Accentual USA Standard Testing consists of an oral examination of the testing candidate in the target language by telephone to determine oral communication capability.

Languages Tested: English, Dutch, French, German, Hindi,  Japanese, Spanish.

Registration: Corporate and organizational clients need to register prior to the beginning of testing. Registration consists of identifying the administrative contact for receipt of test scores and billing. Individuals, who are not affiliated with an organization, do not need to register.

Scheduling: Language tests must be scheduled at least two business days in advance of the test date. Tests are given Monday through Friday from 0900 to 1800 (U.S. Central Time) except U.S. holidays. Scheduling may be done by email. Confirmation of the scheduled date, time, language and telephone number to call is provided to the testing candidate by email, fax or telephone. Cancellation of the test can be done at no charge as long as it is at least one day prior to the scheduled test. Cancellations the day of the test will be charged the full amount.

The Test: At the scheduled time the testing candidate calls the assigned telephone number. The evaluator greets the candidate and makes certain that the candidate can hear satisfactorily. The evaluator verifies the name of the candidate and requests permission to record the test. All tests are recorded. The test consists of twelve questions that are asked orally by the evaluator. The questions are designed to cause the candidate to use the full range of the language. The question topics are personal or general in nature and are selected randomly from Accentual USA database of thousands of questions... The candidate may ask for any question to be repeated or rephrased. The candidate answers the questions. The test normally takes fifteen to twenty-five minutes.

Scoring: Immediately following the test the evaluator scores the performance of the candidate according to criteria in four categories - comprehension, communication ability, grammar and vocabulary. The performance is placed on one of ten levels (1- 10) ranging from complete beginner to native level of fluency.

Results Reporting: Test results are reported to the administrative contact for corporate clients or the individual for non-corporate clients the following business day by fax or email.

Test Archiving: Accentual USA keeps a recording of all tests. The recorded tests are used by Accentual USA for evaluator training, test verification and, if requested, rescoring of the test.

Billing: Billing for corporate clients is done monthly through an invoice sent to the administrative contact. Terms are 30 days net. For individual clients payment is done by credit card (American Express, MasterCard, Visa or Discover) at the time of scheduling.

Many organizations require oral language testing that goes beyond Accentual USA Standard Oral Language Tests. Accentual USA offers a number of features that can be added to the Standard Services to meet every need.

Languages Tested: Any language can be tested.

Candidate Identity Verification: Language testing by telephone does not allow Accentual USA to confirm that the person who is taking the test is who they say they are. Some organizations use administrative controls to manage this while others use Accentual USA videoconferencing capabilities. With videoconferencing a video of the person taking the test is recorded for identity confirmation.

Scheduling: Accentual USA can perform testing at any time and will do so when the client has special requirements. In addition, large numbers of candidates can be scheduled in a very short time. Also Accentual USA can provide a regular schedule to the corporate administrative contact(s) of the schedule for the next week of all of the organization's testing candidates.

Tests: Tests can be developed that cover specialized terminology for the client. Questions can also be developed that are specific to a client's particular needs. Accentual USA can also work with you to define the language capability required to do the job you have defined.

Scoring: Scoring can be done according to criteria selected by the client rather than Accentual USA ten-level scale. An example is a set of criteria that distinguish a Pass or Fail result defined by the client.

Results Reporting: Results reporting can be provided more rapidly than the next business day. Results can also include a paper copy of the results that include the evaluator's comments. Accentual USA also can provide summary information concerning an organization's testing results. Reported results can also be notarized.

Test Archiving: Accentual USA can provide a copy of each recorded evaluation on a CD-ROM in a format that is playable on Windows Media Player.

Languages Tested: Any language can be tested.

Registration: Corporate and organizational clients need to register prior to the beginning of testing. Registration consists of identifying the administrative contact for receipt of test scores and billing.

Test Development: A specific test will be developed based on consultation with the client. Tests can be developed that cover specialized terminology for the client. Questions or situations can also be developed that are specific to a client's particular needs.

Scheduling: The testing can be performed at any time (days, evenings, week-ends, holidays). Scheduling is done by contacting Accentual USA by email at testing@accentualusa.com. Test materials are either set-up on-line or are sent by email, fax or mail.

The Test: Tests normally consist of five written or oral questions or situations in the target language. Each question or situation requires a written response of three or more sentences. The test takes 30 minutes to complete. Tests can be done on paper or through typing on a computer (internet connection to Accentual USA).

Scoring: The test is either faxed or emailed to Accentual USA or, if done through Accentual USA web-site, is already sent to Accentual USA. Scoring is done either the business day that the test is received or the next business day.

Results Reporting: Test results are reported to the administrative contact for corporate clients or the individual for non-corporate clients the following business day by fax or email.

Test Archiving: Accentual USA keeps a record of all tests. The tests are used by Accentual USA for evaluator training, test verification and, if requested, rescoring of the test.

Billing: Billing is done monthly through an invoice sent to the administrative contact. Terms are 30 days net.

Price: The price for writing tests normally starts at $50 per test. Added to the price is the customization fee. The customization fee is quoted to you before testing begins and can be paid either as an up-front fee or included in the price per test.