Phone call language audits

Phone call language audits are carried out by experienced teachers who are, in addition, trained for efficient but thorough language audits via phone calls. The outcome of this kind of assessment is the evaluation of a student’s language level according to the CEFR, based on spoken language.

The audit phone call takes 15 minutes and consists of as many open questions as possible in order to provide the students with maximum space for speaking. The assessor then bases their evaluation on the quality of vocabulary, accuracy of grammar tools used, fluency and willingness to speak - besides that, they always pay attention to students’ ability to understand the instructions and core of questions asked.

Language assessors ask questions from both general and business environments and always adapt the questions accordingly to students’ production. The questions are in most cases open questions aiming to initiate a spontaneous student response - these can be followed by less open questions if the assessor needs to check specific pieces of knowledge such as the use of a certain grammar structure.

Typically, phone call language audits are used as a supplementary tool for progress test assessment. They can, however, be combined with any diagnostic tool or be used as a standalone tool. If combined with others, phone call language audits always work independently - assessors never receive information about test results or the teacher’s evaluation. This is to ensure an objective view of students’ production.

The type of test chosen for the assessment period is based on discussions between the language school and the client. As a language school, we are able to recommend a certain type of test to a client based on the client’s needs, aims and objectives.