Performance Standards for the CELPIP-General Speaking Test -

Explanation
The Performance Standards chart is designed to help you understand how your Speaking skills are
measured by our trained and certified raters. The raters determine your skill level in each of the
four categories. The yellow boxes list the specific factors that are assessed in each category. Here
are the guiding questions that they must keep in mind as they rate your work:
1) COHERENCE/MEANING 
This category measures how smoothly and effectively the ideas flow together to form a
meaningful and coherent whole. 
 Are there enough ideas, and have they been explained clearly?
 Are the ideas well organized so that the listener can easily follow what is being said?
 Can the test taker express precise meaning and/or explore deeper levels of meaning?
2) VOCABULARY 
This category assesses how well the test taker uses vocabulary, idioms and phrases to make
his/her ideas understandable. 
 Is the range of words sufficient to complete the task?
 How well is the test taker using words that help express precise ideas clearly with
minimal pausing and hesitation?
 Can the test taker combine words to express precise meaning?
3) LISTENABILITY 
This category measures how intelligible and fluent your speaking is. 
 How much do problems with rhythm, pronunciation and intonation interfere with
listenability?
 How fluent is the response (listen for hesitations, interjections, and/or self-correction)?
 Does the test taker’s control of grammar and syntax interfere with or improve
listenability?
 Is there complexity and variety in the sentence structure?
4) TASK FULFILLMENT 
This category considers how well the content of the response addresses the task requirements.
In other words, has the test taker understood the instructions and done everything he or she
was asked to do? 
 How well does the response address the task?
 How complete is the response?
 Is the tone of the response appropriate for the social context of the task?
 Is the response long enough?

The four category ratings from one rater are combined into one score for that task. One rater
scores four of your responses, and a second rater scores the other four. The eight task scores are
combined into one overall score for your Speaking skills.
CATEGORIES FACTORS
 1. Content/Coherence  Number of ideas
 Quality of ideas
 Organization of ideas
 Examples and supporting details
2. Vocabulary  Word choice
 Suitable use of words and phrases
 Range of words and phrases
 Precision and accuracy
3. Listenability  Rhythm, pronunciation, and intonation
 Pauses, interjections, and self-correction
 Grammar and sentence structure
 Variety of sentence structure
4. Task Fulfillment  Relevance
 Completeness
 Tone
 Length