What is the Nelson Language Proficiency Test and Why Should You Take It?
The ALTE is a test to measure performance on an English language, and its orign is the NELS Benchmarks standardized test, which in turn, is based on the Common European Framework of Reference, which is a set of European benchmarks for the assessment of EFL/L2 learners. Students of various linguistic backgrounds, including different linguistic affiliations, live in the same country are often expected to be able to communicate in the same language; the need to understand each other and to be able to communicate in a foreign language is particularly relevant to the minority students on the receiving end of instruction, as well as for other international students who are often required to communicate in language that is not their native language. The ALTE is a benchmark of what the student would be expected to know after completion of the programme. It is commonly used as a pre-requisite of the ALTESET (the multi-level ALTESET); this is a test set designed specifically for language colleges to measure and set standards for what is expected from students of various levels of language proficiency. The ALTESET is used in language colleges to establish and maintain standards, which have been achieved in the Language Aptitude Test (LAT) and the Tutorial and Interpersonal Communication (TIC) respectively. Whereas the ALTESET is typically used to measure what a student can expect to know at the end of the first year, the LAT and TIC are used to measure and monitor the progress of students throughout the year. Prior to the introduction of a similar test in the UK, the ALTE, a predecessor of the LIPT (LIPT is an acronym for the Liverpool Intermediate Proficiency Test) and then the LIPT, these tests were used for the same purpose. These tests were used mainly in England and Wales, and apart from the LIPT, they have now all been withdrawn. There is a need for a similar assessment test for UK colleges to ensure that the measure of progress made by students and the standards set in colleges are comparable to those of Europe. Like its predecessor, the ALTE, the LIPT/LIPT is designed to assess the language ability of a student at the end of first year of study. The test is based on the World Englishes of the European Framework of Reference for Languages (EFR). The LIPT/LIPT is given at the end of the first year of study, the LIPT is given at the end of the first year and the ALTE is given at the end of the fourth year of study. The LIPT/LIPT is a pre-requisite for the LIPTs and the ALTE. The LIPT is a timed written test; the LIPT Test is administered during the course of a four-week period. The LIPT is a test which should normally be administered by a trained examiner. The LIPT test should take no longer than an hour. The ALTE, in contrast, is a short, computerised test, which is administered by a specially-trained computer. The test should normally take no longer than 75 minutes. A maximum of 100 marks are available to a student for a total of 300. The ability to communicate in four basic contexts is tested: spoken interaction, reading (at the university level only), written composition, and listening (at the university level only). The contexts are described in one-to-one, small group, interactive discussion. In every context, apart from the spoken interaction context, four sets of questions are asked, and the test includes 28 single and 14 multiple choice questions.
Nelson language proficiency test pdf