Questions about taking the ELPE
The ELPE consists of two examinations, written and oral. The written ELPE is a two-hour written exam administered to new international students at UCSB. You will be asked to write a response to a general academic topic. Your writing is then evaluated by EMS Program faculty to determine whether you should receive specialized instruction in graduate writing. The oral ELPE is a five- to ten-minute interview administered to new graduate students. You will respond to a prompt by recording a video on your computer. Your responses are evaluated by EMS Program faculty to determine whether you should enroll in an EMS oral skills course to improve your speaking fluency or pronunciation.
The university expects all nonnative English-speaking graduate students to demonstrate proficiency in English. In order to help graduate students fulfill this expectation, The Graduate Division requires all international students whose first language is other than English take the ELPE. Students with qualifying TOEFL or IELTS scores may be exempt from the ELPE, and there are some other exceptions to the requirement, explained in the next sections.
Nonnative speakers of English are exempted from both the oral and the written ELPE if they have completed all of their undergraduate degree (equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor’s degree) at a recognized English-medium institution. The Graduate Division determines which institutions meet this criterion; this is done when they receive and review all application materials for admission. If you are a new incoming student and have any questions on whether you are exempt, please contact the EMS Placement Administrator. Continuing students should check with their departments.
International Graduate students who have been offered a teaching assistantship are selected to take a special oral English examination called the TA Language Evaluation. Students who have taken or who will take the TA Language Evaluation in the fall do not take the oral ELPE. (There are exceptions for TAs who will teach courses in a foreign language.) Graduate students who are exempt from the oral ELPE may still be required to take the written ELPE.
Contact the EMS Placement Administrator. You may be eligible to take a makeup exam.
Questions about your ELPE result
If you took the fall quarter written ELPE, your result will be sent to you by email. It usually takes 12-14 days for the exams to be processed; see the EMS Program home page for news about when results will be posted.
My written ELPE result says I should take a writing course, but I think my writing placement should be higher. May I re-take the ELPE?
Students cannot re-take the ELPE. If you feel your EMS placement is incorrect or is going to cause you problems at UCSB, you should discuss this with the Director of the EMS Program or your department’s Graduate Advisor.
Make sure you know the result of both your oral and written ELPE, as they may differ. If your written ELPE result is Exempt, this means we do not recommend any writing skills course for you. If your oral ELPE result is Exempt, this means we do not recommend any oral skills course for you. However, if you received a result of Exempt on your oral ELPE, and later take the TA Language Evaluation, your placement could change. See our TA Evaluation FAQs for more information.
Questions about which courses to take
Yes. However, you should consult with the instructor of the course you wish to take. The EMS faculty want to help you get the course that is best suited to your needs and goals, as well as assess whether or not the class has available space. Students with Exempt placements may be suited for LING 4. See the next section for more about LING 4.
The university and many individual departments expect students to take the LING courses into which they are placed. The EMS Program does not enforce placements; however, your own department may require that you successfully complete any LING courses into which you have been placed as a condition for receiving your degree. Please discuss your ELPE placement with your department’s Graduate Advisor.
I received a LING 4 placement. What is this course?
LING 4 is a two- or three-unit course that provides individualized instruction for students in specific areas of English for academic purposes. The focus of study can be either written or oral English, depending on a student’s placement.
When students are placed into LING 4 on the basis of the ELPE, a type of tutorial is recommended by one of the EMS faculty. (For example, there may be particular grammatical problems that occurred with some frequency in a written ELPE or an area of pronunciation difficulty that was identified in an oral ELPE). Students placed in this course will work individually or in small groups with an instructor on targeted skills.
If placed in LING 4, you should attend the orientation meeting scheduled during the first week of class in order to enroll. More information, including the day, time and location of the orientation meeting are available here.
Normally, students who take LING 4 for writing have a higher proficiency level than those who are placed in levels 2G and 3G. If your placement is 2G or 3G, then you should take the course into which you have been placed.
Questions about enrolling in a course
You should check the course search tool to see if the course you need will be offered later in the academic year. We cannot always offer every course during every quarter, so you may have to wait one or more quarters.
Possibly, but you should consult with the instructor before you sign up for a class whose level is lower than your placement. In general, a lower-level class should not be considered to be a substitute for a higher-level class. The EMS faculty want you to get the course that is best suited to your needs and goals. Talk to the instructor to decide if a lower level class is right for you.
If all the sections are full, your first step should be to try to get on the class’s waiting list. Please consult the EMS Wait List Policy. In some cases you may be able to take your course later in the academic year. However, you should check the EMS Program website to find out if the course will be offered later in the academic year. We cannot always offer every course during every quarter, so you may have to wait one or more quarters.
You should contact the EMS Placement Administrator and explain your course conflict. As noted above, not every class is offered every quarter; in some cases, if you fail to enroll in your required class, you may have to wait two quarters or longer. In some cases, a student should enroll in the LING course and drop the other course. You should consult with your graduate department advisor or faculty to make sure.
For students traveling to or arriving from abroad
Some courses may be open to visiting scholars and others who qualify. In general, we do not allow auditors in our writing courses; however, it is sometimes possible to audit an oral skills class at the instructor’s discretion. Please consult the course’s instructor to learn more.
Contact your instructor immediately. Sometimes, if there are students on a waiting list, an instructor will have to drop students who miss the first day of class without prior notification. Also, LING courses have a mandatory attendance policy, and this kind of absence may affect your grade.