If you have a 2+ in listening and a 3 in reading, for example, you may take the upper-range test in reading (but not in listening). (Exception: if there is no lower-range DLPT5, a score of level 3 on a lower-range DLPT IV is used.) You do not need to have a score of level 3 on both skills. Q. How do I become eligible to take the upper-range DLPT5?Ī. To take an upper-range DLPT5, you must have a score of level 3 on the lower-range DLPT5. Some languages have only a lower-range test some have only an upper-range test and some have both. Q. What range of ILR levels is covered by DLPT5?Ī. DLPT5s are available either in a lower-range test that gives scores from 0+ to 3, or in an upper-range test that gives scores from 3 to 4. An interactive CRT version is in the works in the meantime, the interface for multiple-choice and CRT is very similar, so those who will take the CRT DLPT5 may get some benefit from the demo as well. In addition, there is an interactive demo multiple-choice test available on this site that you can use to familiarize yourself with the test’s appearance on the screen and how to work through the test (although this demo does not replicate the DLPT5 in terms of numbers of questions or distribution of questions by level). Some languages do not have language-specific guides, but there are generic guides for multiple-choice DLPT5s and for constructed-response DLPT5s these guides contain the same information as the language-specific guides, but have samples in English. In most cases, the language-specific guide will be available at the same time, or some time before, the test itself is rolled out. Most languages have a language-specific guide that includes samples in the target language. Q. Are there materials available to help the examinee prepare for the new tests?Ī. Yes.

If you took the DLPT IV in April of one year, and the DLPT5 rolled out in May, your DLPT IV score is good until the following April, as usual and at that point you would take the DLPT5. Q. If an older DLPT is replaced by a DLPT5, are old DLT scores still valid? And how soon do people have to take the DLPT5?Ī. Scores are valid as long as they were in the past, typically one year. Sometimes these innovations involve aspects of language proficiency that test-takers had not previously had to deal with on DLPTs, and that may not have been emphasized in training or self-study programs. With DLPT5, the post-9/11 emphasis on readiness resulted in a desire to have any error be in the direction of being strict.Įach new generation of DLPTs has incorporated innovations. Older DLPTs were calibrated so that the error would be in the direction of being generous. So when calibrating a language test, the question is always whether the error should be in the direction of being generous or strict. Q. Why are scores lower on the DLPT5 than on older DLPTs?Ī. No language test is 100% accurate. The DLPT5 specifications address those issues. The very short length of the passages in DLPT IV also did not allow the test to cover as many of the aspects of the ILR skill level descriptions as was desired.

The DLPT IV series tests were developed at a time when listening to authentic material was not considered as important as it is today (and it was not as easy to obtain authentic material as it is today). Q. Why did we change to DLPT5? What was wrong with DLPT IV?Ī. Every 10 to 15 years, as our understanding of the ILR, language testing, and the needs of the government change, the DLPTs have been updated. PERSIAN-FARSI (LOWER RANGE) FAMILIARIZATION GUIDE PERSIAN-FARSI (UPPER RANGE) FAMILIARIZATION GUIDE

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