Multilingual Support
VivaEdu supports multiple languages for both language course assessments and accommodating non-native English speakers. Understanding which approach to use depends on your assessment goals.
Two Use Cases
Multilingual support serves two distinct purposes. Choose the approach that matches your assessment goals:
Language Courses
Assess student proficiency in a target language (Spanish, French, etc.)
- •Set viva language to the target language
- •Students must respond in that language
- •You review in the original language
- •Tests language proficiency directly
Non-Native Speaker Accommodation
Support students taking non-language courses (math, science, history)
- •Enable "Allow student language override"
- •Students choose their preferred language
- •Enable "Auto-translate to English for review"
- •Tests content knowledge, not English proficiency
For Language Courses
Use VivaEdu to assess student proficiency in target languages through authentic oral assessments. This is ideal for Spanish, French, German, or other language courses where you want students to demonstrate speaking ability in the target language.
How to Configure
In Step 3 (Viva Configuration) of the assignment wizard, expand "Language Settings":
- Set "Viva Language" to your target language (e.g., Spanish)
- Keep "Allow students to switch viva language" unchecked
- Keep "Always translate responses to English" unchecked (you want to review in the original language)
Default language for questions, TTS and transcription.
Tip: If you enable this, you may still want English translation enabled for consistent marking.
Student Experience
- Questions display in the target language
- Text-to-speech reads questions with native pronunciation
- Students must respond in the target language
- Cannot switch to another language
Reviewing Language Course Vivas
When reviewing, focus on language proficiency:
- Pronunciation: Listen to the audio carefully
- Grammar: Review the transcript for errors
- Vocabulary: Check terminology usage and range
- Fluency: Assess speaking pace and confidence
- Comprehension: Verify they understood the questions
Assessment Use Cases
Conversational Proficiency
- Open-ended questions about daily life
- Assess natural conversation ability
- Focus on fluency over perfection
Academic Language
- Questions about literature or history
- Assess formal language register
- Check specialized vocabulary
Presentation Skills
- Ask students to explain a topic
- Assess organization and clarity
- Evaluate discourse markers
Tips for Language Instructors
- • Use video prompts in the target language for authentic listening practice
- • Add context cards with vocabulary or expressions students can reference
- • Enable re-recording for beginner-level courses to reduce anxiety
- • Give extra time for lower proficiency levels
- • Use terminology tracking for key vocabulary assessment
- • Test TTS voices to ensure pronunciation quality
For Non-Native English Speakers
Enable students to demonstrate content knowledge in their native language, with automatic translation for instructor review. This accommodation is appropriate when you want to assess understanding of course material, not English language proficiency.
When to Use This Accommodation
- Students taking non-language courses (math, science, history, etc.)
- English is not the student's first language
- Language barrier affects ability to express understanding
- You want to assess content knowledge, not English proficiency
Enabling for All Students (Per-Viva)
In Step 3 of the viva wizard, under Language Settings:
- Keep "Viva Language" as English (default)
- Check "Allow students to switch viva language"
- Check "Always translate responses to English for instructor review"
Now any student can choose their language at the start of the viva, and you'll receive English translations.
Setting as Permanent Accommodation
For students who should always have this option, set it as a permanent accommodation on their profile:
- Navigate to the student's profile
- Click "Manage Accommodations"
- Enable "Allow non-English responses"
- Enable "Auto-translate to English" (recommended)
- Save
This student can now use their language in all vivas, even if you don't enable it per-viva. The permanent accommodation overrides viva-level settings.
Accommodation vs. Feature
Language support can be enabled as a permanent accommodation for specific students (set in student profile) OR as a per-viva feature (enabled in Step 3). The accommodation overrides viva-level settings and applies to all future vivas.
Reviewing Translated Responses
When a student responds in a non-English language, you'll see the English translation by default. You can toggle to view the original language transcript if needed.
Be Generous with Translation
If a translated response seems awkward but the original makes sense, give credit for the understanding. Machine translation is high-quality but not perfect. The goal is to assess knowledge, not English fluency.
Supported Languages
VivaEdu's multilingual support is powered by Azure services: Azure Translator for text translation, Azure Speech Services for transcription, and Azure text-to-speech for reading questions aloud.
Primary Languages (Full Support)
These languages have the highest quality translation, transcription, and TTS:
European Languages
- Spanish (Español) - es
- French (Français) - fr
- German (Deutsch) - de
- Italian (Italiano) - it
- Portuguese (Português) - pt
- Dutch (Nederlands) - nl
- Polish (Polski) - pl
- Russian (Русский) - ru
Asian & Middle Eastern Languages
- Chinese (中文, Mandarin) - zh
- Japanese (日本語) - ja
- Korean (한국어) - ko
- Arabic (العربية) - ar
- Hindi (हिन्दी) - hi
- Turkish (Türkçe) - tr
- Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) - vi
- Thai (ไทย) - th
Quality Tiers
Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic. Very high translation accuracy, natural TTS voices, accurate transcription.
Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Hindi, Turkish. Good translation accuracy, natural TTS, minor issues with specialized vocabulary.
Regional or less common languages. Fair to good translation, may have TTS limitations. Test thoroughly before use with students.
Regional Variants
Some languages have regional variants with different vocabulary and pronunciation:
- Spanish: European (es-ES) vs. Latin American (es-MX, es-AR)
- Portuguese: European (pt-PT) vs. Brazilian (pt-BR)
- Chinese: Simplified (zh-CN) vs. Traditional (zh-TW)
- English: US (en-US) vs. UK (en-GB) vs. Australian (en-AU)
VivaEdu uses primary variants by default but handles regional differences well.
Student Language Preferences
Students can set their preferred language and TTS voice in their account settings. These preferences apply when instructors enable language override for a viva.
Used when instructors allow language override.
Used only if text-to-speech is enabled.
What Students Can Configure
- Preferred viva language: English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, or Chinese (Mandarin)
- Preferred TTS voice: Default, Alloy, Nova, Shimmer, or Onyx
These preferences take effect when the instructor has enabled "Allow students to switch viva language" for that assignment, or when the student has a permanent language accommodation set by their instructor. When active, the student's preferred language is automatically applied when creating a new viva session, and can also be changed from the setup screen before starting.
How Translation Works
Question Display
- Questions are displayed as written by the instructor
- For language courses, write questions directly in the target language
- For non-native speaker accommodation, questions remain in the original language
- Students can use the TTS feature to hear questions read aloud
Text-to-Speech (TTS)
- Questions read aloud using OpenAI text-to-speech (multilingual voices)
- TTS voices support multiple languages with natural pronunciation
- Students can replay as many times as needed
- Voice can be configured per-assignment in language settings
Response Transcription & Translation
- Student speaks in their preferred language
- Azure Speech Services transcribes in the original language
- When "Translate to English" is enabled, Azure Translator converts the transcript to English
- You see the English translation by default during review
- Toggle between translated and original transcript using the "View" switcher
Translation Limitations
Machine translation is high-quality but has limitations:
Translates Well
- Concrete concepts and facts
- Technical terminology (usually consistent)
- Straightforward explanations
- Step-by-step reasoning
May Be Challenging
- Idiomatic expressions
- Cultural references
- Humor or sarcasm
- Highly nuanced arguments
Best Practices
For Language Courses
- • Set viva language explicitly to target language
- • Do not allow student language override
- • Use native-language TAs for review if available
- • Assess pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary
- • Enable re-recording for beginner-level courses
For Non-Language Courses
- • Enable student language override
- • Enable auto-translate to English
- • Set as permanent accommodation for multilingual students
- • Focus rubric on content, not language quality
- • Test with a bilingual colleague before first use
Writing Questions for Translation
- • Write questions in clear, simple English
- • Avoid idiomatic expressions (they don't translate well)
- • Use standard technical terminology
- • Keep sentences short and direct
- • Test translations with bilingual TAs before high-stakes use
- • Provide context cards in multiple languages if possible
Requesting Additional Languages
If you need a language not currently listed in the dropdown:
- Contact VivaEdu support at jex@vivaedu.co.uk
- Specify the language needed and your use case
- We'll verify support in Azure services
- If supported, we'll add it to VivaEdu
Note: Language support depends on Azure services. If Azure supports a language for translation, transcription, and TTS, VivaEdu can support it too.
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