Other English language tests

Two other English language proficiency tests that should be mentioned in this context are the TOEFL and the DELA.

Pre-sessional English language assessment: TOEFL

Probably the most widely-used test of English proficiency in the world, the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) was developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States, where it has served since 1964:

as a prerequisite for admission into colleges and universities.... In addition, many government, licensing, and certification agencies and exchange and scholarship programs use TOEFL scores to evaluate the English proficiency of people for whom English is not their native language.

A TOEFL result is generally accepted in Australia as an alternative to an IELTS result for visa purposes and for admission to schools and universities.

(For a brief account of the test, including some criticisms, see the Wikipedia entry for TOEFL .)

Concurrent English language assessment: DELA

The DELA (Diagnostic English Language Assessment) is a test of listening, reading and writing along the lines of an IELTS test, developed by the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at the University of Melbourne.

The DELA was developed in response to a sense that the English language certification provided by international students for university admission typically does not provide sufficiently detailed information to indicate what degree of concurrent English language support the students are likely to need to succeed in their degree courses.

Hence, it is designed to be run in-house to test the proficiency of students who have already been admitted to the university. Its results are used as a basis for advising students on the amount and type of English language support they should undertake during their studies.

The DELA is used at the University of Melbourne and other universities in Australia and New Zealand. It has been trialled at Monash University by the Faculty of Business and Economics.