The Graduate Student Instructor Oral English Test (GSI OET) is a procedure for testing the spoken English of prospective graduate student instructors whose undergraduate education was at an institution in which the language of instruction is not English. The evaluation procedure is a performance test that consists of four tasks that assess a test taker’s competence and effectiveness in the type of communication typically used by GSIs at the University of Michigan.
The test evaluates proficiency at the high intermediate to advanced level. The tasks and evaluation criteria of the GSI OET also serve as diagnostic tools to identify linguistic strengths and weaknesses of a test taker. A rating of B or higher is required to be approved for an appointment as a GSI.
Test Format
The GSI OET is semi-structured, face-to-face, involves one test taker and 2-3 evaluators (senior, junior, and optional faculty). It contains four scored tasks (Warm-Up, Lesson Presentation, Office-Hour Role Play, Video Questions). The test lasts 14-15 minutes, and is audiotaped for quality assurance purposes.
Rating Guidelines
Evaluators rate test takers in real time. During the test, each evaluator writes comments based on the evaluation criteria. At the end of the test, the test taker leaves the room, and each evaluator independently rates the prospective GSI using the holistic rating scale. Evaluators then discuss the linguistic strengths and weaknesses of the test taker to reach a final rating.
Recently, the scores have changed from numeric to alpha scores; however, the English language proficiency required to pass the test has not changed. The table below will help compare the old scores with the new scores.
| GSI OET Score | Eligible to teach? |
| A | Yes |
| B | Yes |
| C | No |
| D | No |