The Oral Communication Video Assessment (OCVA) is a brief, private diagnostic test of your ability to speak English effectively and intelligibly in a real-world setting. It’s personalized, it’s private, and there’s nothing else like it!
By participating in the OCVA each semester, you will have a clear picture of how your spoken English skills are developing and the progress you’ve made during your time at Baruch!
Spring 2025 availability (Zoom):
Mondays, 11am-12pm
Tuesdays, 10am-11am
Limited availability for by appointment scheduling: tfcs@baruch.cuny.edu
Click on any of the headings below to learn more about the OCVA.
At TfCS, we believe that awareness is the first step toward greater intelligibility, confidence, and improved communication. We offer the OCVA so that you can experience a more objective view of your individual communicative challenges, and understand which skills you possess, as well as those you might need to work on. Quite simply, the OCVA is the best way to see your progress and continue to improve!
Don’t worry: it’s not scary! You will enter into a relaxed, friendly atmosphere when taking the OCVA. You will be greeted by our TfCS staff members, who will answer any questions you might have about the process. Your OCVA will be kept private and will only be accessible by you and the TfCS staff, so there’s no need to feel self-conscious or bashful. This is your time to practice, and our staff is here to help you improve your communication skills.
During the assessment, you will be video-recorded while you complete four simple oral tasks, which include:
- Reading a passage aloud
- Responding to a visual aid
- Describing a personal experience
- Role-playing simple everyday situations
The assessment itself takes no more than 20 minutes to complete.
Following the assessment, at least two professional speech consultants in the TfCS program will review your video and score it based on criteria from the OCVA Speaking Ability Rubric. These scores and detailed comments will be provided for you privately on Vocat, which is an online portfolio developed by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Baruch College.
You will be able to privately review your video, scores, and helpful comments left by the TfCS speech consultants. You can also discuss your scored OCVA in a One-to-One Session with a speech consultant.
You should take the assessment each semester to have a clear picture of how your spoken English skills are developing, as well as the progress you’ve made during your time at Baruch.
You will enter into a relaxed, friendly atmosphere when taking the Oral Communication Video Assessment. You will be greeted by a TfCS staff member, who will answer any questions you might have about the process. The TfCS staff is here to make you feel comfortable and help you improve your communication skills, so don’t be afraid to ask them anything at all.
Upon entering the room, you will see a camera set up. We understand that at first it might be uncomfortable to speak on camera, but you should try to relax and focus on speaking directly to the speech consultant. In fact, there is no need to make eye contact with the camera during the Assessment. You can pretend that it’s not even in the room!
Once you are comfortable and ready to begin, simply follow the directions of the speech consultant and do your best!
Be sure to read your confirmation email carefully, as it contains the room number and time for your assessment. Please show up five minutes early so that you can relax and focus on communicating clearly!
If you have time beforehand, you can do some warm-up exercises to get your muscles ready.
It is also a good idea to read the overview of the assessment description below.
The assessment is about 20 minutes long and consists of 4 tasks.
Task 1 – Read a Passage Aloud In task 1, you will be asked to read a passage aloud. This first task is called a “Controlled Practice Task” because we are controlling the words you will say. This task measures the “mechanics” of English such as pronunciation of single sounds and intonation.
Tasks 2 and 3 – Respond to Questions
In tasks 2 and 3, you will be asked to respond to questions. These two tasks are called “Independent Speaking Tasks” because you will draw exclusively on your own experiences and ideas to answer the questions. These questions are designed to elicit specific grammatical structures and measure your fluency and command, as well as your ability to develop and present your ideas coherently.
Task 4 – Role-play
In task 4, you will be asked to role-play a situation that is typical of a social or professional setting. You will have to interact with the audience (answering questions, calling the audience’s attention, etc.). This task is called an “Integrated Speaking Task” because it requires you to integrate your English language skills (Listening, Speaking, and Pragmatics).
You will have the written directions for each task in front of you. The speech consultant will be reading the task directions. If you don’t understand what you are being asked to do, take your time, reread the directions on your own, and then ask your speech consultant to clarify. The entire test will be video recorded and scored by two experienced and normed raters who are professional speech consultants in the Tools for Clear Speech program.
Task 1 – Raters will score your pronunciation, stress, intonation, and intelligibility.
Tasks 2, 3, and 4 – Raters will score how clear and fluid your speech is, how effectively you use grammar and vocabulary to convey your ideas, how fully and coherently you present your ideas, and how well you put together your communicative strategies to meet social language norms and expectations.Click below to see the rubric for the assessment.
When your assessment is scored and ready for your review, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to access it. Your video, scores, and comments will be available on your private Vocat page and will be visible to no one other than the Tools for Clear Speech staff.
After accessing your scores and comments on Vocat, take some time to fully review your assessment and understand the critique that the speech consultants have provided. You should watch the full assessment at least twice to understand your challenges and progress. In addition, you may schedule a One-to-One Session with a speech consultant to discuss your assessment.
The assessment will only be accessible by you and the TfCS staff.
To sign up for the Oral Communication Video Assessment, log in to the TfCS online scheduler and choose “Oral Communication Video Assessment” from the drop-down menu. Choose an open appointment that fits your schedule and enter the required information. You will receive a confirmation email after you complete the appointment form.
Please show up five minutes early so that you can relax and focus on communicating clearly! Please do not be late.
That’s ok! It’s completely understandable to be a bit scared about being video recorded or seeing yourself on camera. We totally get it, and we do not want you to feel uncomfortable.
However, we ask you to keep these things in mind as you think it over:
The OCVA is private, and no one else will have access to your video, your scores, or the comments made by the speech consultants (other than, of course, the consultants themselves).
TfCS has assessed and scored over 160 students in the past academic year, and some of them are probably your friends! Ask around and see if you know anyone who’s taken the OCVA. Have a conversation with them about their experience. We think you will be happy and feel relieved!
If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at TfCS@baruch.cuny.edu.
Ok, I’m in. Where do I sign up?
To make an appointment, click on the button below and select the OCVA schedule from the drop-down menu before signing in.