50 or higher) and if they are
therefore eligible to take the ELPT (English Language Performance Test, formerly
the LECT). Students who score 50 or 55 must then sign up to take the ELPT.
At registration for the ELPT, each examinee is given detailed instructions on
how to prepare for the test. Students who score 60 on the SPEAK are fully certified and are not required to take the ELPT (see flowchart below).
Testing takes place at various times throughout the year. When the testing
is held the week before the start of fall and spring semesters, all results
for TA nominees new to campus are sent to the department liaison by the end
of the week of testing. SPEAK test results are sent within two days. ELPT results
are sent to the students through their departments within a day of taking that
test.
SPEAK and ELPT result forms contain the following information:
-
the Level of Certification achieved by the examinee (fully certified, partially
certified, or not certified);
-
the types of teaching assistant responsibilities the student has language
proficiency to perform; and
- the TAPE program courses, if any, which the student is required to complete.
Retesting
Students who fail the SPEAK test can retest only if
1)
they take one of the required TAPE classes (in which case they will be automatically retested at the end of the class),
OR
2)
they wait an entire year (students may only do this once).
Please see the flowchart below for a clear explanation of the process.
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