The ITACE for students consists of a computer test, a writing test and an oral test. Participants need to obtain at least a B1 level on the computer test to be allowed to participate in the writing and oral test.
PART ONE: COMPUTER TEST
The computer test (2h) consists of the following components
- Reading
- Comprehension questions with multiple choice
- Deducing the meaning of a word from the context
- Listening
- Comprehension questions with multiple choice
- Fill in the blanks (dictation)
- Grammar and vocabulary
- Multiple choice
- Fill in the blanks
Participants are not allowed to use dictionaries, online sources, or any other aids during the computer test.
In order to familiarize yourself with the different types of questions, you can click here to access a sample computer test.
Note: The sample test is merely meant as an example of the question types used in the ITACE for Students computer test. As it only contains one example of each question type, this sample test is not intended as a practice test, which means it is not representative of your performance on the complete ITACE computer test.
PART TWO: WRITING
Note: only participants who score at least B1 on the computer test are allowed to participate in the writing and oral test.
The writing test (1 hour) consists of two tasks:
- Writing a 100-150 word email within a given academic context
- Writing a 150-300 word (formal) text on a given topic related to an academic context
The texts are to be written in MS Word and participants are allowed to use all MS Word functions, including the spellchecker. However, other aids (dictionaries, internet, etc.) are not allowed.
Evaluation criteria:
- Vocabulary (range and accuracy)
- Grammar (range and accuracy)
- Spelling and punctuation
- Coherence and flow
Click to download a sample writing task.
PART THREE: ORAL
The oral test (30 mins) is a face-to-face test which consists of two different assignments.
- Presentation task:
Participants receive a printout of a set of slides, which include a presentation outline and at least one graph, and use this to prepare a short presentation.
- Argumentation task:
Participants are given two different statements with some background information. They choose one of the topics, introduce the statement and give their opinion.
Participants are given 15 minutes to prepare for the oral test. They are not allowed to use dictionaries, websites or any other aids, but they do receive pen and paper to make notes. The test itself takes about 15 minutes and is recorded.
Evaluation criteria:
- Vocabulary (range and accuracy)
- Grammar (range and accuracy)
- Fluency
- Pronunciation
- Coherence and cohesion
Click to download a sample presentation task and a sample argumentation task.