Specialist language tests for the nursing profession
“Goethe-Test PRO Pflege” and “telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege”

In order to attract people from abroad to nursing professions in Germany, the first thing you need is adequate proficiency in the language. There are currently two exams that can be used to prove specialist language skills in the healthcare field: “Goethe-Test PRO Pflege” and “telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege”.

By Nikoloz Lomtadze

While telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege has been offered since 2013 as a specialist German language test for nursing staff, an innovative and interesting alternative was added in 2019 at level B2 in the shape of Goethe-Test PRO Pflege.
 
This article is concerned firstly with providing some insight into the examination format of the Goethe-Test PRO Pflege, which is still very new and therefore little known, and secondly to assist people who are trying to find which exam is right for them.
 
Both tests are aimed at individuals who hold a recognised qualification in a medical profession and need to show evidence of skills in the German language to enable them to practise this profession. Goethe-Test PRO Pflege is also geared towards people who are preparing for vocational training in a nursing profession in Germany.

Receptive components – performance and evaluation

With both the Goethe-Test PRO Pflege and telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege, the four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking are tested.
The receptive components include familiar tasks such as multiple choice exercises, gap-filling, matching tasks and true/false exercises. The tasks are oriented to the specialist and work-related language.
The writing part is paper-based and the speaking part is conducted as an oral test in pairs for each of the exams.
The main differences are in the performance and evaluation of the receptive components.

With telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege, these components (listening, reading + language elements) are performed on paper, taking a total of 85 minutes. Telc uses the typical and familiar structure of the telc examinations.
 
Goethe-Test PRO Pflege provides an opportunity to complete the receptive components listening and reading digitally. They are tested online, including vocabulary and grammar.

Furthermore the test is conducted adaptively, which means task difficulty is automatically adjusted to the language level of the examination candidates. All entrants start at the same level. The program selects the next task based on the previous level, thereby adapting individually to the language level of individual candidates. This enables scaling of results from A1 to C2. The receptive component can therefore last between 60 and 90 minutes.
Medical staff in the hospital | © Adobe Stock

roductive components – approaches involving the scenario model

With telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege, there are two tasks to choose from in the writing component, either an admission report or biographical data report has to be written on the basis of an excerpt from a completed medical history form or biographical data form. Test entrants are given 30 minutes for this task.
 
In the case of Goethe-Test PRO Pflege, two tasks must be completed: in Task 1 they have to write a report, for example an admission report for a patient, and Task 2 they compose a formal email relating to an everyday nursing situation. Exam candidates are given 75 minutes and have the opportunity to demonstrate their language skills through two different types of text.
 
The oral test for both Goethe-Test PRO Pflege and telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege consists of three parts.
 
With telc the tasks are as follows:
Part 1 – speaking about experiences and opinions (including describing a picture), followed by answering questions asked by the examiners,
Part 2 – a brief presentation followed by questions from the examiner,
Part 3 – discussion with a partner.
 
With Goethe-Test PRO Pflege the tasks are as follows:
Part 1 – an interview with a patient or family member (partner discussion)
Part 2 – discussion as a patient or family member with a nurse (partner discussion)
Part 3 – the test candidate and their discussion partner each present the case of a patient. Afterwards there is a question-answer dialogue.
 
The format of the oral exam for Goethe-Test PRO Pflege includes aspects of the scenario model. The situations are in line with everyday scenarios in nursing, because nurses are expected to hold conversations at the patient’s level as well as using specialist language. As such, the test reflects authentic communication situations. Dialogue with a partner makes the exam situation less stressful for the candidate, and reciprocal inspiration keeps the conversation going. Tasks in the writing and speaking components are very precise and give participants a theme and structure.

Preparing for an exam

Both Goethe-Institut and telc offer a sample set of questions on their websites, which can be downloaded for the exam. The sample questions are a good orientation, in terms of both tasks and evaluation.
 
At telc there are supplementary materials for exam preparation that can be downloaded free, including test specifications, exam preparation tips and lesson plans. There are additional resources, such as training modules, course leader handbooks, writing tasks and a learning box with dialogue situations for the oral test, and these are available for a charge.
 
On the Goethe-Institut website the practice materials include a demo version of Goethe-Test PRO Pflege. It provides eight tasks to give candidates an idea of the digital element of the exam. A short video “Introduction to Goethe-Test PRO” explains the structure of the test and how to approach the tasks. A comprehensive set of exam rules is also available to download.
 
Furthermore the course book Linie 1 Pflege B2 - Deutsch für Pflegeberufe – which incorporates specific exercises based on the test formats of telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege and Goethe-Test PRO Pflege – can be used to help prepare for exams.
 
Course participants receive a certificate on passing the exam. Telc offers a differentiated evaluation of language competence for levels B1 or B2 in line with CEFR. In the digital certificate for Goethe-Test PRO Pflege, evaluation for the listening and reading components is scaled from A1 to C1, in the writing and speaking components level B2 is confirmed. A test pass at B2 is awarded if a minimum B2 level is achieved in all four exam components. 
© Adobe Stock

An attractive alternative

This brief comparison has shown that both exams are oriented to the nursing environment on a day-to-day basis – although the themes in Goethe-Test PRO Pflege are work-related but not as highly specialised, so that individuals who don’t currently have nursing qualifications but are interested in applying for vocational training in Germany can do the test. This means that the target group is a broad one.
 
“I took the Goethe-Test PRO Pflege because I’m preparing to train as a geriatric carer in Germany. Goethe-Test PRO Pflege is close to reality and I really like it. Situations typical of the nursing and geriatric care profession are addressed particularly in the speaking component and the tasks in the writing component are also based on realistic day-to-day nursing scenarios”, says a test candidate from Hanoi.
 
Another feature is that the certificate can be issued faster and downloaded easily from the verification page because the receptive components are performed digitally, which represents a benefit not only for the examination entrants, but also for the official recognition authorities so that they can check the certificate’s authenticity. A further advantage of digital performance is that the digital element of the exam adapts to the candidate’s proficiency thanks to the modern adaptive concept, and this is reflected on the certificate – for example if a test candidate is below or above level B2 in their reading and listening skills.

Therefore Goethe-Test PRO Pflege constitutes an alternative that’s certainly worth considering in addition to telc Deutsch B1·B2 Pflege if you are looking for a suitable exam.

For further Information about the Goethe-Test-PRO-Pflege please contact: pflege@goethe.de