VERSANT ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST TRAINING ASW

VERSANT ENGLISH PLACEMENT TEST TRAINING ASW

KEY INFORMATION

What is versant?

It is an assessment instrument designed to measure how well a person can understand and use English on everyday topics.

VEPT scores provide reliable information that can be used for such decisions as placement, exit from intervention, and progress monitoring by academic and government institutions as well as commercial and business organizations.

Test Design

Because more than one task contributes to each skill score, the use of multiple tasks strengthens score reliability. The VEPT also includes a Typing task that is not scored but provides information of the typing speed and accuracy.

The VEPT has eight automatically scored tasks

*Read Aloud*Repeat *Sentence Builds *Conversations *Sentence Completion *Dictation *Passage Reconstruction *Summary & Opinion

These tasks provide multiple, fully independent measures that underlie facility in spoken and written English, including phonological fluency, sentence construction and comprehension, passive and active vocabulary use, listening skill, pronunciation of rhythmic and segmental units, and appropriateness and accuracy of writing.

Number of Items

The testing system presents a total of 81 items in 9 separate tasks to each candidate.

TRAINING DESCRIPTION

EXAM SECTIONS

Read Aloud

Sentence Completion

Repeat

Dictation

Question Description

Sentence Builds

Passage Reconstruction

Tips

Conversations

Summary and Opinion

Typing

Practice

PART A

Read Aloud

Australia is a very large country. It is the sixth largest country in the world. It is also a continent and is sometimes called the ‘island continent’. It is surrounded by two oceans. Most of Australia is a desert so it is very flat and dry, but it also has rain forests and mountains. It is home to many different kinds of animals

• Read two short passages out aloud
• Candidates are given 30 seconds to read each passage.
• The texts are displayed on the computer screen.
• All passages are relatively simple in structure and vocabulary and range in length from 60 to 70 words.

Example

Read Aloud Tips

1. Consider the overall meaning of the passage.
2. Think about using intonation and pauses to express the meaning.
3. Read out exactly what is written.
4. Start speaking within 10 seconds or the test will move on.

Training part A

Read Aloud

Practice with these samples

PART B

Repeat

You hear this:

1. He’s a great teacher. 2. It’s not too late to change your mind. 3. People know how easy it is to get lost in thought.

• Candidates are asked to repeat verbatim (literal) sentences spoken to them through their headphones.
• The sentences are presented in approximate order of increasing difficulty

• Sentences range in length from 3 to 15 words

• The audio item prompts (instructions) are spoken in a conversational manner.

Example

Repeat Tips

1. Listen to the prompt.
2. Consider the meaning of the sentence.
3. Repeat what you heard using the same voice and tone e.g., try to use the same rhythm, pauses, and intonation that you heard in the recording.
4. Start speaking within 6 seconds or the test will move on to the next question

Training part B

Repeat Sentences

Practice with these samples

PART C

Sentence Builds

You hear this:

1. My boss / to London / moved 2. of your family / any pictures / do you have 3. to their leader / listened carefully / the young men

• Candidates hear three short phrases and are asked to rearrange (reorganize) them to make a sentence.

• The phrases are presented in a scrambled (no organized) order and the candidate mentally rearranges (reorganize) them

• Then constructs and says a sentence made up of the three phrases.

Example

Sentence Builds Tips

1. Listen carefully to the phrases.
2. Consider what they mean and decide how they should be arranged..
3. Start speaking within 8 seconds or the test will move on to the next question.

Training part C

Sentences Build

Practice with these samples

PART D

Conversations

You hear this:

Speaker 1: Congratulations on graduating! Speaker 2: Thanks! It was a lot of work. Speaker 1: I know. You deserve a party. Question: Why does the man deserve a party?

• Candidates listen to a conversation between two speakers.

• It typically consists of three speaking turns.

• Immediately after the conversation, candidates are asked a comprehension question.
• Then answer the question by saying a word or short phrase

Example

Conversations Tips

1. Listen carefully to the conversation and what is being said.
2. Consider what the question is asking.
3. Provide a short, clear answer.
4. Start speaking within 8 seconds or the test will move on to the next question.

Training part D

Conversations

Practice with these samples

PART E

Typing

You see this:

Many people do not like public speaking. They are afraid to speak in front of a large group of people. There are many ways to get better at public speaking. First, it is good to know the room. You should know where to stand and where to set up your computer. Second, it is important to know the audience. If you greet some people as they arrive, you will feel more comfortable because you will be familiar with them. Lastly, you need to be prepared. You should practice your speech as much as you can and revise it if necessary

• The VEPT includes a typing speed and accuracy task which is not included in the actual test scores.

• All passages deal with general everyday topics.

• The passages are relatively simple in structure and vocabulary, and range in length from 90 to 100 words.

Example

Typing Tips

1. Type exactly what you see on the screen.
2. Pay attention to spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
3. Type as much of the text as you can in the 60 seconds.

Training part E

Typing

Practice with the following links:

PART F

Sentence Completion

You see this:

• Candidates read a sentence that has a word missing, then they supply an appropriate word to complete the sentence.

• Candidates are given 25 seconds for each item.

• During this time, candidates must read and understand the sentence, think of an appropriate word, and type the word in the text box provided to complete the sentence.

• In many Sentence Completion items, there is more than one possible correct answer.
• Candidates encounter sentences with words missing from various parts of speech (i.e., nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and from different positions in sentences: sentence-initial, sentencemedial, sentence-final.

• Her favorite hobby is __________. She has so many books.

• He arrives __________ and is often the first one here.

• I asked a coworker to take over my __________ because I wasn’t feeling well

Example

Sentence Completion Tips

1. Consider the overall meaning of the sentence.
2. Look at the words either side of the gap and use your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary to choose the missing word.
3. Pay attention to spelling and capitalization.
4. Only type one word.

Training part F

Sentence Completion

Practice with this activity

PART G

Dictation

You hear this:

• Candidates listen to a sentence and then type it exactly as they hear it.

• Candidates are given 25 seconds for each item.

• The sentences are presented in approximate order of increasing difficulty.

• Sentences range in length from 3 to 14 words.
• The items present a range of grammatical and syntactic structures, including imperatives, wh-questions, contractions, plurals, possessives, various tenses, and particles.

• I’ll see you on Thursday.

• How long can I keep this book?

• She apologized to all her friends several times.

Example

Dictation Tips

1. Listen to the sentence before you start typing.
2. Focus on the meaning of the passage to help you remember it.
3. Pay attention to spelling and capitalization.

Training part G

Dictation

Practice with this activity

PART H

Passage Reconstruction

You see this:

• Candidates are asked to read a text, put it aside, and then write out what they remember from the text.

• A short passage is presented for 30 seconds, after which the passage disappears and the candidate has 90 seconds to reconstruct the content of the passage in writing.
• Passages range in length from 45 to 65 words.
• The passages are short stories about common situations involving characters, actions, events, reasons, consequences, and results.
• Regardless of strategy, the end result is evaluated based on the candidate’s ability to reproduce the key points and details of the source passage using grammatical and appropriate writing.

Robert went to a nice restaurant for dinner. When the waiter brought the bill, Robertreached for his wallet, but it wasn't in his pocket. He remembered having his wallet when he came into the restaurant. The waiter looked around the floor near his table. He found the wallet under the table.

Example

Passage Reconstruction Tips

1. Make sure you understand the passage.
2. Use your own words. Do not try to memorize all the words.
3. Pay attention to spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
4. Write in complete grammatical sentences.

Training part H

Passage Reconstruction

Practice with this video activity

PART I

You see this:

Summary & Opinion

• Candidates are presented with a reading passage.

• They are given 18 minutes to read it, write a summary of the author’s opinion in 25 to 50 words

• Passages range in length from 45 to 65 words.
• Additionally give their own opinion on the topic presented in the passage in at least 50 words.
• The passages contain an opinion on an everyday topic.
• All passages consist of an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Passages are relatively simple in structure, use vocabulary from the most frequently-occurring 1,200 words in English, and range in length from 275 to 300 words.

Example

Summary and Opinion

1. Read the passage carefully to make sure you understand it.
2. In the first box, write a summary of the author’s opinion using your own words.
3. For the second part, decide whether or not you agree with the author and express your opinion and your own ideas.
4. Write complete grammatical sentences.
5. Pay attention to spelling, capitalization and punctuation in both answers.
6. Check the timer and answer both parts of the question.

Training part I

Summary and Opinion

What is paraphrasing?

Practice with this activity

Time for Questions

OVERALL

SCORE REPORTING

SPEAKING

WRITING

The VEPT score report is comprised of an Overall score and four skill scores (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing).

READING

LISTENING

In the VEPT scoring logic, the four skill scores are weighted equally because successful communication depends on all four skills.

SCORE SAMPLE

Tips for the test presentation

These tips are focused on Speaking tasks

Video about a Demo Test

Now, It's your turn! Let's try with this demo practice

References

These were the sources used for this training process.

Official Test Guide Versant English Placement Test final

Product Info Sheet Versant English Placement Test

VEPT-TestDescription-ValidationSummary

Official Web Page