Your goal is to speak Hindi or Urdu. How are you progressing? How can you objectively find out? You can find out your current speaking level and get specific guidance on how to advance to the next level of proficiency by taking a specially designed speaking test.
SOPI (Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview) is a tool designed by linguists to assess proficiency in a spoken language. Instead of testing comprehension, vocabulary or certain content areas, it measures how well the speaker uses the language in real-life situations.
The SOPI materials include a booklet and a audio recording that present the learner with a different tasks and situations that vary in their degree of difficulty. The learner records himself responding to these items and then emails the recording to our trained evaluators for assessment. A report of the assessment will be sent by email.
Your SOPI report will include an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses and suggestions for further progress. It also includes the guidelines for the learner’s current proficiency level and for the next level up the scale.
SOPI uses the Oral Proficiency Guidelines developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The levels included in the guidelines are Novice (Low, Mid, High), Intermediate (Low, Mid, High), Advanced, Advanced High, and Superior. Novice Low means essentially no functional communicative ability whereas Superior means native-like skills.
The most helpful time to take the SOPI is between the middle and end of Stage 2. This is a turning point for many learners. You have studied the grammar and begun to internalize it. You have been using language in many different situations. It is a good time to assess how far you’ve come and what your particular weaknesses are. An objective tool like the SOPI will give you that feedback.
You can take the SOPI as often as you like, anytime that you feel you have reached a plateau and need objective feedback on how to progress in your learning.
We will send you a packet via email, and after completing the assessment you will return the materials to the email address given in the packet.
At this time OSLS can only offer SOPI for Hindi learners. An Urdu form of SOPI is planned.
The cost is 3500 INR for one person.
The Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) is a reliable and valid means of assessing the level of a person’s proficiency in a second language.
A minimum of two raters who have been trained in the SOPI assessment and the ACTFL scale system, as well as have had extensive experience in Hindi language learning will place the examinee at a particular ACTFL level, then they will also subjectively declare his confidence in his assessment. Nonetheless, please note that no language coach or supervisory organization should take this assessment as conclusively accurate. Please use this assessment to identify the direction of further study, and receive our thanks for participating in the growing collection of sample recordings.