Testing the oral English proficiency of foreign nursing graduates

The ability to communicate effectively is considered critical to successful performance in numerous occupations, including nursing. Oral proficiency is necessary in some degree, for example, in interacting with medical colleagues and counseling or instructing patients.

The increasing interest in oral proficiency during the past decade has prompted the development of a limited number of measures to assess this competency. The study reported here was undertaken to provide further validation—and some guidance on the use—of one such test, the Test of Spoken English (TSE), in the evaluation of foreign nursing graduates.

The results suggest that the TSE reflects to a considerable degree the oral language competencies that practicing professionals view as important, and further that it is possible to establish professionally based standards of proficiency that meet commonly accepted principles of good testing practice.