MICHIGAN ENGLISH TEST

2019

TEACHER’S HANDBOOK 2019

The Michigan English Test (MET) is an examination for test takers who want to evaluate their general
English language proficiency in social, educational, and workplace contexts. Listening recordings and
reading passages reflect everyday interactions in an American-English-speaking environment.
The MET is a 4-skills test. Test takers can choose to take 2 or 4 skills. The required 2-skills sections of
listening and reading can be accompanied by the writing and speaking sections. The MET is regularly
updated to ensure that the examination reflects current research in language teaching and assessment and
continues to provide test takers with a test that helps them demonstrate their language proficiency.
 Test Description
The MET is a standardized English as a foreign language (EFL) examination, aimed at upper beginner to
lower advanced levels—A2 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
The MET is offered on a monthly basis and a test taker may take it as many times as necessary.
Test takers must register with a local test center to take the exam.
New test forms are developed for each administration.
 Test Purpose
The MET is used for academic or employment purposes and is intended for test takers at or above a high
school level. It is typically used to demonstrate certified English language proficiency to universities,
employers, and scholarship agencies in the country where the MET was administered.
 Typical Test Taker
The MET is intended for adolescents and adults at or above a secondary level of education who want to
measure their general English language proficiency in a variety of linguistic contexts.
 Test Content
Stimuli in the MET reflect a range of situations likely to be met in most countries. The CEFR identifies four
basic domains, namely personal, public, occupational, and educational (Council of Europe, 2001: 48–49).
The MET contains content from all four domains.

 Public spaces (street, shops, restaurants, sports, or entertainment venues) and other social
networks outside the home
 Occupational workplace settings (offices, workshops, conferences), etc.
 Educational schools, colleges, classrooms, residence halls, etc.
Various topics are used across the domains, some of which may be used more in certain domains than
others. Test takers should require no specialized knowledge or experience to understand the content.
Topics should be equally accessible to a range of ages and should represent a variety of opinions.
A concerted effort is made to make sure topical content in the MET is not biased. Hambleton and Rodgers
(1995, para. 1) define bias as “the presence of some characteristic of an item that results in differential
performance for two individuals of the same ability but from different ethnic, sex, cultural, or religious
groups.” They further note that another characteristic related to bias is offensiveness, which can obstruct
the purpose of a test item. They explain, “While the presence of such material may not make the item more
difficult for the test taker, it may cause him or her to become ‘turned off,’ and result in lowered performance.”
Consequently, MET material is scrutinized to ensure that it is not inflammatory, emotionally upsetting, or
controversial. This is meant to decrease the potential for bias.
 Score Reporting
MET scores represent a test taker’s English language proficiency at the time the test was taken and are
valid as long as the test taker’s level of proficiency does not change. Because language proficiency can
increase or decrease over time, score users are advised to consider the test taker’s experience with English
since the time of the test administration as well as the test scores themselves.
 Each person who takes the MET receives a Michigan Language Assessment score report.
 The score report includes test taker details and the scaled score for each section of the test, ranging
from 0 to 80
 A score report includes a final score, which is the average of all sections of the test taken by the
candidate
 The optional MET Certificate of Achievement includes the same information as the score report
and professionally presents it for the purposes of display
 A certificate of achievement can be ordered from your local test center or from Michigan Language
Assessment anytime within four months of your test date
 The MET does not have a pass score. Instead, all test takers receive a scaled score with a
maximum of 80 for each section attempted, and a final score for all sections. Scaled scores are not
percentages. They do not show how many items the test taker answered correctly but rather where
he/she stands on the language ability scale. This ensures that test scores are comparable across
different administrations and fair to all test takers regardless of when they took the test.
The MET is a multi-level exam, covering a range of proficiency levels from upper beginner to lower
advanced. The levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) aimed at by the MET are
A2 to C1, with emphasis on the middle of the range (B1 and B2). The exact cut scores between adjacent
CEFR levels, based on research conducted by Michigan Language Assessment are available for download;
selected CEFR performance descriptors illustrate what test takers should be able to do at each level.

The MET is a paper-and-pencil test with 100 multiple-choice questions in two sections: Listening, and
Reading & Grammar. There are also optional speaking and writing tests. The total exam time for the 100-
item multiple-choice portion of the test is approximately 100 minutes. The optional speaking test takes
approximately 10 minutes to complete, and the writing test is 45 minutes.
The listening section has been designed to assess the comprehension of aural English at the upper
beginner to lower advanced levels: A2 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Vocabulary is also assessed within the listening section.
The descriptors for these CEFR levels are as follows:
 A2: Can understand and extract the essential information from short, recorded passages dealing
with predictable everyday matters that are delivered slowly and clearly. Can understand phrases
and the highest frequency vocabulary related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (e.g.,
very basic personal and family information, shopping, local area, employment).
 B1: Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, school, leisure, etc., including short narratives. Can follow a lecture or talk
within his/her own field, provided the subject matter is familiar and the presentation straightforward
and clearly structured.
 B2: Can understand recordings in standard dialect likely to be encountered in social, professional
or academic life and identify speaker viewpoints and attitudes as well as the information content.
Can follow the essentials of lectures, talks, and reports and other forms of academic/professional
presentation that are propositionally and linguistically complex.
 C1: Can follow most lectures, discussions, and debates with relative ease

 MET Listening Subskills

The abilities that L2 listeners access when focusing on specific listening purposes are referred to as
(listening) subskills. These form three subgroups of listening skills—global, local, and inferential—and
include (among others):
  Format of the Input
Part 1
The aural input for each item is a short conversation consisting of two speakers with 2 to 4 turns and lasting
15 to 25 seconds.

Part 2
The aural input for this section is a longer conversation between two people, comprising 4 to 8 turns, and
lasting from 40 seconds to 1 minute 15 seconds. There are multiple items based on each of these longer
conversations.
Continue in the next page
Part 3
This section consists of short talks or monologues, which are between 200 to 250 words and last between
1 minute 25 seconds and 1 minute 45 seconds.
Continue in the next page
  Format of the Response Options
Part 1
Each conversation is heard once. The aural input is followed by one multiple-choice item with four options.
The questions stems are printed in the test booklet, along with the options and are visible to the test taker
while listening to the conversation. Test takers also hear each question stem and choose the best answer
from the four choices printed in the booklet. Each answer choice is approximately the same length.
Part 2
Each conversation set is heard once. The aural input is followed by three or four multiple-choice items,
each of which has four options. The questions stems are printed in the test booklet, along with the options
and are visible to the test taker while listening to the conversation. Test takers also hear each question
stem and choose the best answer from the four choices printed in the booklet. Each answer choice is
approximately the same length.
Part 3
Each talk is heard once. The aural input is followed by three to five multiple-choice items, each of which
has four options. The questions stems are printed in the test booklet, along with the options and are visible
to the test taker while listening to the conversation. Test takers also hear each question stem and choose
the best answer from the four choices printed in the booklet. Each answer choice is approximately the same
length.
  Evaluation of the MET Listening Section
The listening section is scored automatically by computer. There is only one correct answer for each item.
Correct answers receive one point. Incorrect answers receive zero.

 Grammar
The MET grammar subsection has been designed to test a variety of grammar structures at the upper
beginner to lower advanced levels.
The descriptors for these CEFR levels are as follows:
A2: Uses some simple structures correctly, but still systematically makes basic mistakes—for example,
tends to mix up tenses and forget to mark agreement; nevertheless, it is usually clear what he/she is trying
to say.
B1: Communicates with reasonable accuracy in familiar contexts; generally good control though with
noticeable mother tongue influence. Errors occur, but it is clear what he/she is trying to express. Uses
reasonably accurately a repertoire of frequently used “routines” and patterns associated with more
predictable situations.
B2: Good grammatical control; occasional “slips” or nonsystematic errors and minor flaws in sentence
structure may still occur, but they are rare and can often be corrected in retrospect. Shows a relatively high
degree of grammatical control. Does not make mistakes which lead to misunderstanding.
C1: Consistently maintains a high degree of grammatical accuracy; errors are rare and difficult to spot.
(adapted from Council of Europe, 2001: 114)
 Format of the Grammar Subsection
Type of Task
The MET grammar subsection is part of the larger reading and grammar section and includes grammar and
reading items. There are 20 grammar items.
 MET Grammar Subskills
MET grammar items focus on a variety of grammatical features observed in written American English.
Depending on their proficiency level, it is assumed that test takers will demonstrate some or most of the
grammar subskills outlined in the CEFR descriptors listed above.
 Design of MET Grammar Items
Format of the Input
Each MET grammar item comprises 1 to 2 sentences from which a word or phrase has been removed.
Each item can test one or more grammatical features (depending on the proficiency level the item is
assessing).
Each MET grammar item should elicit a “tip-of-the-tongue” effect, in which test takers should ideally be able
to mentally fill in the gap even before reading the options. The wording of MET grammar items is intended
to reflect, as closely as possible, language use in real-life situations and provide a representative sample
of different frequently observed genres in written English.

 Format of the Response Options

Four answer choices are provided, one of which is the correct answer. All the incorrect options are
grammatical in isolation from the input sentence.
 Evaluation of the MET Grammar Subsection
The whole of reading and grammar is scored automatically by computer. There is only one correct answer
for each item. Correct answers receive one point. Incorrect answers receive zero.

The MET reading subsection has been designed to assess the comprehension of a variety of written texts
in social, educational, and workplace contexts. Vocabulary is also assessed within the reading subsection.
A2: Can understand short, simple texts on familiar matters of a concrete type, which consist of high
frequency everyday or job-related language. Can understand short, simple texts containing the highest
frequency vocabulary, including a proportion of shared international vocabulary items.
B1: Can read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interest with a satisfactory
level of comprehension.
B2: Can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts
and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. Has a broad active reading vocabulary,
but may experience some difficulty with low frequency idioms.
C1: Can understand in detail lengthy, complex texts, whether or not they relate to his/her own area of
specialty, provided he/she can re-read difficult sections.
(adapted from Council of Europe, 2001: 69)
 Format of the Reading Subsection
Type of Task
The MET reading subsection includes two types of tasks:
The first task has two extended reading passages about a ranger of general or academic topics, with 5
questions for each passage
The second task comprises two thematically linked passages (3 passages per set) with 10 questions per
set. Items test comprehension across one or more sections.
Examples of both types of reading tasks can be seen in the sample test.
MET Reading Subskills
The abilities that L2 readers access when focusing on specific reading purposes are referred to as (reading)
subskills. These form three subgroups of reading skills— global, local, and inferential—and include (among
others):

 Design of MET Reading Items

Format of the Input
Extended Passage
A text that could be found in formal or general written contexts such as a newspaper, magazine, academic
journal, or book
Thematically Linked Sets
 Section A
A short message, announcement, advertisement, description, or other type of text typical of those found in
newspapers, newsletters, etc. These are about 80 words long.
 Section B
A short text, which may consist of a segment of a glossary, a memo, a letter to the editor, a resume, etc.
These are about 160 words long.
 Section C
A 3- to 5-paragraph text, which may consist of an academic article that includes argument, exposition, etc.
It may be more abstract than texts in sections A and B. These are about 290 words long.
Cross-Text Items
Items that require test takers to synthesize information presented in the three texts.
 Format of the Response Options
Each extended reading passage is followed by 5 multiple-choice items that comprise a question and four
options.
Each thematically linked reading set is followed by 10 multiple-choice items. The items comprise a question
and four options. Typically there are between two and four items per section. One question tests
comprehension across more than one section.
  Evaluation of MET Reading
The whole of the reading and grammar section is scored automatically by computer. There is only one
correct answer for each item. Correct answers receive one point. Incorrect answers receive zero.

 Speaking
The MET Speaking Test measures an individual’s ability to produce comprehensible speech in response
to a range of tasks and topics. It is a structured, one-on-one interaction between examiner and test taker
that includes five distinct tasks.
 Duration
The MET Speaking Test is approximately 10 minutes in length.
 Design of the MET Speaking Test
The tasks require test takers to convey information about a picture and about themselves, give a supported
opinion, and state the advantages and disadvantages of a particular proposal.
The five tasks are designed to give test takers the opportunity to speak on a number of different topics.
 Task 1: The test taker describes a picture.
 Task 2: The test taker talks about a personal experience on a topic related to what is seen in the
picture.
 Task 3: The test taker gives a personal opinion about a topic related to the picture.
 Task 4: The test taker is presented with a situation and will have to explain some advantages and
disadvantages related to that situation.
 Task 5:The test taker is asked to give an opinion on a new topic and to try to convince the examiner
to agree with the idea.

 Evaluation of the MET Speaking Test

Ratings will take into account the fluency, accuracy, and clarity of speech in addition to the ability to
effectively complete each task. The final rating is based on answers to all five parts of the test.

The purpose of the MET writing test is to evaluate a test taker’s ability to write in English. It is designed to
measure the writing proficiency of English language learners from upper beginner to lower advanced (A2
to C1).
 Duration
The MET Writing Tests lasts 45 minutes.
 Design of the MET Writing Test
The MET writing test requires test takers to produce written language at the sentence, paragraph, and
essay levels. Two tasks are included on each test. At least one task will focus on an academic topic.
In Task 1, the test taker is presented with three questions on a related theme. These three questions require
test takers to respond with a series of sentences that connect ideas together. Task 1 is aimed at developing
writers who can write at the sentence level but may struggle to produce more than a simple paragraph.
In Task 2, the test taker is presented with a single writing prompt. The task requires the test taker to produce
a short essay. Task 2 is aimed at more proficient writers and evaluates the test taker’s ability to compose
an essay that consists of several paragraphs.
 Evaluation of the MET Writing Test
The test taker’s writing performance is evaluated by certified Michigan Language Assessment raters. The
five-band rating scale guides raters to attend to the test taker’s performance in the following areas:
 Grammatical Accuracy
 Vocabulary
 Mechanics
 Cohesion & Organization
 Task Completion
The MET Writing Test Rating Scale and annotated essays are available as part of the online sample
materials.
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MICHIGAN ENGLISH SIMULATION TEST

2019

Grading the Simulation Test For Learn English International.

 Grading Listening.
The Simulation exam has 3 Listening Parts as Follows
Part 1 19 Questions (Questions from 1 – 19)
Part 2 14 Questions (Questions from 20 – 33)
Part 3 17 Questions (Questions from 34 – 50)
TOTAL 50 QUESTIONS
Grading
The total score in the listening section is 80. Each question has the same score. To determine the score
per questions teacher must do the following math operation.
80/50 = 1.6 Teacher must multiply the total amount of correct answers by 1.6. The total result of this
operation will be the result of the listening part.

Please notice the score under the CEFR to determine the Student’s level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1)
Example:
Laura Marcela Ordoñez got 45 correct answers
80/50 = 1.6 1.6x45= 72 72 = C1

 Grading Reading and Grammar

The Simulation exam has reading and grammar sections together
Grammar 20 questions (Questions from 51 – 70)
Reading 25 Questions (Questions from 76 – 100)
TOTAL 45 Questions
Grading
The total score in the listening section is 80. Each question has the same score. To determine the score
per questions teacher must do the following math operation.
80/45 = 1.7 Teacher must multiply the total amount of correct answers by 1.7. The total result of this
operation will be the result of the listening part.

Please notice the score under the CEFR to determine the Student’s level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1)
Example:
Laura Marcela Ordoñez got 45 correct answers
80/45 = 1.7 1.7x40= 68 68 = C1

 Grading Writing
In this section teacher must correct the student’s mistakes. After correction, the following rubrics must be
taken into account.
  Grading Speaking
As the speaking sections is taking place, the teacher must take notes of the student’s mistakes for further
reference and as a reminder of the students level, the following rubrics must be taken into account.