BabeliUM

SKILL ASSESSMENT EXAMS

become a language champion

2022

Trial period from June 27 to July 1, 2022

Registration deadline : until the 22nd of June.

2023

Evaluation period from 16 to 31 January 2023

Evaluation period from 21 to 28 April 2023

Evaluation period from 26 to 30 June 2023

Application deadline : until the Wednesday of the week before the exam period

The Language Competence Assessment is a specialized  BabeliUM service  to accredit and certify linguistic competence in all the languages offered by BabeliUM  – Centro de Idiomas, through a mastery assessment and according to the levels defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages  ( CEFR ) .

This assessment is carried out through specific exams that are made up of two large blocks:

Component A

Evaluates oral and written comprehension and written expression

Component B

Evaluates interaction and oral expression

The certificate is issued when the applicant passes the level to which he applied , in all the language skills assessed.

€150 per exam/assessed

 Exam request outside defined times not available

Discounts for groups of more than 6 people, of the same language and level.

More information via:

EXAM ADMINISTRATION

It is recommended that the competence assessment be carried out through two annual calls , with the aim of facilitating its organization and dissemination and optimizing the work of preparing the tests in the respective departments, sections and open courses. It is also advisable to set up a monitoring committee to supervise the correct leveling of the tests and their adequacy to the parameters described in this document.
The structure of the exam will consist of two parts:

PART A

  •  
  • it will be managed collectively ;
  • will assess oral and written comprehension and written expression .

This test will be held in several rooms , depending on the language evaluated and the level of the registered candidates. The available spaces must be comfortable for the candidates and have the acoustic quality and the necessary audiovisual means for its performance. In each of the rooms there must be a teacher for the organization and supervision of the exam . Applicants with special needs must state these at the time of registration. Thus, the specificities that facilitate the realization of the test in the best possible conditions will be taken into account.

The time to carry out this part will be as follows, according to the different levels: 

A1/A2 2h30 | B1/B2 3h | C1/C2 4h

In this part, the student will be free to manage time in the way he deems most appropriate. As such, the time specified  for each of the three tests that make up this part will not be discriminated against , although it is recommended that the oral texts be heard 30 minutes after the start of the exam .

PART B

  • it will be administered individually ;
  • will evaluate the interaction and oral expression .

It will take place in a room where there should be an examiner and an evaluator.

The examiner will sit in front of the candidate and will be responsible for conducting the interview . The evaluator will be responsible for the qualification of the test and should be located out of the candidate’s angle of vision, but at a distance that allows him to hear the interview without problems.

TEST STRUCTURE

ORAL COMPREHENSION

The oral comprehension test will consist of two oral texts , which will be heard twice, appropriate to the candidate’s enrollment level. It is recommended that the nature of both texts cover different functional or sociolinguistic scopes .

The items will be objective and closed -ended and should assess both the overall understanding of the texts and specific and concrete elements .

The selected texts must conform to the typologies and parameters described in the  (CEFR)  or, if there is one, in the document relating to the reference levels of each of the languages.

WRITTEN COMPREHENSION

The written comprehension test will also consist of two texts , with objective and closed -ended items that assess global and specific understanding of the text.

The selected texts must also represent diverse functional and sociolinguistic areas of communicative competence and adjust to the reference levels described in the   (CEFR) .

WRITTEN EXPRESSION

Written expression will be evaluated based on the production of two texts . The test will be open and the correction will be made according to the descriptors of each level .

The test statement must accurately describe the communicative act to which the text to be produced by the candidate must be adjusted, as well as define the instructions for the task in detail. The extension of the written text must also be explicitly mentioned , which will be as follows, second level:

 

A1 100 words | A2 150 words | B1 250 words | B2 300 words | C1 400 words | C2 450 words

ORAL EXPRESSION

The typology of the text and the required functions , as well as the level of lexicon and grammatical knowledge required must adjust to the (CEFR) reference levels .

Oral expression will be assessed based on an interview with the candidate conducted by the examiner . The structure of the test must include both the expository and the interactive part and the examiner must ensure that the required communicative functions correspond to the level , as well as seek to obtain a significant sample of language so that the evaluator can validly consider the candidate’s oral competence.

The duration will be approximately 15 minutes , which must be respected in full, regardless of the initial impressions of the examiner or evaluator.

 

The evaluator will rate the candidate’s oral production using a scale of descriptors .

CORRECTION AND CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA

The candidate , in order to be approved in the Competency Assessment certificate , must submit to the four tests that make up the assessment.

In objective and closed tests (oral and written comprehension) you will have to respond adequately to a minimum of 75% of the exam items . In the subjective and open tests (oral and written expression), the candidate must satisfactorily solve the set of each of the tests, only being able to fail to reach the required level in one of the correction parameters of each of the written expression tests and also only in one of the oral exams .

Even in those cases in which the insufficiency manifests itself in only one of the parameters , if the candidate’s production is notably lower than the required, he will also fail the test and, consequently, the assessment in general. For a correct weighting of this aspect, it is advisable to write the descriptors using a scale.

The parameters that make up the correction criteria for the written test are the following:

Thematic development

Sociolinguistic adequacy

Cohesion and coherence

Grammar and spelling correction

Vocabulary breadth and mastery

In the written expression test , the criteria mentioned above must be applied to each of the texts that will be evaluated independently, taking into account some descriptors.

The parameters that make up the criteria for correction of the oral test are the following:

Thematic development

Sociolinguistic adequacy

Cohesion, coherence and fluidity

Phonological domain

 

Grammar correction

Vocabulary diversity and adequacy

To assess the candidate’s skills in this area, some descriptors should be taken into account .