Abstract:
The English as a Second Language Oral Assessment (ESLOA) is a test of English listening and speaking proficiency for limited English proficient (LEP) adults. It can be used for both placement and achievement testing, and assigns examinees to one of four proficiency levels. Level I requires no oral responses but tests auditory comprehension and the ability to identify vocabulary items. Level II involves basic survival English. Level III tests the use of present and progressive tenses as well as negation. In Level IV, the examinee must form sentences in the past, future and conditional tenses. The tester uses a booklet of pictures with accompanying questions beginning at Level I. Examinees answer questions through progressive levels of difficulty until they are unable to continue. The tester records the correctness of responses on an answer sheet on which scores are computed and criterion thresholds defined. The test is not normed and lacks reliability and validity studies. Administration time is approximately 20 minutes.