A three-year study aimed at measuring the English speaking proficiency of Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) candidates on a direct basis is described. A variety of "semi-direct" testing formats (involving test stimuli delivered by tape recording and accompanying booklet, with examinee speech tape recorded for evaluation) were developed as part of the study. These were administered to undergraduate and graduate level non-native English speaking students on a small-scale clinical basis and, following revisions, to a fairly large (N=155) examinee group. A Foreign Service Institute (FSI)-type interview was also administered to all study participants as an external criterion measure of speaking proficiency. Correlational and scalar analyses were used to identify subsets of item formats and individual items having satisfactory correlations with the FSI criterion interview and also meeting relevant linguistic and administrative requirements. These were grouped into a prototype "Test of Spoken English" (TSE) that was found to increase predictability of total FSI variance by approximately 8% when added to score data provided by the regular (paper-and-pencil) TOEFL. (Author/RL)