Test of English Proficiency by Seoul National University

About TEPS Test Structure and Item Types The TEPS Scoring Procedure Score Report

Test Structure and Item Types

Section	Item types	Number of items	Testing time	Points
Listening Comprehension	[ Part 1 ] Listen to a question or statement and choose the most appropriate response (Each question/statement and option will be read only once.)	10	40 min.	0~240
	[ Part 2 ] Listen to a short conversation fragment and choose the most appropriate response (Each conversation fragment and option will be read only once.)	10
	[ Part 3 ] Listen to a conversation and choose the option that best answers the question (Each conversation, question and option will be read only once.)	10
	[ Part 4 ] Listen to a monologue and choose the option that best answers the question (1 question per passage. Each passage and its corresponding question will be read twice. Options will be read only once.)	6
	[ Part 5 ] Listen to a monologue and choose the option that best answers the question (2 questions per passage. Each passage and its corresponding questions will be read twice. Options will be read only once.)	4
Vocabulary	[ Part 1 ] Choose the word or expression most appropriate for the blank in a conversation	10	25 min.	0~60
Vocabulary	[ Part 2 ] Choose the word or expression most appropriate for the blank in a statement	20		0~60
Grammar	[ Part 1 ] Choose the option most appropriate for the blank in a conversation	10		0~60
	[ Part 2 ] Choose the option most appropriate for the blank in a statement	15
	[ Part 3 ] Identify the option that contains an awkward expression or a grammatical error in a conversation or a passage	5
Reading Comprehension	[ Part 1 ] Read the passage and choose the option that best completes the passage	10	40 min.	0~240
	[ Part 2 ] Read the passage and identify the option that does not belong	2
	[ Part 3 ] Read the passage and choose the option that best answers the question (1 question per passage)	13
	[ Part 4 ] Read the passage and choose the option that best answers the question (2 questions per passage)	10
Total	14 Parts	135	105 min.	0~600

Listening Comprehension

The Listening comprehension section measures test takers’ ability to grasp main ideas, to understand details, and to make plausible inferences. Parts 1 to 3 feature conversations, and Parts 4 and 5 consist of various types of monologues such as talks, lectures, news reports, announcements, and advertisements. In Part 5, each passage has two questions, which are designed to assess test takers’ ability to understand the passage in a comprehensive manner.

The TEPS Listening Comprehension section presents options orally, rather than in written form. In so doing, TEPS minimizes the effect that test takers’ reading comprehension skills can have on their listening comprehension evaluation, thereby boosting the content validity of the listening comprehension section and preventing test takers from using tricks to guess the right answer.

Vocabulary

In the Vocabulary section, Part 1 features spoken English and Part 2 features written English. Part 1 consists of conversations including words, phrases, and idiomatic expressions that native English speakers frequently use in their daily lives. In Part 2, words related to academic and technical areas are tested.

The Vocabulary section tests “collocation,” a concept emphasized in the recent research literature surrounding vocabulary acquisition, in an attempt to effectively assess test takers’ ability to use the most appropriate words in a given context.

Grammar

The Grammar section is based on “descriptive grammar,” which regards the “language use” of British and American English speakers as the standard of English grammar. The Grammar section aims to test expressions that are frequently used by educated native English speakers.

Part 1 and the first two items of Part 3 test grammatical elements of expressions in daily conversations, and Part 2 and the last three items of Part 3 measure test takers’ understanding of the grammatical knowledge required to construct grammatically correct written statements.

Reading Comprehension

The Reading Comprehension section assesses test takers’ ability to grasp main ideas, understand details, and make logical inferences. This section measures test takers’ ability not only to understand a passage in detail but also to grasp the flow of the entire passage. The Reading Comprehension section features various types of passages, such as academic texts, business memos, and newspaper and magazine articles. In Part 4, each passage comes with two questions, which are designed to evaluate test takers’ ability to understand the passage comprehensively.