English language tests are designed to help evaluate a candidate's level of proficiency in English.
An English language test is one of the best-known and most commonly used language proficiency tests. The purpose of the test is to assess a test-taker's level in reading and writing English.
The assessment will typically cover topics such as comprehension, grammar, sentence composition, and the ability to comprehend everyday and business language.
There are a variety of contexts the test might include, such as work-place scenarios, formal and informal language, and precise translation.
Those who do well at the English test demonstrate the potential to understand non-complex professional copy that might be typically used in a professional business environment, and communicate their ideas in English at an intermediate level with colleagues or clients.
English Language Test
English is spoken by almost 1 billion people around the world – it is the number one most-spoken language. English is considered an essential business language and the ability to speak English on the international job market is crucial.
Assessing an applicant's English can be challenging for recruiters who don't speak English fluently, or who do speak it but might not know how to assess what level of English an applicant can understand, in a fair and accurate way.
A candidate might state on their resume that they have intermediate fluency in English – but without using a test it may be very difficult to measure. An English language test solves that problem and can be easily shared with a large pool of candidates to provide comparative data.
The test evaluates their ability and understanding of basic grammar, reading comprehension, and formal idioms. A recruiter can then see which of the applicants has the highest level of fluency in English overall.
Those who best meet the English language requirement can move forward in the hiring process, with the applicants who didn't possess the required level eliminated. This makes for a much more efficient hiring process, saving the need to interview numerous candidates in English by phone or face-to-face.
Job roles for which English proficiency might be a prerequisite include:
Proficiency in English could also be helpful for any business with operations in the European market, or with clients from English-speaking countries. Over 60 countries recognise English as their official language, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.
There ____ thousands of people attending a protest in London tomorrow.
1) is
2) are
3) was
4) weren’t
Results for the English Language Test along with other assessments the candidate takes will be compiled to produce a candidate report. The report is automatically generated and available both online and as a downloadable pdf so they can be shared with other team members and employees alike.
In Picked's English language test, candidates will need to answer a range of questions covering grammar, spelling, vocabulary, common phrases, and reading comprehension. With a varying degree of difficulty around the Common European Framework B2 (upper-intermediate) level, the test questions are designed to indicate how well a candidate comprehends English.
The test avoids requiring any irrelevant knowledge from the candidate aside from language proficiency; thus it is general enough to be used for any job requiring English. All questions are multiple-choice: a format familiar to most candidates that allows for immediate, objective scoring.
The response options aside from the correct answer, called distractors, are mostly common mistakes or misconceptions, which enhances the question's ability to accurately measure a candidate's proficiency.
During the development process, this test was rigorously analysed to maximise reliability and validity in line with industry best practices. It was written, examined and revised by English language and psychometric experts, and field-tested with a representative sample of job applicants.
In other words, this test empirically demonstrates consistency and measures the language knowledge as intended. Raw scores are provided for each candidate to indicate how they perform relative to one another.
Regarding the candidate's experience, this test has been reviewed by a panel of individuals representing diverse backgrounds to check for any sensitivity, fairness, face validity and accessibility issues. This ensures each candidate has a fair chance of demonstrating their true level of English proficiency and feels the test is reasonable.
This test is also monitored on an ongoing basis to optimise performance and is analysed regularly for fairness issues.
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Generally speaking, candidates are graded from B1, B2, C1 and C2 in language tests. B represents an independent user and C represents a proficient user.
The English language test is based on an intermediate level proficiency.
By taking a language test, candidates can demonstrate to a potential employer or educational institution at what level their current competency in English lies. This will often be broken down by categories such as reading, writing, listening and speaking.
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