Second language certification

All full-time or part-time regular students and special students may register. However, it is most appropriate for those who:

• identify themselves as being at a high-intermediate to advanced level of proficiency in their second language;

• have completed a number of years in an immersion program or in secondary-level academic second language courses;

• have completed ESL 2122/ESL 2121 or FLS 2522/FLS 2521 or more advanced level ESL or FLS courses at the University. 

Students may register for ESL 3100 or FLS 3500 in uoCampus. However, if it is being added as a sixth course in a term, students might need to contact their faculty or the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Students registered in the French Immersion Stream should be able to register for FLS 3500 as a 6^th course in a term in uoCampus. In case of problems, contact [email protected].

Students who have previously received a CTN in ESL 3100 or FLS 3500 may take the course again. However, they may only register for the course four (4) times.

We strongly recommend that you do not wait until your last session before completing the test for the first time.

For most full-time regular undergraduate students, there are no extra fees for this course. However, this may vary by faculty so students should confirm with their faculty.

Graduate, part-time and special students will be required to pay the usual tuition/incidental fees for a three-unit course. Tuition fees will be charged in full upon registration.

Students on a co-op work term are exempt from the tuition fees for this course but must pay the incidental fees for a three-unit course. Tuition fees will be charged in full upon registration; however, these fees will be removed before every course-drop deadline (Winter and Fall only). No further action is required. 

Individual practice

Students may go to the following links for multiple resources to practice their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills in their second language, and to learn more about good test-taking strategies.

ESL 3100.

FLS3500.

Practice test

Students may take a full practice test online and will receive a feedback report which will give them an idea of their level and areas of weakness in writing and speaking. .These reports will be available 5 business days after the student takes the test. Information about how to access the test can be found on Brightspace for both ESL3100 and FLS3500.

Additional speaking practice

Students seeking opportunities to practice speaking with others may take advantage of OLBI’s Conversation Groups. More information is available at Julien Couture Resource Centre.

Fall 2023

Access to the Practice Test – as of September 11, 2023

Deadline to take practice test and receive feedback – October  19, 2023

Final Exam (speaking component) – the speaking interviews will be held on November 4,5,11 and 12, 2023. Students will be assigned a specific timeslot for their speaking interview, based on their provided availability. Further information will be sent by email.

Final Exam (reading/listening/writing components)  – from November 18 to November 26, 2023.

A survey will be sent to students so they can register to one of the available sessions.

Winter 2024

Access to the Practice Test – January 8, 2024

Deadline to take practice test and receive feedback February 16, 2024

Final Exam (speaking component) – the speaking interviews will be held on March 2, 3, 9 and 10, 2024. Students will be assigned a specific timeslot for their speaking interview, based on their provided availability. Further information will be sent by email.

Final Exam (reading/listening/writing components)  – from March 16 and March 24, 2024.

A survey will be sent to students so they can register to one of the available sessions.

The final exam for the second language certification is a standardized proficiency test. For this reason, the exam is only offered twice a year. 
The exam includes four components (see description below) and it is delivered in two parts:

Part 1 – Speaking (30 minutes)
Will be held online via Zoom from early to mid-November - date and time to be determined by the student's registration

Part 2 - Writing, listening and reading (2-4 hours) 
Will be delivered in person from mid to late November - date to be determined by the student's registration. If you are unable to attend for valid reasons, you must request a deferred exam from the Faculty of Arts. If you need academic accommodation, please contact [email protected]

Description of the four test components

Listening component

The listening component consists of four to six recorded listening passages which are heard twice. Students will mark their answers by clicking on their choice of answer on their screens. The test questions are all multiple-choice This component includes between 30 and 40 questions and lasts approximately 60-90 minutes.

Reading component

The reading component has two parts: a reading comprehension section and a Cloze passage (fill-in-the-blanks). The reading comprehension section consists of four to six reading passages, which may vary in length from approximately 400 to 800 words. This section includes approximately 30 to 40 multiple-choice questions. The cloze passage consists of a passage with blanks where words have been deleted from the text. Students must choose, from multiple-choice options, the word that best fits the blank. For the first part, students will mark their answers by clicking on their choice of answer. For the second part (Cloze passage), students will choose their answer from the drop-down menus. The entire Reading Component lasts approximately 60 to 90 minutes.

Writing component

The Writing Component is a written composition. Students have 50 minutes to write approximately 300 to 400 words on a specified topic of general interest. The topic is presented in such a way so as to elicit a written response relating factual information and providing opinions and/or recommendations about this information. Students will type their answer directly on the online test platform.

Speaking component

The Speaking Component is an oral interview conducted online via Zoom. After an informal conversation with the interviewer, students are given a short reading passage, and are asked to discuss some of the issues raised in the passage. The interview, which is recorded on audio only, lasts between 15 and 20 minutes.

1. Re-test policy: Students may register for the ESL3100/FLS3500 a maximum of four times. It is recommended that students only repeat the components that they have not passed A survey will be sent to students approximately two weeks prior to the test. This survey will be used to confirm the test date and the component(s) to be evaluated. Requests received outside of the survey will not be accepted.

2. Test Dates: The test is offered twice a year. The test is administered once in the fall term and once in the winter term. No testing is available during the summer term.

3. Deferred Exams: Students who are not able to attend the exam must request a deferred mark from the Faculty of Arts. Students granted a deferred mark must write the test at the next scheduled test session (e.g. a student who received a deferred mark in the fall session would write the test during the scheduled exam for the winter session). If you have a deferred mark, you do not have to register for the course again.

4. Academic Accommodations Service: Please be sure to register with the Academic Accommodations Service if you have the right to academic accommodations. You may not receive accommodations without first registering with this service at [email protected]. 

By completing this test, you are implicitly agreeing to the use of your responses, scores, and demographic data for test validation and research purposes, with the goal of improving the test for future test takers. The test research will be reported in internal documents as well as specialist publications and meetings related to language assessment. Your test information will remain completely confidential: it will never be reported in a way that could identify you.

Final grade
Students who receive at least a level 2 in each of the four test components will receive a final grade of P (pass).
Students who receive a level 1 in one or more component of the test or who do not write the test will receive a final grade of CTN (continuing).

Student score report
Each student will receive an email informing them of the levels they received in each section of the test. The results are sent by mid-January for the fall session and mid-May for the winter session. 

Certificate
Students, who receive at least a level 2 in each component of the test, will be mailed an official University of Ottawa Second Language Certificate.  The certificate will indicate the level achieved by the student in each section and includes the abbreviated level descriptions. The certificates are mailed by the Registrar’s Office 16 to 20 weeks following the test.

Level descriptions
 

Listening Comprehension (L) and Reading Comprehension (R) Skill Levels

Speaking (S) and Writing (W) Skill Levels

Alignment of Second Language Certification Test (SLCT, ESL 3100) Levels with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)