UCI’s Graduate Council (a faculty committee of the Irvine Division of the Academic Senate) policy states that all international graduate students, including permanent residents, who are not citizens of countries where English is either the primary or dominant language must demonstrate oral proficiency in English to establish eligibility for appointments as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate. Students can demonstrate their oral proficiency by passing either the TSE, TOEFL iBT, IELTS or the SPEAK. Students who do not pass either the TSE or SPEAK are eligible to take the Test of Oral English Proficiency (TOEP) which is offered only at UCI. Note that U.S. citizens are exempt from this examination requirement. Also, students from a country whose primary language is not English, but who completed all their high school education in the U.S. are exempt, but must provide an original high school transcript to the Office of Graduate Studies in order to receive the exemption. Only the Graduate Council, not academic units, is vested with the authority to establish minimum passing scores. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

The Test of Spoken English (TSE) and the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) are both oral exams used to determine the spoken English proficiency of persons whose native language is not English. TSE test takers must register through the Educational Testing Service (ETS) at a cost of $125. The SPEAK is the institutional version of the TSE, and is offered by UCI through the Humanities Instructional Resource Center (HIRC) at the cost of $70. The exams are equivalent, and the scores from either the TSE or the SPEAK are acceptable at UCI.

The TSE and SPEAK are both delivered via audio-recording equipment, a test booklet, and oral interview. Each test is approximately 20 minutes in length. Check-in, exam instructions and check-out can take an additional 20 minutes. Allow approximately 45 minutes for the entire examination procedure and be sure to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the test time.

The TSE test is administered 12 times a year at test centers throughout the world. It will not be offered at UCI because of changes in ETS' test format. Additional information about the test including registration information can be found at www.toefl.org/tse/tseindx.html.

The SPEAK exam is held in the HIRC, 269 Humanities Hall. It is administered four times a year; i.e., approximately three weeks before the Fall quarter, during the 4th or 5th week of the Fall quarter, during the 4th or 5th week of the Winter quarter and during the 5th or 6th week of the Spring quarter. Registration for a session opens three weeks prior to the test date and closes three working days prior to the exam. Once registered online, students must pay the $70 fee at the Cashiers Office in the Administration Building within two working days or their reservation will be cancelled and re-registration will be required (www.fs.uci.edu/Cashier/PmtMstr.HTM). Within one week of the payment, students will receive an email confirming their reservation. Students arriving late will not be admitted. For more information and registration instructions, please visit UCI's SPEAK website at www.humanities.uci.edu/hirc/speak.

Each test date usually has six sessions. The maximum number of students per session is 16, and spaces will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

A score of 50 out of the possible 60 points is required to be eligible for TA employment.

Unlike the TSE and SPEAK, the content of the TOEP is directly related to the academic subject matter that is taught in UCI classes. It is administered by the Program in Academic English/ESL and scheduled in the Humanities Instructional Building (HIB).

TOEP is offered three times each year, before the beginning of the Fall quarter, at the end of the Fall quarter and at the end of the Spring quarter. Check the TOEP website at http://e3.uci.edu/programs/esl/toep.html for specific test dates and information for on-line registration. There is a $70 test fee that must be paid at the Cashier's Office within a week following confirmation of registration by the TOEP coordinator. Students are notified of their interview appointment ten days before the test date. The Program in Academic English/ESL offers a TOEP orientation workshop before each test session.

The TOEP exam is an oral interview test in front of a panel of three members from the UCI academic community (a faculty representative, a student representative, and an ESL expert). Graduate students are asked to arrive at the HIB 200 at least 20 minutes early. During this time, students are provided a booklet with test information and a copy of the graph and lecture outline for their oral exam. The student will then have 17 minutes to prepare. The actual interview, which takes approximately 20 minutes, is conducted in a conference room.

The TOEP consists of the following sections:

1. Informal Questions: Students answer a series of questions that assess their proficiency in everyday conversation.
2. Teaching Situation: Students are asked to give advice or respond to a hypothetical situation about college life.
3. Graph: Students explain a graph.
4. Definitions: Students define two basic academic terms in their field(s) to assess their ability to explain information.
5. Short Lecture: Students provide a short lecture. They will be given one page of text on a general topic within their field(s) that contains information for their lecture. After presenting a three-four minute lecture, the student is required to respond to the evaluators' questions.

TOEP is open to 64 students in September and June, and 48 students in December, pending funding and faculty schedules.

Students with scores of 5 or 6 (out of 6 possible points) are eligible for appointment/employment as a Teaching Assistant or Teaching Associate.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an internationally owned and globally recognized English language assessment available throughout the world. The IELTS is owned, developed and administered through the partnership of the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations in test centers in over 120 countries. The IELTS can be taken to qualify for admission into UCI as well as to fulfill the Oral English Proficiency requirement for TA employment eligibility.

Students can register for the IELTS by first contacting their desired test center and then submitting an IELTS application form along with the test fee of $140, two passport sized photos, and proof of identity. The test center will then confirm the test date and time. A list of test centers and the application form are available on the IELTS website at www.ielts.org/candidates/article4.aspx.

The IELTS consists of four sections: listening, reading, writing and speaking. The test last approximately 3 hours. The listening, reading and writing sections are paper-based and must be taken on the same day. The speaking section consists of an oral interview with a certified examiner which can be taken up to 7 days before or after the other modules at the test center’s discretion. All students take the same listening and speaking modules. However, to be eligible for admission and TA eligibility, students must choose the Academic reading and writing modules. The test must be taken in its entirety in order to receive a valid score. For more detailed information regarding the test format and test samples, please refer to the IELTS Handbook available on their website at www.ielts.org.

To qualify for admissions into UCI, students must receive an overall minimum score of 7 (with no individual band score of 6 or below). However, to fulfill the English Proficiency requirement for TA employment eligibility, the speaking portion of the test must be passed with a minimum score of 8.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet Based Testing (TOEFL iBT) is the new TOEFL exam which will consist of four sections: reading, writing, listening, and the new section - speaking. It will be delivered via the Internet at official test centers which will allow ETS to capture speech and score responses in a standardized manner. The new TOEFL iBT can be taken to establish eligibility for admission into UCI as well as for TA employment. The test must be taken in its entirety in order to receive a valid score.

The format will consist of tasks which integrate each of the four communication skills. For example, test takers will be asked to read a passage of text and listen to a recorded lecture. Next, they will then write and speak about it in response. The test will last approximately 4 hours. For detailed information regarding the format of the new TOEFL iBT, visit their website at www.ets.org/toefl5.html.

The TOEFL iBT test will first be administered in the United States beginning September 24, 2005. On October 22, the TOEFL iBT test will be available in Canada, France, Germany and Italy. By November 1, 2005, ETS will announce the 2006 launch schedule for the rest of the world on their website: http://ets.org/toefl/nextgen/index.html.

The TSE will be available as a stand-alone test until the TOEFL iBT is available worldwide. Please refer to the ETS website regarding updates on TSE availability.

To establish eligibility for admission into UCI, students must receive an overall minimum score of 80. However, to fulfill the English Proficiency requirement for TA employment, students must receive a minimum score of 26 on the speaking portion.