Overview and Policies

The OECT takes 20-25 minutes and consists of two sections: an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and a TEACH mini-lecture. Both sections of the test are video/audio recorded.

Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)

The first part of OECT lasts for approximately 10 minutes and consists of: 

• Warm up - unscored informal interaction, small talk.
• Impromptu speaking - three questions on different topics (e.g., describing events and experiences or explaining ideas and opinions). Test-takers respond without preparation, as in a normal conversation (2 minutes per response).
• Role play - acting out a daily life situation (e.g., shopping, finding out information, or setting up an appointment). A card describing the situation and task is provided for test-takers. One minute of preparation time is allowed (2 minutes).

TEACH simulation

The second part of OECT lasts for approximately 10 minutes and consists of:

• Preparing teaching notes on the board (2 minutes). Test-takers may also write as they present.
• Mini-lecture on a topic selected by the test-taker (5 minutes), as if giving a lecture to a class of ISU undergraduate students.
• Answering questions from "the class" (3 minutes). “The class” usually consists of 2-3 raters who ask questions that may concern the content presented or inquire about typical classroom matters such as homework, attendance, office hours, exams, etc.

• Raters assign a score from eight bands of scores ranging from 0 to 300 for the overall comprehensibility and effectiveness of the spoken language and listening ability in English.
• Raters do not judge the content, but the way ideas are expressed (e.g., how freely ideas are communicated, how comprehensible the speech is, how appropriate and complex the language is, and how accurately it is spoken and understood). 
• Raters score independently; they do not know the score given by the other raters.
• Individual ratings are averaged. If the raters' scores are different, another rater performs additional rating of the video-recorded performance on the test. Some recordings, randomly selected, are rated again to ensure fairness.

Scores of OPI and TEACH sections are reported separately to students and their departments as one of 4 possible levels of certification: 

• Level 1 - Fully Certified
• Level 2 - Conditionally Certified
• Level 3 - Certified with Restrictions
• Level 4 - Not Certified

Based on these level categories, departments determine an appropriate teaching role for their international teaching assistants. See Understanding Your OECT Results. 

Full exemption

• International students from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom whose first language is English are exempted from both OPI and TEACH.
• International students whose TOEFL iBT or IELTS scores fall within the following range are exempted from both OPI and TEACH.
  • TOEFL iBT listening and* speaking scores of 24-30
  • IELTS listening and* speaking scores of 7.5-9
  • PTE academic listening and speaking scores of 86 or higher

Students who qualify for a full exemption from OECT should send a copy of their TOEFL iBT or IELTS record to itas@iastate.edu for verification. Then, they receive an exempt certificate with OECT Level 1. If the scores have expired by the time of OECT but had been filed with the university when they were still valid, students can request institutional verification and provide their ISU ID number. 

Students who receive an exemption must submit their OECT certificate to their department (Director of Graduate Studies and graduate support staff).

Partial exemption

• International students whose TOEFL iBT, IELTS, or PTE Academic scores fall within the following range are exempted from the OPI but are required to take the TEACH:
  • TOEFL iBT listening and speaking scores of 23
  • IELTS listening and speaking scores of 7
  • PTE Academic listening and speaking scores of 85.

The following criteria do NOT qualify as an exemption from OECT:

• Having completed one or more semesters of graduate work at ISU or another U.S. institution of higher education
• Having received a bachelor's or master's degree from a U.S. institution of higher education or having graduated from a school where English was the official language
• Coming from a country where English is one of the official languages (e.g., India, Nigeria)
• Using Duolingo English Test (DET) scores
• Having U.S. permanent residency or citizenship.

• Students who are enrolled in GR ST 5400 can retest at the end of the semester.
• Students who have previously enrolled in GR ST 5400 can retest within one full year after their previous test date.
• Students who have initially taken the OECT but did not enroll in any GR ST 5400 cannot retest until they have completed one semester of GR ST 5400.

We enforce these restrictive re-testing policies for the following reasons:

• It is depressing and demoralizing for test candidates to retake the test but see little, if any, improvement in scores.
• The test is thorough, but expensive and time consuming to administer.
• Significant progress in oral English is generally slower than most students expect. A number of students improve to scores of around 200 (a mid level-3) or even lower, and then plateau. (Plateauing around the score of 200 is not surprising. 200 scores mean that communication is somewhat effective. Students with these scores are able to operate in English fairly successfully thus having less reason to work on improving, although their English language abilities are somewhat limited and/or have errors. Persistent problem areas often include pronunciation, grammar and limited vocabulary.  Language proficiency needs constant practice and focused work on problem areas for improvement to take place.)
• Most of ITAs who are not taking English classes retest at the same level as previously. Students who move up a level have at least 10 months of instruction, and in some cases over 2 years, between test dates. There have also been cases when students made no significant improvement on OECT for a long time.

Note: Postdoctoral associates applying for the Preparing Future Faculty Program are waived from the 1-year rule for retesting.