New and Redesigned Question Types Coming on the Duolingo English Test

The Duolingo English Test (DET) stands as a convenient, fast, and affordable English proficiency test designed with the test taker in mind. Leveraging the latest assessment science and AI, the test empowers individuals to certify their English proficiency at their convenience. The DET test scores are recognized by over 5000 programs globally, including prestigious institutions such as Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Warwick, and Yale University.

In a stride towards continued excellence and innovation, the Duolingo English Test (DET)  recently announced updates to its test with new and redesigned question types. These advancements aim to elevate the testing experience by enhancing convenience, accuracy, and security, ensuring a more comprehensive evaluation of English proficiency. The changes are set to be implemented from April 2, 2024. Test takers who wish to take the test without these changes have the option to take the certified test before April 2, 2024.

New and Redesigned Question Types

Duolingo English has recently introduced some new and redesigned question types for their English proficiency test. These changes aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of your English skills. Here’s a rundown of the updates:

Interactive Writing

Expanding upon the existing ‘Read, Then Write’ question, the Interactive Writing feature encourages test takers to elaborate on their ideas. Test takers will read a prompt and write about it for 5 minutes. What’s new is  the follow-up prompt related to the original one, providing an additional 3 minutes to elaborate on the idea, resulting  in a total duration of 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Interactive Writing will contribute to the overall Duolingo English Test score, more specifically to the Literacy and Production subscores.

Pro tip: Use all of the time you have to make sure your response is the best it can be. Write as much as you can, as long as you are using English effectively and it is relevant to the topic

Read and Select

The Read and Select section asks test takers to identify actual English words from multiple options on a single screen. Post-update, test takers still select real words, but now they will be presented one by one on multiple screens, allowing 5 seconds for each selection. This increases the efficiency of the test and accurately assesses the size of your vocabulary. You can expect approximately 15-18 words in this section. It will continue to contribute to the Literacy and Comprehension subscores.

Pro tip: There could be any number of real words in this section, so don’t worry if there are more or fewer real words. While some words may look real, you really need to trust your instinct with this one, before you hit the YES or NO button for each. 

Fill in the Blanks

The new Fill in the Blanks question assesses the depth and breadth of a test taker’s vocabulary. It assesses not only your ability to recognize a word but also your understanding of how to use it in context. In this section you can expect a total of 6-9 sentences with one unfinished word that you need to fill in. You will have 20 seconds to correctly fill in the missing word. Around 6-9 sentences can be expected in this part. Your performance in Fill in the Blanks will be considered in determining your overall Duolingo English Test score. More precisely, it will impact the Literacy and Comprehension subscores.

Pro-tip: Make sure you read the whole sentence carefully and do not skip to the blank before it. You will also have context clues for your assistance so make sure you optimise them during your test to get your best score. 

To try out the new and redesigned question types, take a practice test at your convenience!

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