OPELA is an online activity designed to give you some feedback on your current academic language skills. Academic language skills are essential for you to successfully engage in your studies and achieve your educational and career goals.

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Transcript

Hi, I'm Aaron. And I'm Hebah. We've both been studying here at UTS for a while now, and I think we can both agree that, in terms of doing your studies, the development of your academic language skills is very important.

What is academic language? Academic language means the language, readings and ways of communicating within a discipline. That means that every discipline has its own academic language that you need to be able to use in your studies. And that's exactly where OPELA comes in.

So what is OPELA? OPELA is a compulsory task designed to help you and support you in your studies. It's not a test, it's a task to work out if UTS can provide extra support that may help you. OPELA gives a snapshot of your academic language level as a first step in advancing your academic skills at UTS. Academic language skills are used in all forms of communication at university. As you know, these skills are crucial for academic success as well as for employment opportunities. You would have developed some skills in high school or through other educational pathways, however it's important that you continue to develop these language skills here while at university.

The OPELA task takes about 30 minutes to complete, but it is recommended that you allow 40 minutes to complete OPELA from beginning to end. The task has two sections: the text completion and the speed reading. Each section is timed. OPELA is designed for a variety of different types of students, so don't feel pressured about the time limit. It's okay if you don't have time to finish each section.

What do you need before you start OPELA? Depending on what you study, you might be asked to complete OPELA in a lab, on campus, or you might be asked to complete it in your own time. It is best to find a quiet space with no interruptions and a good internet connection. Also, it's recommended that you do OPELA on a computer or a laptop. Do not use your mobile phone to do OPELA.

Once you've completed OPELA, you'll receive feedback on your academic language level. Depending on the level you receive, you may be required to complete additional compulsory language development tutorials. These tutorials are designed to improve your academic language skills. You'll get more information about these tutorials when you get your result.

So in summary, UTS offers support for your academic language development. Look forward to completing OPELA. It's a great way to find out what kind of support is good for you.

OPELA - Online Post-Enrolment Language Assessment

At UTS, all commencing students must complete the Online Post-Enrolment Language Assessment (OPELA) in the first two weeks of their commencing session. Information about the OPELA task is made available to you during orientation week and communicated to you in your first class.  

The purpose of the OPELA task is to give you an indication of your academic language skills. Academic language skills are an essential foundation for learning and ongoing language development at university, especially discipline-specific language and professional communication. Awareness of your academic language skills will enable you to understand and address your language development need by accessing language support resources and services. 

OPELA will be available to students from orientation weeks and is accessible from their Canvas dashboard.  

Go to Canvas to complete OPELA

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Are you a UTS Online student?  Please see FAQs for Post-Grad UTS Online students for information about your course delivery mode. 

Contact Us

If you have a question that is not addressed above, please contact opela@uts.edu.au.

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