Computer says no: Irish vet fails oral English test needed to stay in Australia

[Yossarian]

An Irish veterinarian with degrees in history and politics has been unable to convince a machine she can speak English well enough to stay in Australia.

Louise Kennedy is a native English speaker, has excellent grammar and a broad vocabulary. She holds two university degrees – both obtained in English – and has been working in Australia as an equine vet on a skilled worker visa for the past two years.

But she is now scrambling for other visa options after a computer-based English test – scored by a machine – essentially handed her a fail in terms of convincing immigration officers she can fluently speak her own language.

Earlier this year, Kennedy decided she would seek permanent residency in Australia on the grounds of her vocation, as a shortage profession. She knew she would have to sit a mandatory English proficiency test but was shocked when she got the results of her Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic.

While she blitzed all other components of the test including writing and reading, she failed to reach the minimum score immigration requires in oral fluency. She got 74 when the government requires 79.

[....]

“There’s obviously a flaw in their computer software, when a person with perfect oral fluency cannot get enough points,” she said.

Pearson has categorically denied there is anything wrong with its computer-based test or the scoring engine trained to analyse candidates’ responses.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...oral-english-test-needed-to-stay-in-australia

I'm betting if she had spoken English in a Chinese or desi accent, instead of an Irish accent, she would have passed with flying colours.
[MENTION=732]Gilly[/MENTION] Comment?

 

[kingusama92]

Must have a mighty thick Irish accent.

 

[Varun]

Native speakers of English always fare poorly in any test - oral or otherwise, than people from countries who actually have to make an effort learning the language growing up.

Nothing new here.

 

[Yossarian]

Native speakers of English always fare poorly in any test - oral or otherwise, than people from countries who actually have to make an effort learning the language growing up.

Nothing new here.

Yes of course you're right. Since their native language is foreign to them. Even if their written English is good enough to pass university degrees in History and Politics (both studied in English). I guess that's why call centres employ non-native English speakers as opposed to native English speakers.

 

[Yossarian]

Must have a mighty thick Irish accent.

Or the system was trained by some newly arrived Chinese or desi immigrant.

 

[Varun]

Yes of course you're right. Since their native language is foreign to them.

Yep - they won't know how to make out a pronoun from an adjective from an idiom from a good old antonym. These tests usually don't like things like that.

 

[Yossarian]

Yep - they won't know how to make out a pronoun from an adjective from an idiom from a good old antonym. These tests usually don't like things like that.

She failed an oral test. But passed with flying colours the written tests. "How to make out a pronoun from an adjective from an idiom from a good old antonym" might be the centre piece of conversations where you come from, but it's not a hot topic of everyday conversation in the English speaking world where spoken English is the native language.

 

[CricketCartoons]

She failed an oral test. But passed with flying colours the written tests. "How to make out a pronoun from an adjective from an idiom from a good old antonym" might be the centre piece of conversations where you come from, but it's not a hot topic of everyday conversation in the English speaking world where spoken English is the native language.

Maybe she failed because she pronounced austraya as australia. That is like failing the litmus test.

 

[Yossarian]

Maybe she failed because she pronounced austraya as australia. That is like failing the litmus test.

An Irish woman? Only if she thought the question related to Austria.