Duolingo English Test is an English proficiency test just like IELTS, TOEFL, or PTE, including tons of different question types. There are two main categories, Question types with correct answers, and Open response question types.
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I. Question types with correct answers
All question types in this category are evaluated immediately right after you submit your answers following special procedures developed specifically for each question type. Test-takers can get partial scores in some question types, but the others, test-takers receive binary scores.
To understand how each question type is scored in detail, go read this article for your comprehensive understanding.
II. Open response question types
The DET evaluates your Writing and Speaking skills similar to other proficiency tests. Mainly, DET evaluates your Writing and Speaking based on the following elements.
the correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy in the grammar)
the variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity in the grammar)
the level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication in the lexis)
the variety of word choice (lexical diversity in the lexis)
how well you answer the question that was asked (content)
how coherent your answer is (coherence)
how much you can say in a limited time - for speaking questions (fluency)
the pronunciation and pace of your speech - for speaking questions (acoustic features)
Test-takers advise other test-takers to practice more and more, but it isn’t very specific to help you prepare for your Duolingo English Test. On our side, we strongly recommend you fully understand all elements and know how to improve each of them.
We already have tips to advance your skills; let’s explore and apply them to practice.
1. Grammatical Accuracy
Obviously, this is one of the most important elements to assess language learners’ skills. If you use correct grammar, people will understand you perfectly. Otherwise, your conversation will be misunderstood.
If you only aim for 90-110 DET overall scores, you should focus on using basic grammar points to get the highest score from this element, as it’s much easier than learning and using complex structures in a short time.
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2. Grammatical Complexity
The more various grammar points you apply, the higher score you get. There are a ton of them, including tenses, passive voice, if clauses, relative clauses, if only, prepositions, conjunctions, reported speech, etc.
Again, if you only aim for 90-110 Duolingo English Test overall scores, you don’t need to use complex grammar structures. However, if you want to achieve at least 120 overall scores, there is no way but to learn a variety of grammar points and apply them on your test day.
3. Lexical Sophistication
We have six levels, including A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. If you use B2 to C2 word levels most of the time, you will definitely achieve high scores. On the contrary, you shall get a not-too-high score if you only use A1 or A2 word levels.
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4. Lexical diversity
How many synonyms for “House” do you know? Home, shelter, condo, apartment, and so many other ways to express “House”. If you can use diverse words that express the same thing, you will definitely achieve higher scores on your Duolingo English Test.
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5. Content
There are cases where test-takers got uncertified results because they didn’t answer the questions. In other words, they talked about irrelevant things to the questions. You should be careful, as it’s pretty easy to get off the topic when you don’t know how to organise your answers coherently.
No worries, we have developed and built strategies for all question types to support your Duolingo English Test preparation. Let’s go to Duolingo Practice Test Strategies, read them thoroughly, and apply them to practice.
6. Coherence
This is a new grading element added to the DET assessment procedures from April 02, 2024, in order to offer a more accurate evaluation to DET takers.
It evaluates how coherent and organised your answers are in Writing and Speaking. To explain it briefly, moving one point to another needs a connection, so how do you connect two points in your answers?
7. Fluency
The more you write and speak, the higher score you will get. This element evaluates how fast you can write or speak in a limited amount of time.
In speaking questions such as Speak About the Photo, Read then Speak, and Listen then Speak, test-takers must speak for at least 30 seconds to submit their answers. Nonetheless, DET is an English proficiency test, so we strongly recommend you speak as much as you can.
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8. Acoustic features
This seems pretty strange to many people, but if you intend to take the Duolingo English Test, you need to understand it comprehensively. Acoustic features assess your Pronunciation and Pace.
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From April 02 2024, the Duolingo English Test added three new questions and updated a new grading element. Please take the utmost look to comprehend new updates.
III. Tips to practice and improve your skills
1. Practice on the DET Platform and learn from your mistakes
On your DET Practice Platform, you have thousands of practice questions and instant feedback for your Speaking and Writing answers.
We evaluate your answers based on the same elements that the Duolingo English Test assesses your English proficiency, including Fluency, Grammatical accuracy, Lexical sophistication, Lexical diversity,and Acoustic features. After submitting your answer, you will see detailed feedback as above.
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For example, regarding your Acoustic features, you will know what words you pronounce incorrectly with a specific score. Therefore, you can recheck their pronunciation and improve it. Feel free to check our sample feedback.
A new feature: Since April 2023, we already launched the History Feedback Page that saves Speaking, Writing, and Full Tests results in 24 hours. If sometimes a speaking question takes more than 3 minutes to proceed, we strongly recommend students follow this guide to check its feedback on your History Feedback Page.
2. General tips for Speaking and Writing questions
Speaking and Writing in DET, IELTS, TOEFL, or PTE is the same. If you excel at speaking and writing, it will not be a challenge to aim for high scores. Our Academic team has shared several ways to boost your Speaking and Writing generally; let’s check them all out.
Practice is still the most important key to success in any field. Therefore, reading all strategies and applying them to practice will ensure your Duolingo English Test desired scores. Go to your Duolingo Practice Test platform, create your FREE account, and practice all question types today.
