Deuce: a Test-bed for Evaluating Esl Competence Criteria

This paper describes work in progress to apply a Webbased facility for evaluating differing criteria for English language competence. The proposed system, Discriminated Evaluation of User’s Competence with English (DEUCE), addresses the problem of determining the efficacy of individual criteria for competence in English as a Second Language (ESL). We describe the rationale, design and application of DEUCE and outline its potential as a discriminator for ESL competence criteria and as a basis for low cost mass ESL competence testing.