Pearson Language Tests is a unit of the
Pearson PLC group, dedicated to assessing and validating the English language usage of non-native English speakers. The tests include the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, PTE General (formerly known as London Tests of English) and PTE Young Learners. These are scenario-based exams, accredited by the
QCA, Ofqual, and administered in association with
Edexcel, the world's largest examining body.
In 2009, Pearson Language Tests launched the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)
(Ref.) which is endorsed by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the organisation responsible for the
GMAT
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( ())) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to a graduate management ...
(Graduate Management Admission Test). The test score has been aligned to the levels defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(CEFR).
PTE Academic is delivered through the Pearson Virtual User Environment (VUE) centres which are also responsible for delivering the
GMAT
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( ())) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to a graduate management ...
(Graduate Management Admission Test) worldwide.
Upon release, it was recognized by nearly 6,000 organizations.
[Eric Pfanner. "Pearson jumps into English language testing market; Pearson to sell tests of English proficiency." International Herald Tribune. International Herald Tribune. 2009. Retrieved May 09, 2013 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-170505964.html ] For instance, the test is approved for use by the Australia Border Agency and the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship for visa applications. PTE-A is also acceptable for the United Kingdom and New Zealand visa applications. The test is predominantly read by a computer rather than a human grader to reduce waiting times of the results for students.
Pearson Test of English Academic
The Pearson Test of English Academic is an
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
test designed to assess the readiness of non-native English speakers to participate in a university-level English language instruction program. Pearson created PTE Academic in response to demand from institutions, government and other organizations for a more accurate way of testing non-native English language students who enter the English-speaking academia world.
PTE Academic is endorsed by the
Graduate Management Admission Council
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is an international non-profit organization of business schools that provides products and services to academic institutions and prospective graduate management education students. The organization ...
. Amongst other universities,
London Business School
London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...
in the UK,
Harvard Business School,
Stanford Graduate School of Business, and
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in the United States accept PTE Academic scores. Other institutions in other countries, including Spain, France, and China, have also signed up to accept PTE Academic. These include leading business schools such as
INSEAD
INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...
and
HEC Paris in France,
IESE
IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958 in Barcelona where its main campus is located,López, T. & Pampliega, J“La fundación del IESE (1956–1958)” Universidad de Navarra, Biblioteca ...
,
IE Business School
IE Business School is a graduate and undergraduate school of business, located in Madrid, Spain, European Union, Europe. It was founded in 1973 under the name Instituto de Empresa and since 2009 is part of IE University. IE Business School runs ...
and
ESADE Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is a prestigious international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, Esade Business School and Esade Law School, as well ...
in Spain and
SDA Bocconi
SDA Bocconi School of Management (SDA standing for Scuola di Direzione Aziendale) is the graduate business school of Bocconi University. It is the leading School of Management in Italy and also stands among the top-ranked European institutions.
...
in Italy. In addition to the business schools, there are also a number of arts and music colleges who accept the exam's scores. In February 2013, opened a new test center in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in association with the Malaysian British Educational Cooperation Services.
It is a computer-based exam which focuses on real-life English used in academic surroundings. This is to say that integrated language is used throughout the test and students will listen to a variety of accents and academic language which they will encounter at English-speaking higher education institutions.
The exam will include an unmarked voice recording of the candidate, which is part of advanced biometric data that should assist institutions in verifying the identity of candidates and should aid them with their admission decisions. The test will be a maximum of 2 hours and 15 minutes long and takers can expect their results to be delivered to them, online, within 5 working days.
Test scores are reported on the Global Scale of English, a standardized, numeric scale from 10 to 90 which can measure English language proficiency more precisely with reference to the widely known set of levels distinguished in the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or CEFR.
Structure
The Pearson Test of English Academic comprises 3 sections: i) Speaking & Writing ii) Reading and iii) Listening.
Here is the detailed paper pattern:
PTE General
PTE General (formerly known as the London Test of English) or Pearson English International Certificate (as of December 2020) is an international English language examination for speakers of English as a foreign language (
EFL). It is developed by Pearson Language Tests and administered by Edexcel, the exams are accredited by
QCA, the Qualification and Curriculum Authority.
In some countries (e.g. Poland, Greece) the oral interview is assessed by locally trained assessors, whereas in other countries (e.g. France, Italy, Argentina) they are entirely graded in London.
Pearson English International Certificate is consistent with a theme-based exam designed to test how well a learner can
communicate
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
in authentic and realistic situations, and not on how well they remember formal vocabulary and structures. For this reason, the tests use real-life scenarios rather than pedantic
grammatical exercises. They test the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. There are six levels which are mapped to the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The Framework was developed by the
Council of Europe to enable language learners, teachers, universities or potential employers to compare and relate language qualifications by level.
Reading, writing, listening and speaking are tested at all levels. The alignment of the London Tests of English to the CEFR has been established by mapping the test specifications to the CEFR descriptors. This mapping process was submitted to an external audit by University of Westminster. Work is in progress to further improve the robustness of the alignment on the basis of empirical data.
ELT News
/ref> Levels 4 and 5 of the PTE General are accepted for entrance to universities in the UK and by a variety of international companies.
Pearson Tests of English have been formally accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In England and Northern Ireland, the QCDA maintained and developed the National Cu ...
(QCA).
History
PTE General were originally developed by the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
Schools Examination Board in 1982. The Examination Board merged with Business & Technological Council (BTEC) in 1996 to become Edexcel, the largest examining body of academic and vocational in the UK.
Schema Theory
PTE General were one of the first set of ESOL exams to apply the Notional-Functional Syllabus
A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses'' or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curric ...
and Schema
The word schema comes from the Greek word ('), which means ''shape'', or more generally, ''plan''. The plural is ('). In English, both ''schemas'' and ''schemata'' are used as plural forms.
Schema may refer to:
Science and technology
* SCHEMA ...
Theory to language testing. Schema Theory was developed by psychologists such as R.C.Anderson and Frederic Bartlett
Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett FRS (20 October 1886 – 30 September 1969) was a British psychologist and the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. He was one of the forerunners of cognitive psychology as wel ...
. Schemata (plural of ''schema'') are learned models suggesting relationships between objects and help structure future learning.
PTE General tasks are related through a common theme which allows candidates to activate the different domains of knowledge they have acquired and thus further enhance second language acquisition. It also provides a coherent thread for candidates to guide them through the various tasks.
The tasks can be interrelated through a common topic or a scenario where the different tasks “build” a story and integrate different language skills.
PTE Young Learner test
PTE Young Learners (formerly known as LTEfC) are international English language exams for young children (aged from 7 to 12) who are learning English as a foreign language ( EFL). They test the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
PTE Young Learners exams are based around the amusing adventures of the Brown family. The exams are theme based and designed to be fun and motivating. At the lower levels they aim to test how well children can use language structures and at the higher levels how well they can use language to complete communicative tasks. For this reason, the tests use real-life scenarios rather than grammatical exercises.
There are four PTE Young Learners levels
History
The PTE Young Learners were originally developed by the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
Schools Examination Board in 1982. The Examination Board merged with Business & Technological Council (BTEC) in 1996 to become Edexcel.
Theory of Schema
PTE Young Learners and PTE General are based on a scenario, which accords with Schema
The word schema comes from the Greek word ('), which means ''shape'', or more generally, ''plan''. The plural is ('). In English, both ''schemas'' and ''schemata'' are used as plural forms.
Schema may refer to:
Science and technology
* SCHEMA ...
Theory. This means that all exam tasks are related through a common theme which allows candidates to activate the different domains of knowledge they have acquired and thus further enhance second language acquisition. It also provides a coherent thread for candidates to guide them through the various tasks. The tasks can be interrelated through a common topic or a scenario where the different tasks "build" a story and integrate different language skills.
Technology
Pearson has developed an online marking system, ePEN, and a web-based test centre service system, Edexcel Online, to provide rapid feedback on the individual performance of students in the exams.
References
External links
Pearson Language Tests
PTE Academic
EALTA Guidelines
{{Language tests
English language tests
Pearson plc
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