Test of Russian as Foreign Language (TORFL)

TORFL Levels of Russian

BASIC (TORFL level 0)

• Reading Competence: Students are able to read and extract the main points of short simple authentic texts (such as newspaper headings public notices, signs, ads etc). Students are expected to read general matter texts in Cyrillic. The test consists of 3 sections (30 items, multiple task questions).
• Writing Competence: Students are able to reproduce in written form (Cyrillic) the context of a simple text, answer simple questions and write a short letter, notice, greeting card, etc. The test consists of 2 sections, each of which includes 2 tasks.
• Listening Competence: Students are able to follow short oral dialogues (10-14 lines) and monologues on everyday topics, and to extract specific information (topic, place, time, reason) without necessarily understanding every word. There are three tasks in the test (30 items, multiple task questions).
• Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in simple conversations, to respond appropriately to questions of conversational nature based on a limited number of everyday situations, to start a conversation and express themselves in simple (standard) situations. Students are also expected to carry on a conversation about them selves and express their own opinion. The test consists of 4 sections, each of which includes 3 multiple-choice tasks. Two examiners (an Interlocutor and an Assessor) test students.
• Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their knowledge of basic grammar(conjugation, declination, use of tenses) and lexical systems A minimum vocabulary of about 300 words is necessary. The test consists of 4 sections, the total number of multiple choice items being 110. Task types: multiple choice and matching.

INTERMEDIATE (TORFL level 1)

• Reading Competence: Students are able to read small authentic texts (newspapers, magazines, books, etc.) of both informative (factual) and descriptive nature. They must demonstrate the ability to understand the main points as well as specific details. There are three tasks in the test. The total number of items is 20 (multiple-choice questions).
• Writing Competence: Students are expected to reproduce the context of a text (reproduction) and write their own composition, such as a letter, a card, etc. (a productive type task). The written text should contain no less than 20 sentences (110 words).
• Listening Competence: Students are able to understand short oral dialogues and extract factual information (topic, time, relations, characteristics, purposes, causes, etc.). They are also expected to make sense of longer dialogues and attitudes of speakers. Listening texts (announcements, news items, etc.) are also included in the test. There are two tasks in the test (three monologues and three dialogues) with a total of 30 multiple choice questions.
• Oral Competence: Students are tested by two examiners (an Interlocutor and an Assessor). Students are able to participate in a dialogue, respond appropriately to questions of conversational nature, and start and finish their own conversation. Students are also expected to be able to converse on various topics (about themselves, their work, profession, interests, hobbies, families, about their country, their city, etc.). There are 4 parts in the test (14 items).
• Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their knowledge of grammar and lexical systems, making simple statements in standard situations. Required vocabulary is approximately 2000 words. There are four parts in this test (165 items, multiple-choice questions).

ADVANCED (TORFL level 2)

• Reading Competence: Students are able to read fluently various intermediate level texts. Students must show an understanding of the main points as well as of specific details, understand the author's viewpoint and reproduce the given text logically. The test consists of 3 sections, each of which consists of two tasks (text and reading test respectively). The total number of multiple choice (3-4 variants) items is 25.
• Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of texts they have heard or read with the ability to summarize (plans, notes) and to write their own informative texts in the form of personal or business letter, inquiries, applications, etc. Students must complete three tasks: 1) reproduce the heard text in written form; 2) compile their own version of the read text; 3) write a formal or informal text characterizing a person or an object.
• Listening Competence: Students are able to understand everyday life conversations (announcements, news, TV features, etc., which explicitly express speakers' attitudes). Students are able to extract factual information, speakers' intentions, their aims and motives, opinions and relations from the text. There are five parts in the test, each of which contains audio and video items and tasks (25 items, multiple-choice questions).
• Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in a guided conversation, initiate a dialogue asking questions on the topic of the conversation, describe something they have seen, express their opinion, achieve their communicative intentions in a conversation. There are two parts to the test: 1) question answering from recorded texts; 2) role-play with an examiner, where TV news or comments are used to guide and stimulate the interaction.
• Structural competence: Students must be able to demonstrate their ability to use all lexical and grammatical means of the Russian language. The test contains multiple choice questions, word matching and text reconstruction. The total number of items is 150. A vocabulary of about 4000 words is required.

There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all successful candidates.

PROFICIENCY (TORFL level 3)

• Reading Competence: Students are able to understand and interpret appropriately various texts of cultural and business language nature, to read authentic texts, and make elementary text analysis. Students should show various reading skills including scanning and detailed reading and be able to apply and combine these methods. There are four parts in the test, giving a total of about 2500 words (25 items, multiple-choice questions).
• Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of heard and read texts, show their ability to analyze the information (notes, reports, formal/informal letters) in detail. Real world materials (articles, brochures, advertisements, formal/informal letters, etc.) are taken as reference. In addition, candidates must write a composition of a descriptive, narrative or discursive nature (an article, an essay, and a longer letter). Texts are written for a specified purpose and target reader. Students must complete three tasks: 1,2) to reproduce the heard text in written form; 3) to write a composition showing comprehension of the matter and expressing their own attitude to the problem.
• Listening Competence: Students are expected to understand recorded texts in detail including the speakers' attitude and feelings. Texts take the form of radio and TV features, extracts from fiction films, plays, public speeches, etc. There are four parts and 25 items in the test: 1) short dialogue; 2) discussion; 3) public speech; 4) artistic speech (TV or radio feature).
• Oral Competence: Students are able to participate in a guided conversation, initiate a dialogue asking questions on the topic of the conversation, describe something they have seen, express their opinion, achieve their communicative intentions in a conversation. There are two parts to the test: 1) question answering from recorded texts; 2) role-play with an examiner, where TV news or comments are used to guide and stimulate the interaction.
• Structural competence: Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge of the language system, to apply appropriately language units and structures by completing the tasks based partly on authentic texts taking into consideration the texts' stylistic coloring. The test contains the following task types: multiple choice (3-4 choices), matching and text reconstruction/completion/extension. The total number of items is 100.

There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all successful candidates.

FLUENCY (TORFL level 4)

• Reading Competence: Students are expected to understand detailed content, tone and context of various kinds of texts: abstract, professional, fiction, literature. There are four texts in the test, giving a total of about 4000 words (25 items, multiple-choice questions) with exercises in text reconstruction and finishing open closes.
• Writing Competence: Students are expected to write their own versions of any kind of text, to show their ability to analyze the information in great detail. In addition, candidates must write a composition of a descriptive, narrative or discursive nature (an article, an essay, and a long letter). Students must complete three tasks: 1) compile their own text on the basis of a read text; 2, 3 - write a composition without background texts.
• Listening Competence: Students are expected to extract information, interpret speakers' attitudes and recognize the implications of stress and intonation. Texts take the form of radio and TV features, extracts from fiction films, public speeches, etc. There are four parts and 25 items in the test: 1) short dialogue; 2) discussion; 3) public speech; 4) public interview.
• Oral Competence: Students are expected to achieve any aims in both prepared and non-prepared speeches showing skills necessary to build up their communicational strategy and to influence the audience accordingly.
• Structural competence: Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge of the linguistic system, to use actively structural, grammatical and lexical units in separate short texts as well as in extracts from larger texts taking into account their stylistic usage and ability to use appropriate lexical and grammatical means of the Russian language. The test contains the following task types: multiple choice questions, text reconstruction, homonyms and antonyms of words, the total number of items being 100.

There are three pass grades: A, B and C and certificates are awarded to all successful candidates.