The Diplomas de Espaol como Lengua Extranjera (English: Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language), or DELE, are official diplomas issued by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science to participants who have passed a standardised test indicating their European Spanish language proficiency. The diplomas do not expire.[1] Every year, more than 60,000 examinations are taken by candidates in more than 800 examination centres from more than 100 countries.[1] In many countries, the DELE Diplomas have been adopted by schools and universities as a complement to their own evaluation systems, such that it is used as an entry requirement for non-native Spanish speakers.[2]
A related diploma offered by the Instituto Cervantes since 2015 is the Servicio Internacional de Evaluacin de la Lengua Espaola (SIELE; English: International Spanish Language Evaluation Service) that tests knowledge of a few Latin American varieties of Spanish as well as European Spanish.[3][4]
DELE were created by the Spanish Ministry of Education in 1989.[citation needed] The University of Salamanca, having issued its own certifications in Spanish until 1991, agreed with the Ministry of Education of Spain to undertake the development, production and grading of the examinations leading eventually to the DELE Diplomas.
Since 2002, the Instituto Cervantes has been responsible for the examination; it also acts as a Central Examinations Board and issues the Diplomas.[5] The Instituto Cervantes has been delegating the tasks of setting up the examinations, designing test papers and grading to the University of Salamanca since then.[6]
Originally, the DELE existed in only three levels, but later on developed into six levels, each corresponding to a certain level described by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The content and duration of the tests vary.
The DELE examinations are carried out in a network of Cervantes Centres and in a wide network of DELE examination centres.[13] There are currently more than 800 centres in over 100 countries.[13] For example: universities, teaching centres of Spanish, academies, embassies and consulates could also serve as examination centres.[13]
Any language institution in the world, having satisfied the requirements set by Instituto Cervantes, can apply to become an examination centre.[14] One of the advantages of being an examination centre, as claimed by the Instituto Cervantes, is that it could diversify the courses available by offering courses to prepare for these examinations and its status as an examination centre could draw a greater number of students.[15]
The examination centres should be responsible for all the organisational preparations of DELE exams, though a centre need not provide the DELE exam at all levels.[16] Examination centres also give academic advice to candidates concerning the level of examinations a candidate should take and how they should prepare for the exam.[16] When possible, they may offer courses to prepare for the examinations at each level.[16] The examination centres are also responsible for helping to promote the DELE examination.[16]
Examiners are trained through specific courses, which are offered in three formats namely online, face-to-face and blended, in order to be familiar with DELE exams and all their duties.[18] All examiners must avoid possible conflicts of interest with candidates. When the candidates are their students, family members or friends, they must communicate with their corresponding superiors.[19]
The Instituto Cervantes publishes the results approximately three months after the examination, upon the approval of grades by the University of Salamanca.[22] Participants need to pass all parts of the exam in order to pass the entire test. The average passing rate including all levels was 61% in 2012; but the passing rate decreased significantly with the increased difficulty from A1, where the passing rate was higher than 75%, to C2 level, where more than half of the participants failed the test.[23] The results are permanently valid.[1] The C2 exam is considered by some to be the most difficult official Spanish language exam available.
DELE is internationally recognised among public and private educational institutions and authorities as well as in the business world and chambers of commerce. In many countries, DELE has been adopted by educational authorities and schools as a complement to their own systems of assessment, such that it is used as an entry requirement for non-native Spanish speakers.[2] They are useful to facilitate promotion at work and access to education, both in Spain and in the other countries where the tests are taken.[28]
While a DELE B2 certificate is normally enough to fulfil the language requirement for admittance to universities in Spain, the Ministry of Health of Spain has modified the requirements for language proficiency in Spanish for those wishing to apply for specialised medical training places. Candidates who are citizens of countries where Spanish is not the official language must prove that they have sufficient competence in Spanish by passing the DELE exam C1 or C2. The DELE B2 is no longer accepted for these medical training places.[29]
As the organisers of the DELE examination, Instituto Cervantes and the University of Salamanca are jointly a member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), where they communicate with language testers of other European countries on issues concerning language tests.[32]
Instituto Cervantes, as the organiser of the DELE examination, is also a member of Sistema Internacional de Certificacin del Espaol como Lengua Extrajera (SICELE), an association aiming at enhancing the cooperation and coordination in language assessment in Spanish, in order to promote the study of Spanish as a foreign language.[33]
The DELE Spanish diplomas are awarded by the Cervantes Institute on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Professional Training. To obtain them, the candidate must pass the DELE exam at the desired level.
When registering, candidates can choose which level of Spanish they want to certify from the six available, established according to the guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
Important notice: The written portion of the exam will always take place on the date indicated in the box above. However, the oral exam may be held on that same day, the day before, or the day after. The oral exam schedule will be sent to candidates approximately 3 weeks before the exam date. In the event that a candidate wishes to request a change to their exam schedule, the exam board reserves the right to deny such requests for organizational reasons.
These certificates certify the level of Spanish proficiency of a person, regardless of where or how they learned the language. They are promoted by the Instituto Cervantes, the Universidad Autnoma de Mxico (UNAM), the University of Salamanca (USAL), and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), in addition to having the support and collaboration of more than 80 Ibero-American institutions.
SIELE certifies the level of proficiency in the Spanish language through four tests, which are carried out electronically: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Written Expression and Interaction, and Oral Expression and Interaction. It is based on the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) of the Council of Europe.
DELE Spanish Diplomas are official titles certifying degree of competence and mastery of the Spanish language, granted by Spain's Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.
The Instituto Cervantes organizes examination sessions, while the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain designs the exams and is in charge of corrections and the final evaluation of all exams.
DELE exams are offered on several dates throughout the year. These dates are common across all DELE examination centers around the world. Please note that each exam date does not necessarily include all exam levels. Pay special attention to the registration deadlines and make sure to register in advance.
The DELE, granted by Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education are official and international acreditations of a person's degree of proficiency in Spanish. The diplomas can be obtained by sitting an examination that tests the candidates' ability to read, write, speak and understand spoken Spanish, according to internationally standardized levels of competence established by the Council of Europe in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Administrated and issued by the Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry for Education, Social Policy and Sport, these are official qualifications certifying levels of competence in Spanish.
The DELE diplomas will be considered the official qualifications to acknowledge Spanish language competence for any professional or academic activity in Spain which requires an appropriate level of competence. Furthermore, they are complementary certifications to the programs of compulsory education in foreign languages in many countries and institutions, and they are also instrumental in aiding personal promotion in all academic areas and the professional marketplace.
The Instituto Cervantes is member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). This association has participated in the document entitled The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in which the Diplomas in Spanish are integrated as follows:
According to the Royal Decree 1004/2015 from November 6th, registration for the DELE exam is now universally open to all people. The DELE (diploma) is to be obtained by all candidates who pass the exam requisites, without exception.
The Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) and the International Spanish Language Evaluation Service (SIELE) are two certification systems of Spanish proficiency designed to meet the different needs of different users. Both are internationally recognized and are supported by prestigious institutions that guarantee both high quality standards and best practices.
c80f0f1006