Currently, organizations are looking for ways to save on recruitment costs while still hiring the best talent for the position. Many language skills are required for certain roles, so language proficiency tests can help assess hundreds of individuals.
What is a language proficiency test?
Language proficiency tests allow employers to objectively assess a candidate's abilities.
From English to Spanish to Mandarin, these tests can determine whether a candidate has the right skills at the right level, from basic understanding to fluency.
By creating your own custom test, you can evaluate candidates’ language skills based on the needs of the position within your organization. For example, if you are looking for a copywriter for an airline, you can focus the questions on assessing travel writing skills.
The test can include various types of questions that allow you to assess different language skills. Common question types include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and video uploads.
This article will focus on three areas: testing the four essential language skills, candidate competency assessment tools, and the benefits of testing.
The four main language skills
Typically, there are four skills that can be used to assess a candidate’s ability to understand and communicate in a language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
The level of proficiency required for each skill may vary depending on the job role.
Reading
The reading comprehension test allows you to check whether a candidate can read, understand, and process written text in any language.
This skill test can include any content, from reading business contracts to marketing instructions or short emails.
For testing, you can share some written information related to the position. Candidates can respond by answering multiple-choice questions, writing free-form answers, or sharing a recording.
Listening
Check whether the candidate accurately listens to what is being said and understands the nuances of a particular language. Listening is crucial when working directly with customers, attending meetings, Zoom calls, conferences, etc. Assessing listening skills is easy by sharing an audio or video recording for the candidate to listen to. The candidate needs to answer a series of questions related to what they have heard.
Speaking
The speaking test assesses a person’s ability to speak another language and whether they can have a discussion with someone. The candidate’s proficiency may vary depending on the level required for the position. For example, does the candidate need to master basic language or have a rich vocabulary, clear voice, and appropriate intonation? The assessment can include questions in various formats, including text, audio, and video. Candidates can respond by uploading a video or audio recording.
Writing
This test assesses the candidate’s writing ability in any language. The writing test can ensure that the candidate is able to write clear and accurate communications, such as presentations, customer emails, or sales copy. There are five core skills you can assess as part of a candidate’s writing test:
Grammar: Check whether candidates use the correct rules to structure the language.
Spelling: Check whether the candidate uses the correct sequence of letters and characters.
Paragraph and sentence structure: Ensure the candidate’s text can be read fluently as a paragraph or sentence.
Verb conjugation: Check whether the candidate uses the correct verb forms to express state, tense, and person. Below are some sample questions:
Language proficiency testing tools
Online software like FlexiQuiz allows you to test candidates’ language abilities before investing time and money in a meeting. FlexiQuiz offers a full range of features to help you assess candidates’ proficiency in any language and at any level. Here are some of our most popular features:
- Add media: Ask questions or share information in various video, audio, and text formats.
- 9 question types: A variety of question types allow you to assess different skills.
- Timer: Ensure candidates only have enough time to answer questions by adding time limits per page or for the entire test.
- Localization: Create tests in any language, including all navigation buttons, emails, and respondent messages.
- Category scoring: Score each test by category to identify candidates’ standout skills, such as reading, writing, listening, or speaking.
- Automatic grading: The system can grade most question types in real time so you can efficiently assess a large number of candidates.
- Question bank: Save your questions in a question bank to help quickly build future tests.
- Mobile and online friendly: Ninequiz operates on the cloud, meaning no software download is required. Candidates can safely respond at their convenience using any internet-connected device.
- Email notifications: Instantly send follow-up emails to thank applicants for submitting their test and share next steps.
- Advanced reporting: Check how much time candidates spend on a page and efficiently manage large volumes of responses.
- Set closing time: Set the time window during which candidates can access and complete the language recruitment test.
Benefits of language proficiency tests
There are many benefits to using custom language proficiency tests when you need to hire for a position that requires a second language. Here are some common benefits:
Objectively compare candidates
You can avoid unconscious bias in the recruitment process by using online tests to fairly assess candidates’ language skills.
Candidates answer pre-prepared questions with clear answers.
For example, you can easily compare your answers with those of other candidates to focus on questions that require manual grading.
Save money
Hiring the right person can be expensive and time-consuming. You want to hire someone with the right language skills rather than later discovering they cannot communicate. According to a study by Glassdoor, the average company in the United States spends about $4,000 and 24 days to hire the right person for a position. Costs include assessment, job marketing, background checks, and training.
Therefore, finding someone with the right skills for the role is essential.
Helps you hire faster
Creating an online test with NinQuiz software for businesses is quick and easy. Once you have a template, you can easily adjust it for future roles. Online language proficiency tests can be securely shared with job seekers for them to complete at home at a convenient time. You can quickly identify the top candidates. Most question types can be automatically graded, allowing you to instantly capture candidates’ strengths and weaknesses by skill set. Depending on the number of candidates, the data can be sorted and downloaded for further analysis.
Try NineQuiz to create a language proficiency test tailored to your organization’s needs