Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache (TestDaF)

This examination measures language proficiency within an academic context at an intermediate to advanced level. Candidates have to show that they can understand and produce written and spoken texts that are relevant for everyday life and studies at institutions of higher education in Germany. They also have to manage administrative affairs and organise their studies at the university.

As a proficiency test the TestDaF evaluates the candidate’s language ability separately in four skills at three levels: TestDaF-Niveaustufe 3 (TDN 3), 4 (TDN 4) and 5 (TDN 5). These TDN levels correspond to the levels B2 and C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

All four components of the test are compulsory. They consist of:

Reading
Candidates are asked to treat a set of tasks which require comprehension of context and detail as well as implicit information. There are three different text types at variable levels of difficulty: short texts on everyday life at university taken from brochures and programs, newspaper or magazine articles, and articles from academic journals. There are 30 items including the following task types: matching, multiple-choice, and a task with the three options yes/no/not in the text.

Listening
Candidates are expected to handle a set of tasks which require listening for detail, for the gist and for implication. There are three listening texts at variable levels of difficulty: a dialogue typical of everyday life at university, a radio interview with three or four speakers, and a short lecture or interview with an expert. There are 25 items including the following task types: short answer questions and true/false items.

Writing
Candidates must be able to write a clearly structured and coherent text dealing with a specific topic. In the first part of the text, they are asked to describe statistical data given in form of a graph or a table. In the second part, candidates have to state their opinion on a specific question for discussion. There is only one task.

Speaking
In this component, candidates are not tested face-to-face but in a tape-recorded simulated oral proficiency interview (SOPI). They can hear the tasks on their headsets and follow them simultaneously in their examination booklet. An imaginary interlocutor invites them to speak in a communicative setting. The candidates’ responses are recorded on a second cassette or CD.

Candidates are asked to react in a number of common university situations: e.g. to take part in a discussion with fellow students, to describe a diagram during a tutorial, to give their opinion on a particular topic, to form hypotheses. There are seven tasks of different levels of difficulty.

Weighting of components
All components are weighted equally and each of them is evaluated separately at the levels TDN 3, 4 and 5. A total score of the whole test is not calculated.