The Duolingo English Test just updated something new about the test on their website, and everything will be applicable from 1 May 2023. All upcoming updates will directly affect test takers' scores. What are these updates? How do they affect our scores? And how to get high DET scores when these new updates are in effect?
We will be exploring everything in this article.
*Special: Each DET costs $59
The price of each DET increased to $59 since this article was published. If DET takers are not confident in taking the test the first time, we strongly recommend getting a package of two.
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Moreover, the DET also offers certified results in 12 hours with an additional fee of $40. If you're running out of time, this service could be a lifesaver.
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1. Listen and Select will be removed from the DET
Why was the Listen and Select item type removed? – A question that countless DET takers asked recently. To cite from the Duolingo English Test, they explained that the Listen and Select item type was removed to make room on the test for the new Interactive Listening, which also contributes to Conversation and Comprehension, like Listen and Select did.
To explain it in detail, we strongly believe that Listen and Select didn’t thoroughly evaluate DET takers compared to other question types. As a result, the DET has always researched new question types to replace Listen and Select, which helps improve the accuracy of evaluation of the Listening skill.
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As far as we’re concerned, this is good news. The Listen and Select question type was considered one of the most challenging questions as we were only able to listen to one word at a time, so there were no clues whatsoever to help us identify the real words. Most of the time, it mainly depended on DET takers’ vocabulary bank to decide.
2. Speaking Sample will become a scored question
The Speaking Sample will become a scored question from May 1st, 2023, and be a part of your overall score and relevant sub-scores. It’s the same as other Speaking question types, which contribute to Conversation and Production. Everything else stays the same when it was an unscored question.
In order to increase the amount of scored speaking and give DET takers a greater opportunity to show off their Speaking skills, the DET has made this change. There will still be only one Speaking Sample as the DET wants to keep the test as short as 1 hour.
Because the Speaking Sample is nothing different from other Speaking question types, the way the Speaking Sample will be scored is the same as Read then Speak, Listen then Speak or Speak About the Photo. The Duolingo English Test evaluates DET takers’ skills based on Fluency, Grammatical Accuracy, Grammatical Complexity, Lexical Diversity, Lexical Sophistication, Relevance, and Acoustic Features.
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No worries if you haven’t found a place for your preparation yet. The DET Practice - TADE Hub platform already launched the Speaking Sample question to help you prepare. FREE users can experience one free question, and there is NO additional fee to access our library if you are a Premium member!
3. Interactive Listening will be added to the test
The Interactive Listening set will be added to the Duolingo English Test, taking effect on May 1st, 2023, including two new question types: Listen and Respond, and Summarize the Conversation.
This new set of questions is a conversation between you and a peer or a professor. It helps assess longer-form listening and other skills used for academic purposes. Basically, this new set offers great opportunities to increase our overall and all four sub-scores.
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We also launched Interactive Listening on the DET Practice Platform. Let's go experience everything and prepare for your Duolingo English Test.
DET takers can take a look at this article for everything we need to know about the Interactive Listening section.
