The English Proficiency Interview (EPI) is one of three ways graduate students can demonstrate oral English proficiency for teaching, which includes face-to-face instruction, office hours, accompanying/coaching, and blended or online instruction. The EPI is a face-to-face interview that elicits language skills necessary for successful communication in instructional settings, including competence with basic terminology for academic disciplines and the interactive skills needed for negotiation of meaning. It does not assess test takers' topical knowledge or teaching skills.

Students can demonstrate oral English proficiency in the following three ways:

• Take the TOEFL and receive a speaking subscore of 24 or higher
• Take the IELTS and receive a speaking subscore of 8 or higher
• Take the EPI and receive a score of 4CP, 5, or 6

Some on-campus students choose, for example, to take TOEFL and focus only on the speaking subtest. Others prefer to take the EPI.

TOEFL and IELTS scores must be less than two years old from the first day of class at the proposed term of graduate program entry in order to be valid. Scores must be officially reported to the university.

EPI scores remain valid as long as the student is continuously enrolled as a graduate student at Illinois.

Requirements for teaching are different from requirements for Graduate admission.

Graduate students who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must provide evidence of spoken English language proficiency, regardless of country of origin, nationality, or the language of instruction in any high school, undergraduate, or graduate degree program they may have previously completed.

Exempt: Students who have continuously attended English-medium schools since age 13 in Australia, Anglophone Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States are exempt from the English proficiency requirement and are cleared for teaching.

Not exempt: Students who completed an undergraduate and/or master's degree at Illinois or another US university are not exempt. Nor are students who were exempted from providing a TOEFL iBT or IELTS score for graduate admission.

Completion of an undergraduate and/or master's degree at Illinois or another US institution does not result in eligibility for appointment as a TA at Illinois. Students who have completed a degree program here or elsewhere in the US are required to demonstrate oral English proficiency for teaching prior to being appointed as a graduate TA. See exemptions here.

The proficiency levels required for success as a student and as a teacher differ substantially. Students must achieve a high level of oral English proficiency for teaching. The level of oral English proficiency required to be successful as a student may be lower, given that students often rely most heavily on their English writing, reading, and listening skills to complete their coursework. Additionally, oral English proficiency may decline over the course of several years while here in the US if the student is not using English frequently and not actively taking steps to maintain proficiency or improve. Because of these factors, the university requires testing to ensure that TAs and their students have a successful teaching and learning experience.

Passing scores received prior to undergraduate admission are expired and no longer valid. Scores must be less than two years old from the first day of class at the proposed term of graduate program entry in order to be valid for TA eligibility.

Students with expired passing TOEFL or IELTS speaking scores must retake the TOEFL or IELTS or take the EPI.

In most cases, no. Graders are exempt from demonstrating oral English proficiency if they have no oral interaction with students. Graders who have oral interactions with students (e.g., through office hours) must demonstrate oral English proficiency.

Illinois' policy for Graders may be found here.

The EPI will take place during each semester. EPI dates are posted and updated regularly on the EPI Schedule section of this website.

The EPI Coordinator emails Department EPI contacts a link to the EPI registration form. Departments can expect to receive the registration email in early September (for Fall), early February (for Spring), and early June (for Summer).

Students are allowed 3 attempts at the EPI and may take it no more than once per semester.

Example: A student takes the EPI in the Fall semester and receives a failing score. He or she then enrolls in an approved ESL course in the following Spring term. The student is eligible to re-take the EPI as early as late April, provided the student is in good standing in the course. If the student receives a failing score after the April interview, he or she may enroll in an ESL course in the following Summer term and retake the EPI as early as late July, if in good standing in the course.

Important note: Some students may need substantial time to develop oral English proficiency sufficient for teaching. In particular, students who received a TOEFL speaking score of 20 or below or an EPI score of 3 or below may need a year or more of ESL study to be ready to teach. Additionally, the pass rate is about 40% for students who take the EPI three times in 12 months or less. Language improvement takes time and dedication--there are no shortcuts.

Department contacts should send an email to citl-epi@illinois.edu to tell us about cancellations. Students may not cancel by contacting CITL directly.

Whenever possible, departments should cancel exams at least 7 days prior to the scheduled interview time, so the time slot can be offered to another student. If the exam is not cancelled at least two business days prior to the exam and the student does not attend, this "no show" will be counted as one of the student's three EPI attempts.

Cancellations within the 2-day window: In the rare cases when a student discovers at the last minute that they cannot attend the EPI due to illness or an emergency, please contact us to cancel the interview. The EPI Coordinator may ask for additional information to determine whether this instance should count as an EPI attempt.

If the student doesn't attend his or her scheduled EPI and the department has not notified CITL of the cancellation as least two business days in advance, this absence will be recorded as a "no show" and will count as one of the student's three EPI attempts.

The 15-minute interview begins with a warm-up, continues with the core section, and ends with a wrap-up.

During the core section of the interview, the interviewer will ask general questions about the examinee and about university life. During the interview, test takers will also be asked to explain academic terms from the field of study of the desired teaching assistantship (provided by the interviewer). The explanations simulate language tasks that are typical of an academic classroom setting.

A sample EPI video appears here.

The EPI assesses test takers’ speaking ability in terms of five features: Fluency, Linguistic Accuracy, Discourse Management, Question Handling and Listening, and Listener effort. 

• Fluency: smoothness in delivery and frequency of hesitations and re-starts.
• Linguistic Accuracy: pronunciation and grammatical accuracy (minor errors may occur); vocabulary range appropriate for teaching.
• Discourse Management: the ability to develop and organize ideas and to speak at length.
• Question Handling and Listening: the ability to give appropriate answers, and negotiation skills for communication.
• Listener Effort: the ease or difficulty in processing the examinee’s speech.

Students receive a holistic score ranging from 2-6.

Level	Description	Result
Level 6	Communication is always effective; speaker has sophisticated language skills appropriate for a teaching context.	Pass; student is permitted to be a TA with no restrictions
Level 5	Communication is generally effective; speaker has satisfactory language skills at ranges appropriate for a teaching context.
Level 4CP	Communication is generally effective; however due to isolated weakness, communication is occasionally difficult. Further ESL coursework is required during or before the first semester of teaching in order to refine the speaker’s language skills for a teaching context.	Conditional Pass; student is required to successfully complete ESL 508 during or before the first semester of teaching
Level 4	Communication is somewhat effective. Inconsistent performance indicates speaker is not ready to be a classroom instructor.	Non-passing; student is NOT permitted to be a TA and must retake the exam
Level 3	Communication is marginally effective; speaker has limited language skills for a teaching context.
Level 2	Communication is generally not effective; speaker has unsatisfactory language for a teaching context.

Within 10 days after a student completes the EPI, the student’s Official EPI Score Report will be placed in a secure location accessible only to your department. You should receive an email notification when the report is available. If you need assistance accessing your students’ score reports, please let us know so we can help. EPI scores also will be available in Banner approximately 2 weeks after a student’s EPI date.

EPI Department Contacts are responsible for notifying their students about their EPI scores in FERPA-compliant manner.

Students who receive a score of 4CP on the EPI may teach provided they enroll in (and successfully complete) ESL 508: Seminar for International TAs. They may take this course prior to their first semester of teaching OR may take it concurrently with their first semester of teaching. Students should contact Dr. Suzanne Franks, coordinator of the ESL-ITA courses, for details.

No. A score of 4CP is a passing score and indicates that the student is eligible to teach. Only students scoring 2, 3, or 4 may retake the EPI.

If a student does NOT pass the EPI, s/he may retake the test after successful completion of an English improvement activity. Students have a maximum of 3 EPI attempts. English improvement activity options include one or both of the following (but only one option is required):

1) enroll in one of the three ITA-focused ESL courses (ESL 504, 506, or 510), or

2) start working with an approved EPI tutor.

If the student selects tutoring for the improvement activity, the following requirements apply:

• Students must meet with the tutor at least once a week for a minimum of 8 weeks.
• Students who received a 4 on the EPI must complete a minimum of 10 hours of tutoring.
• Students with an EPI score of 3 must complete a minimum of 20 hours of tutoring before retaking the EPI.

Students who receive a 3 on their second EPI attempt are strongly encouraged to arrange for an individual language assessment meeting with the ITA Program Coordinator in the Linguistics Department. This one-hour consultation is free of charge. At this meeting, the student will be given a diagnostic exam. Based on that exam, a study plan will be developed to guide the student’s oral English improvement.

Students who fail the EPI may also take the TOEFL or IELTS as often as needed to achieve the minimum required speaking score.

The Department of Linguistics offers English as a Second Language (ESL) courses designed to help current ITAs and prospective ITAs develop their oral English and teaching skills.

ESL 504: English Pronunciation for ITAs

ESL 506: Oral Communication Skills for ITAs

ESL 508: Seminar for International TAs
Enrollment in ESL 508 is limited to students who receive a score of Conditional Pass on the EPI and to current ITAs who would like to improve their English proficiency or pedagogical skills. Contact Dr. Suzanne Franks for details.

The English Proficiency Interview (EPI) tutors list is specifically for students who need to prepare for the EPI, including those who need to complete an English Improvement Activity in order to retake the EPI. Tutors on this list are approved tutors for the English Proficiency Interview (EPI).

Other campus and community English language learning opportunities can be found here.

Free high-quality online resources, including http://www.englishcentral.com and https://www.duolingo.com/ , for working on academic and everyday English, including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, and fluency.