The ELCE is a 15-minute live interview and teaching simulation. During the interview, you are asked general questions about your life, background, and interests, and technical questions that undergraduate students would ask in the course for which you would teach. During the teaching simulation, you must use a whiteboard or chalkboard and visuals to organize your ideas and explain concepts.

Any teaching assistant candidate whose native language is not English must be tested, except:

• Students who achieve a TOEFL Speaking section score of 26 or above on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) taken within the last two years.  
• Students who achieve an IELTS Speaking section score of 8 or above on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test taken within the last two years.  
• Students who achieve a PTE Speaking section score of 84 or above on the Pearson Test of English (PTE) test taken within the last two years.  
• Students who serve as a language assistant in a course conducted in their native language. 

Hiring departments are asked to follow the deadlines when scheduling appointments for you to take the ELCE. It is the hiring department's responsibility to coordinate appointment times between you, the faculty representative(s), and the ELP-ii test administrator. 

The graduate coordinator or staff representative from the hiring department schedules the ELCE test date and time with the ELP-ii coordinator in Teaching + Learning Commons. The hiring department is responsible for coordinating the exam schedule with each TA candidate (you) and faculty representative.

You may not schedule the exam. This is to verify that test takers are UC San Diego graduate students who are TA candidates for UC San Diego courses and who are TA candidates with TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE speaking scores that fall within the ELCE test range.

The evaluation panel, consisting of at least one faculty representative from the hiring department and one linguist from the Teaching + Learning Commons, will evaluate your ability to engage in a conversation and to respond appropriately to questions using comprehensible pronunciation. The panel will consider your competency in the following language skill areas:

• pronunciation
• listening comprehension and question handling
• general and discipline-specific vocabulary
• smoothness and fluidity
• grammatical accuracy and organizational clarity.

and use of communication techniques:

• eye contact
• board work (whiteboard or chalkboard)
• presentation manner

If you do not pass the test, you will be offered support before you may be hired into a TA position at UC San Diego.

You, the TA candidate, can prepare for the test by: 

• participating in communication skills courses or practicing speaking aloud
• practice using a whiteboard or chalkboard
• reviewing in English the basic vocabulary, concepts, and problems of the course you will TA

After the test, you leave the room. Then, the panel discusses your performance and determines a cumulative score. Possible recommendations from the test include:

If you did not pass the ELCE, there is an opportunity to retake the exam. PhD level international graduate students must qualify to TA by the third test. Master level international graduate students must qualify to TA by the second test.

You are encouraged to utilize all language resources available to you prior to retesting. UC San Diego graduate students with a TA requirement may utilize the free ELP-ii classes.

Details of the formal recommendation, including overall score, subscores, and comments will not be available during test periods. Instead, an email with the formal recommendation and detailed information is sent to you and the hiring department representative. If the recommendation is to improve language and communication skills, you will be advised of programs in which you are eligible to participate.

The hiring department representative is notified whether you qualify to TA as soon as possible, in most cases immediately after the test. That person will inform you if you qualify.