TSE® Details: Agencies and Institutions
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TSE Test Content
The Test of Spoken EnglishTM (TSE®) consists of nine items, each of which asks test takers to respond with appropriate answers or discussion. Examples of these speech activity items include narrating, recommending, persuading and giving and supporting an opinion. The TSE test lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Test takers will be asked to
- Tell a story based on a six-picture sequence and answer a related question
- Describe a graph and answer a related question
- Respond to two questions about ideas
- Respond to three questions in the role of someone in a workplace situation.
We recommend that test takers study the test books as they listen to the recording. They will be given a few seconds to think and to prepare each response. For some questions, the preparation time is longer. In that case, they will be told how much time they have. Test takers should take a pencil to the test center as notes in the test book are permitted during the test. Due to time constraints, we do not recommend first writing out and then reading responses.
At the end of the preparation time, test takers will begin speaking after they hear a beep. They have 60 seconds from that point to answer each question. After 60 seconds, they will hear another beep, which indicates that they should stop speaking and listen to the next question.
As they speak, their voices will be recorded. They must speak clearly and loudly enough for their responses to be recorded. Responses should be complete and relate directly to what is being asked. Attempting to use responses that test takers have learned or prepared ahead of time will result in lower scores.
While many of the questions may not appear to be directly connected to test takers' academic or professional fields, each question allows raters to assess each test taker's oral English language ability. Trained raters will assign a score for each test taker's recorded responses based on the scoring guide established for this test.
Changes in Delivery Method
In many test centers, the TSE is delivered over the telephone via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. The test format is the same for both cassette and IVR TSE tests.
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