English Literacy Skills Assessment
The English Literacy Skills Assessment is a tool to manage the expectations of learners, trainers, and prospective employers and to promote successful workplace communication.
What is ELSA
ELSA, short for English Literacy Skills Assessment, is a language-based assessment that also incorporates basic numeracy.
ELSA measures a person’s ability to integrate listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English. The assessment benchmarks the candidate’s current skills level against the expected competency level of an English mother tongue speaker. Results are expressed in formal learning years in English. It is also equated to NQF levels, equivalent school grades and the CEF (Common European Framework) outcomes. The individual report maps the language strengths and weaknesses of the candidate.
The English Literacy Skills Assessment Applications
English is the language of the work, study and training environment.
Talent Management
ELSA empowers organisations to make well-informed recruitment decisions, strategically place individuals in development programs, and enhance talent management choices. Ensure that your workforce’s language skills align with the demands of the professional landscape.
Production Impact
Understand the direct impact of communication skills on production. The English Literacy Skills Assessment provides quantifiable insights into companywide communication effectiveness, allowing organisations to create an environment of effective communication and improve overall productivity.
Fluency Tailored to You
ELSA offers a thorough assessment of your English literacy skills, providing insights benchmarked against native speakers. Identify your English comfort zone with ELSA’s detailed evaluation. Acknowledge your strengths, and identify opportunities for improvement. From basic survival skills to native speaker proficiency, pinpoint where you stand and tailor your learning path accordingly.
Map Your Development Progress
Use ELSA’s proficiency levels (Base Survivor to Native) as a map for your development progress. Track your journey and focus on enhancing specific skills to move seamlessly through the proficiency spectrum.
What’s your English comfort zone?
English Comfort Zones Measured in formal education years
01
The Base Survivor
You find it hard to cope in situations where you need to use English.
02
The Survivor
You have some basic skills to survive in situations where you need to use English, but you don’t feel comfortable and often doubt yourself.
03
The Social Navigator
You have the skills to cope in situations where you need to use English among friends and people that you are comfortable with.
04
The Workplace Survivor
You cope in English in a casual work environment doing routine tasks in a familiar setting. You feel stressed or worried when dealing with change.
05
The Workplace Navigator
You manage in English in a familiar work setting. You can discuss professional matters, but sometimes feel frustrated when your fluency stops you from sharing your ideas.
06
The Workplace Operator
You mostly communicate in English with ease. When you come across unfamiliar words, you have enough context to “fake it till you make it”.
07
The Professional
You mostly communicate in English with ease. When you come across unfamiliar words, you have enough context to “fake it till you make it”.
08
The Native
Congratulations! You are a Master of English! Native speaker proficiency is a very high level of competence for a non-native speaker.
English Literacy Skills Assessment Options
Paper & Pen Assessment
SUPERVISED
An in-house supervised assessment of English skills.
ELSA Elementary
- Measures foundational (social) skills from 0 to 9 (fine-tuned)
- Blue Collar workers (non-office settings)
- Placement in foundational learning
ELSA Elementary
- Measures from 0 to 12+
- White Collar workers (office settings)
- Claims a matric qualification
e-ELSA
An online assessment for computer-literate candidates or employees.
What We Tell Our ELSA Candidates
Zanele makes sense of her ELSA experience in this short three-part video series.
Why the ELSA?
ELSA determines your English comfort level.
What does ELSA measure
ELSA measures your ability to use the four basic skills – listen, speak, read and write.
The ELSA report
Understanding your results and the report.
English Literacy Statistics
What we’ve learned from
ELSAs in 13 years
The average South African:
Functions at an English skills level expected of mother-tongue users after seven years of formal learning.
36% of South Africans are Functionally Literate
* Basic literacy and numeracy skills to cope with life and work in English.
64% of South Africans are not Functionally literate
* Threshold at 8 years of language exposure competence
The average South African is NOT Functionally Literate in English!
Why Should I Care?
ENGLISH is the language of the work, study and training environment, but it is not necessarily the language of the people. Whether you are a student, CEO, leader, employee, employer or entrepreneur, we tend to agree with Stephen Wang:
“Your success will be determined 5% by your academic credentials, 15% by your professional experiences, and 80% by your communication skills.”
Consult with Us
Find out how to use and select the correct ELSA, learn more about reports and sign up as an ELSA user.