Read-aloud

There are two kinds of read-aloud questions:

• Word/Sentence Pronunciation: test taker reads a short text

• Passage Reading Fluency: test taker reads a longer text

Word/Sentence Pronunciation

Word/Sentence Pronunciation questions are perfect for testing just pronunciation on short utterances, such as a simple word or simple sentences up to 1024 characters. As an example, you can test if the candidate can pronounce the word "apple" correctly.

Passage Reading Fluency

Passage Reading Fluency questions are perfect for testing both pronunciation and fluency. They're perfect for testing how well test takers — say, candidates for a customer service role — can speak pre-defined, longer passages.

Interface difference

Both types have the same interface on the test-administrator side. They only differ in scope of test as explained in the above introduction.

Getting started

To get started, do the following:

• Select the appropriate question type for your question to display the associated configuration panel

• Type the instructions for the test taker either in the Question field on the left or the Instruction field on the right. This normally amounts to no more than simply directing the test taker to read the attached text.

Configuration panel

The configuration panel for the these question types are composed of the following elements:

Language field

In this field, select the language in which the response is expected. Ensure that the text in the Text to be Read Aloud matches the chosen language and the Validate Spoken Language setting is enabled. If these conditions are met but the actual response language differs, the score will be low or set to zero, depending on the chosen language.

For English (US), Spanish, and French, the score will always be set to zero if language validation fails.

Instruction field

In this field, you issue the instructions to the test taker.

Ask the test taker to read the text on display, which you specify in the (mandatory) "Text to be read aloud" field (below).

Cue cards field

The Cue Cards field is where you can add extra context for your test-takers. You can upload an image, audio, or video clip. This field is optional.

To learn more about cue cards, please review the Cue Cards user guide.

Text to be read aloud field

The Read-aloud questions come in two types: word/sentence pronunciation and passage reading fluency. They assess pronunciation for short text and both pronunciation and fluency for longer passages (up to 1024 characters), respectively.

Type the word, sentence, or longer passage into the "Text to be read aloud" field at the bottom of the configuration panel.

For example, if you're testing the pronunciation of the word "apple", you can simply write the word "apple":

You can also type a sentence that repeats the word, and select either word/sentence pronunciation or passage reading fluency question type, whichever appropriate:

Or you can present the test taker with a longer passage like this poem to test both pronunciation and fluency:

What the test taker sees

Let us take a few examples of cue cards which you can upload and see how will it appear for the test taker:

1. If you don't upload any cue cards, this is what the text to be read aloud might look like to the test taker:

   
2. If you upload an image cue card, it would appear to the test taker as follows:

   
3. If you upload a video cue card, it would appear to the test taker as follows: