Slovenian Language Examination: Advanced Level

The Advanced Level Exam of the Slovene Language is intended for adults whose first language is not Slovene, but they need an official Certificate of Slovene as a Second/Foreign Language for private or official purposes (e.g. for employment, for those professions where higher education is required).

Definition of the level

The advanced level of Slovene is the third of the three levels specified by the Standards of knowledge in the educational programme Slovene for Foreign Learners. By passing the Advanced Level Exam, the candidate proves that he or she has mastered the Slovene language sufficiently to be able to:

• communicate adequately in all speaking situations,
• speak naturally and fluently,
• understand various written and spoken pieces of discourse, including professional and academic discourse (from the candidate's professional field),
• produce various written texts independently,
• express his or her ideas correctly and adequately, making few mistakes.

Parts of the exam

The Advanced Level Exam has five parts of equal weight: four parts are written, one is oral. Each of the parts contributes one fifth of the total of the possible points to the final grade. The candidate can choose between social and natural sciences as he/she registers for the exam. Special topics are to be chosen in productive skills (writing and speaking) only.

The Written Parts

Listening comprehension: the candidate listens to two pieces of spoken discourse and answers open or multiple choice questions (30 minutes).

Reading comprehension: the candidate reads three or four short authentic texts and answers questions related to their content, vocabulary, etc. (30 minutes).

Grammar: the candidate chooses between several forms, corrects mistakes, paraphrases, edits texts, etc. (4 tasks, 40 minutes).

Writing: The candidate writes two texts: a practical text (guided writing) and a longer essay on a specific topic (social or natural sciences) (75 minutes).

The Oral Part

The speaking test consists of:

• a general conversation
• a conversation on a general social topic
• a presentation of a chosen topic

The candidate prepares for the speaking test in advance: he/she chooses the topic from his/her professional or special interest field, and prepares a short presentation (10 minutes) which he/she presents to three examiners (20 minutes).

Assessment

All five parts are assessed according to the standards specified by the Exam Catalogue of the programme Slovene for Foreign Learners. The final grade is descriptive: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, fail.

Who designs and organises the exams?

The exams of Slovene at all three levels are designed and organised at the Examination Centre of the Centre for Slovene as a Foreign/Second Language at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana.