Testing and training

SPEAK® Test

The SPEAK® test is required for graduate students who want to teach as GTAs.  It is a 15-minute exam with 8 questions. You will be asked to complete tasks such as giving directions, describing pictures or a graph and making an announcement. The questions are not related to your academic discipline; you will be evaluated on how well you complete the tasks and how clearly you speak English.

All prospective ITAs whose native language is not English must achieve a score of 50 (out of 60) on Wayne State University's SPEAK® test to be eligible for a graduate teaching assistantship. If you score between 45 and 49, you are allowed to teach while enrolling in the ITA training course, ELI 0520. Passing the course clears you to teach in the future without restrictions.

• A score below 45 means that you can do non-teaching TA duties, such as grading or TA support;; to be cleared to teach in the future, you may enroll in ELI 0520 or retake the SPEAK test at a later date. 
• A score of less than 40 means you cannot teach or take ELI 0520. First, you must retake the SPEAK test and get a higher score.
• Please note: for any students who need to take ELI 0520, the hiring unit must pay the course tuition if the student has a signed GTA contract.

SPEAK test details

Prospective international TAs will be tested individually and securely via their WSU Zoom account. Zoom meetings will be set up as students are identified by departments. After signing up for the SPEAK test, students will receive detailed communication about the test format, environment and scoring, as well as a practice test.

The Graduate School has agreed to waive the SPEAK test for students who meet one of these criteria:

• Student has a valid iBT TOEFL speaking score of 26 or higher (not the cumulative score).
• Student has a valid IELTS speaking score of at least 8.0 (not the cumulative score).
• Student graduated from a U.S. undergraduate or graduate program
• Student is from one of the English language proficiency exemption countries identified by the Graduate School. 

Department information

Departments should review the students being considered for a TA position to identify who needs to be tested and who can be waived and contact Christi Laginess at christi@wayne.edu. In the email, please include the following information:

• Student name
• Banner ID
• Access ID
• Rationale for test waiver (if applicable) 

Please note that any student will be tested at department request.

Questions?

Contact Christi Laginess, the ITA Testing and Training Coordinator at christi@wayne.edu for more information.