test German as a foreign language

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The Test of German as a Foreign Language (TestDaF) is a central, standardized and chargeable language test. It entitles foreign applicants to study in Germany and is therefore comparable to the IELTS ( International English Language Testing System ) and the TOEFL ( Test of English as a Foreign Language ).

development

In 1996, the intention to develop a central and standardized language test for university access was expressed for the first time by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK).

At the beginning of 1998, the funds were made available by the Foreign Office (AA) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) was commissioned to tender for the project. In the same year, the contract was awarded to a consortium ( FernUniversität in Hagen , Seminar for Language Teaching Research at Ruhr University Bochum , Goethe Institute and Carl Duisberg Centers , Cologne).

Work on the project began on August 1, 1998. By July 31, 2000, three model test sets had been developed and tested worldwide. The service descriptions, evaluation criteria and evaluation procedures were worked out and prototypes for an item bank, a participant database and a test database were developed.

On April 26, 2001, the TestDaF was accepted for the first time worldwide.

target group

The TestDaF is primarily aimed at applicants who have acquired their qualifications at a foreign school and who want to start studying in Germany or who would like to continue studying in Germany that they started abroad. In accordance with the regulations in the State University Act, you need proof of German language skills. Some other target groups are:

  • Students who have to prove their knowledge of German in their home country,
  • Students who come to Germany to study as part of an exchange program and then want to receive proof of their language skills,
  • People who need proof of their knowledge of German for scientific professions.

The TestDaF is suitable for people who already have language skills at an advanced level and are not just at the beginning of their language training.

construction

The TestDaF examines the competence areas of reading comprehension, listening comprehension, written expression and oral expression in four subtests. All four subtests are mandatory and have the same weighting. The topics and tasks of the test relate to the university context, but are not subject-specific but rather generally understandable.

The entire test, including all work instructions, is written in German.

The test takes about three hours in total (without breaks).

reading comprehension

The “Reading Comprehension” sub-test consists of three reading texts with different levels of difficulty and 30 items that the participants have to solve. 60 minutes are allotted for these tasks.

The participants should show that they are able to understand these texts. With the help of assignment tasks, tasks with three options (right / wrong / text doesn't say anything) and multiple-choice tasks , it is necessary to understand the overall context, details and information that is not directly expressed.

The reading texts include short texts from everyday student life, articles from specialist journals and journalistic texts.

Listening comprehension

The subtest “Listening Comprehension” has three listening texts and 25 items and lasts 40 minutes. There is a dialogue from everyday university life, a radio interview or a roundtable discussion with three to four participants and a short lecture on a scientific topic. These listening texts are arranged according to increasing difficulty.

This part of the test checks whether the participants can understand different spoken texts sufficiently well. This is important because there is constant exchange with fellow students and teachers in everyday student life and the students have to understand the subjects of the courses sufficiently.

The task types are short answer tasks and right / wrong tasks. Here, the understanding of the overall context, detailed and not directly expressed information is checked.

Writing

In the “Written expression” part of the examination, participants are given a writing task for which 60 minutes are available.

The core elements of this part of the test are describing and arguing. The future students must be able to take the data from a graphic or a table and describe it and then be able to argue for or against a specific topic.

The participants should produce a coherent and clearly structured text (with introduction, transition, description of the data, transition, argumentation and conclusion) in which they work on the points of the respective task. It is important that participants give precise descriptions, recognizing the important aspects and summarizing the information. Then your own point of view should be discussed and justified.

It is important to allocate the time correctly - a maximum of 20 minutes should be used for describing the data and 40 minutes for reasoning.

The comprehensibility of the text plays a greater role in the assessment than the linguistic or grammatical correctness.

Oral Expression

In the sub-test "Oral Expression", seven tasks must be solved in 30 minutes. All seven tasks, in which different speaking situations from everyday German university life are simulated, are of different difficulty. The participants must be able to hold a conversation with students, describe a graphic, comment on a topic or give advice.

This part of the exam is carried out in computer rooms or language laboratories. Participants are given an assignment sheet so that they can read along while listening to the assignments and make notes for themselves. The answers are then recorded and stored on a CD. It is important to be prepared for the fact that several participants will be tested in one room at the same time.

At the beginning of each task the number of the task is given. This is followed by the description of the speaking situation and the task in which the speech acts to be performed are explained. The next phase is the preparation time, in which the participants can consider their answers and write down key words in the exercise book. The duration of the preparation time varies between 30 seconds and three minutes depending on the task. After the conversation partner has spoken to the participant, the participant's speaking time begins, which can last between 30 seconds and two minutes.

Two of the tasks contain graphics that should be described. Then the information obtained from the graphic is to be summarized.

rating

The results are not assessed as "passed" or "not passed", but assigned to one of the three following TestDaF levels:

  • TestDaF level 3 (TDN 3)
  • TestDaF level 4 (TDN 4)
  • TestDaF level 5 (TDN 5)

Each subtest is assessed individually according to a level, ie different levels can be achieved in different parts of the test. If you are not satisfied with the result or if the level is insufficient for studying at a university, you can repeat the test as often as you like.

The TestDaF is checked centrally. This is done by trained assessors.

The TestDaF levels, which are based on the level descriptions of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) and the Common European Framework of Reference (GER), were developed during the test development phase. The TestDaF levels correspond to levels B2 to C1 of the GER and levels 3 and 4 of the ALTE.

Very detailed information about the assignment of the TestDaF to the GER can be found in the book “Validation of Language Exams” by Gabriele Kecker (2011).

TDN 3

If the work performed corresponds to TDN 3, the participant is able to extract the most important information from texts that deal with everyday academic life. Scientific texts are still too much of a challenge. Participants can write a text on a topic that is familiar to them, but it still contains errors that can hinder understanding of the text. Mistakes are also made when speaking, which can lead to misunderstandings.

TDN 4

Participants who achieve level TDN 4 in the exam can understand demanding texts on both concrete and abstract topics. You are also able to write a structured text without making such mistakes that hinder the understanding of the text. A normal conversation with native speakers, ie spontaneous and on different topics, can take place due to the sufficient language skills of the participants.

TDN 5

Long and complex texts on many different topics can be understood globally as well as in detail by the participants who reach level TDN 5. Implicit information, such as the author's attitude or irony, can be understood. Few mistakes are made when composing texts on complex issues, but they do not hinder the understanding of the text. The flow of speech can be described as spontaneous and flowing, ie the participants do not have to search for words.

testimony

Within six weeks of the exam, the exam participants receive the TestDaF certificate from the test center. The certificate contains a classification of each part of the examination into TestDaF levels 3, 4 or 5. A more detailed description of the levels achieved can be found on the back of the certificate. If the lowest level is not reached, the certificate says “Below TDN 3”. The validity of the document is not limited.

University admission

As a rule, you have to achieve at least TDN 4 in each part of the examination in order to be admitted to a university in Germany. However, since each university has its own admission regulations, some universities also accept results lower than TDN 4 for individual courses. For this reason, applicants should inform themselves about this in good time.

Test centers

There are around 450 test centers in 95 countries around the world that offer TestDaF up to six times a year. The officially approved test centers, which are supervised by the TestDaF Institute , are located at domestic and foreign universities and technical colleges, at Goethe Institutes and in Germany also at adult education centers and other language schools. The tasks of the test centers are:

  • Advice and registration of interested parties,
  • organizational preparation and implementation of the exam,
  • Offering the preparatory courses,
  • Issue of certificates,
  • Promotion for the TestDaF.

costs

TestDaF is a paid language test. Interested parties can find out the price, which can vary in different countries, in the test center or when registering online.

Preparation options

Not only is sufficient language skills important for good results, but familiarity with the test format also plays a major role.

On the TestDaF homepage under the heading “Preparation” you can find helpful tips as well as two TestDaF model sets (model set 2 and model set 3). Both sets of models serve as a sample test for the participants; it is possible to print out the files and download the sound files.

Another possibility to prepare yourself for the test is the book "Training TestDaF" by Gabriele Kniffka and Bärbel Gutzat. The book was published by Langenscheidt Verlag in 2006 and contains training exercises for all four test parts or subtests. This book gives the participants the opportunity to check their tests, as the solutions are also provided.

Material for exam preparation with information about the exam and tips for solving tasks can also be ordered on the Internet at www.godaf.de. These are chargeable. However, sample exercises can be viewed free of charge on the website before an order is placed.

Exam candidates who do not feel confident about preparing themselves can attend a TestDaF preparation course. These courses are offered by the test centers or by other institutions near the test centers. Information about the preparatory courses can be found on the TestDaF website.

New TestDaF tasks are also tried out in test centers. It is possible to take part in the testing of these tasks and thus get to know the TestDaF.

An internet preparation course is also offered by the German University Online (DUO). A TestDaF mock examination is carried out here accompanied by experienced tutors .

Before preparing for the TestDaF, you have the option of checking your language skills with the help of the online placement test. The link to the online placement test (onDaF) can be found on the TestDaF website.

statistics

The TestDaF has been offered worldwide with an increasing number of participants since 2001. In 2003 7,498 people took the test, in 2012 there were 24,261 participants.

The number of test centers has also increased. In 2003 there were 211 test centers worldwide; in 2012 there were 440.

literature

  • B. Gutzat, G. Kniffka: Training TestDaF. Exam preparation material . Langenscheidt, Berlin / Munich 2006, ISBN 3-468-47636-1 .
  • C. Heine, E. Lazarou: TestDaF exam training with an authorized model test . Cornelsen, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-06-020311-6 .
  • G. Kecker: Validation of language tests. The assignment of the TestDaF to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages . Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-631-61070-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TestDaF - Test of German as a Foreign Language. Language test for foreign applicants. In: R. Schreiber (Hrsg.): German as a foreign language at the preparatory college - teaching practice, tests, evaluation. Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-88246-228-0 , pp. 1-13.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j [1] . TestDaF website. Accessed 3–12. September 2012.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f B. Gutzat, G. Kniffka: Training TestDaF. Exam preparation material. Langenscheidt, Berlin / Munich 2006.
  4. ^ G. Kecker: Validation of language tests. The assignment of the TestDaF to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011.
  5. ↑ Comparison of the levels. In: www.testdaf.de. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .