The Test of Interactive English (TIE) is an international EFL exam developed in Ireland by a group of Irish English language professionals under the aegis of the Advisory Council for English Language Schools (ACELS), a government agency which was responsible at that time for quality assurance in English language teaching.

This exam is available to students of all levels; however, we recommend it for students studying at elementary and pre-intermediate level. This is a very enjoyable exam for students to prepare for as they don’t have to study in the traditional sense. The exam has a speaking section and a writing section, but most of the work must be done before exam day.

There are 3 parts to prepare:

THE INVESTIGATION

This is a small research project that students do on a topic of their choice. This could be anything from research about their own city to a project about their favourite museum or about their favourite type of music. Students compile all of their information in a notebook and print pictures to add to it. On exam day, they bring their project and either talk about it in the speaking test or write about it in the written test.

THE BOOK

Students have to prepare a review of a book they have read in English. If they have not read a book in English, we have many, many, many graded readers in the SEDA library that the students can borrow. They read the book and write a short review. On exam day, they bring the book to the exam and discuss it or write about it.

THE NEWS STORY

This is a very practical part of the exam. Students have to choose a news topic and follow it in the news for that week to keep track of the changes within the story. They do this through news websites, the newspaper, TV and radio so they are exposed to as many news sources as possible. They also prepare a journal called a Logbook which tracks their progress.

CERTIFICATE: No

Teacher: David Quigley

Duration: 47 min