TOP Annual Hiring and Training
What
is the Test of Oral Proficiency (TOP)?
The
Test of Oral Proficiency is for students who plan to work as teaching
assistants (TA) at UCLA and are international students; they must pass the TOP
before working as a TA in any department at UCLA.
The TOP
is designed to test oral English ability in the context of normal TA
duties. It does not test teaching skills
or subject matter knowledge.
Raters
TOP
Raters evaluate four aspects of oral English ability: Pronunciation, Vocabulary
and Grammar, Rhetorical Organization, and Question
Handling. In addition to assigning scores on each of
these dimensions, Raters must provide documentation to justify their
scores. Raters are part of the TOP test
session, scoring and documenting test-taker performance in real time.
Raters
typically have experience or a background in TESL/TEFL or Linguistics. While we provide training to ensure reliable
scoring and appropriate documentation, Raters must have adequate background
knowledge, including the ability to identify and document pronunciation and
grammatical errors.
Qualifications
· Graduate student at UCLA
Preferred
experience
· Teaching English as a second or foreign
language
· Rating oral tests
· Sufficient explicit knowledge of English
grammar and phonology to identify and document errors in speech
Additional
Details
Training
will take place on September 8,th 9,th & 12th,
before our September test sessions; training is critical and mandatory.
Typically,
there are four sets of TOP testing sessions, in September, November, February,
and May. During the academic year, test
sessions typically occur on Fridays.
Please
keep in mind that there are a limited number of hours we can offer Raters each quarter;
thus, this is not a typical part-time position.
How
to Apply
Please
send your resume and a cover letter to the TOP Coordinators, at top@oid.ucla.edu by July 22, 2016.
Alexei Nowak
TOP Coordinator