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UI adds Duolingo English test option for international 2022 applicants

2021/07/19

For overseas students, the University of Illinois has added a new English test option for spring and fall 2022: the English test from the popular language learning app Duolingo.

This summer, the University of Illinois became the latest of more than 1,600 university systems to accept the app’s test as an admissions option. The admissions department met with UI’s linguistics faculty and analyzed some of the app’s data to determine whether it would be a viable option for international students who had difficulty obtaining two typical proficiency tests during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UI Admissions has been considering Duolingo’s English test as an option for some time after hearing concerns from incoming students who were unable to take the existing test, said Andy Borst, director of UI Admissions.

In the meantime, Duolingo measures test takers’ comprehension, literacy, conversational, and English "production" skills, all of which require a combination of reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

On the TOEFL, English skills are separated. For example, a test taker might read a passage and then be asked a set of comprehension questions. Duolingo’s test items, on the other hand, are more multi-pronged. The test might ask users to listen to a sentence and repeat it or to see a list of words and construct a sentence.

In any case, the English-language proficiency tests are much more flexible than they were a year ago.

Yan said it’s "hard to say" whether the Duolingo option will remain, as research continues to emerge on digital tests and their relevance to classroom performance.

“Our plan right now is to only accept Duolingo tests on a temporary basis,” he said. “I think a lot of universities that are similar to U of I that have a large number of international student population are taking this more in a more conservative way because they would like to see more evidence.”

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