(1) The spoken language competence of all currently employed faculty members shall be ascertained by the respective department or college during the annual evaluation. For the purposes of this rule, faculty members include any full-time or part-time faculty involved in classroom instruction, other than courses conducted primarily in a foreign language. Faculty members found to be "potentially" deficient in oral language skills by the evaluator shall be required to achieve a score of "220" on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or a "3" on the Foreign Service Institute Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). Faculty members who score within the range of "190-210" on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or a "2+" on the LPI may teach one semester while enrolled in appropriate English language instruction, beyond which time the score of "220" on the TSE or "3" on the LPI shall be required before the teaching assignment can be continued.
(2) The Department or college shall ascertain the spoken English language proficiency of a prospective faculty member seeking employment. During the interview process a prospective faculty member determined to be potentially deficient in oral language skills by the evaluator shall be required to achieve a score of "220" on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or "3" on the Foreign Service Institute Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) in English before an appointment may be offered for other than foreign language courses. Prospective faculty members who score within the range of "190-210" on the TSE or who achieve a "2+" on the LPI may teach one semester while enrolled in appropriate English language instruction, beyond which time the score of "220" on the TSE or a "3" on the LPI shall be required before the teaching assignment can be continued.
Spoken English Competency must be certified each semester for all new faculty, adjunct faculty, and graduate teaching assistants in the Office of the Dean of the Faculties. Help in determining the competence of international teaching assistants is available through Spoken English. (In the FSU Schedule of Classes, Spoken English courses are listed in the Department of English under the ENS prefix.) Spoken English offers evaluative services which can assist in making decisions about an individual's level of oral proficiency. Among the services offered is the SPEAK, a test replicating the Test of Spoken English (TSE), but administered and scored at Florida State. The SPEAK is administered several times in the week(s) prior to the beginning of each semester, and the scores are available within two or three days of the date the test is administered. Departments are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to receive an initial estimate of speaking ability. Course offerings in Spoken English, as well as test dates for pre-semester SPEAK tests, are published in fliers distributed periodically to departments.
Certification must be accomplished for newly appointed teaching assistants by submitting through the dean of the school or college a memorandum listing in one section those who are certified and in another section those requiring remediation along with the options for remediation. This memorandum must be submitted at the beginning of each period for which new teaching assistants are appointed and should include only those for whom there has been no certification for a previous appointment.
In appropriate cases, after remedial procedures have been completed, a memorandum listing those certified shall be submitted. Spoken English Competency is indicated on each appointment paper for new faculty members involved in classroom instruction (other than courses conducted primarily in a foreign language.)