AN EXAMINATION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY FOR TEACHERS (EPPLE): THE INITIAL PROPOSAL AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRAZILIAN CONTEXT DOUGLAS ALTAMIRO CONSOLO [1] UNESP – São José do Rio Preto HÉLCIO DE PÁDUA LANZONI Faculdade Interativa COC MAGALI BARÇANTE ALVARENGA UNIMEP & FATEC MARCELO CONCÁRIO UNAERP TERESA HELENA BUSCATO MARTINS UNIP & FAC3 VERA LÚCIA TEIXEIRA DA SILVA UERJ & ISAT ABSTRACT: In this paper we report on the process of setting the theoretical bases and the design of the EPPLE, a language proficiency examination for foreign language (FL) teachers. The proposal is grounded in the need to intervene in the context of language teacher education in Brazil to establish criteria to assess those teachers, and the specifications of classroom language that is – or should be mostly used in FL teaching. Although there are other (international) examinations that aim at assessing FL language proficiency, there is no formally established exam developed specifically for the language domain required for language teachers. If assessment criteria are defined by means of researching the characteristics of the language produced by teachers and teachers-to-be (for example, students graduating from Letters courses), and incorporated in the EPPLE, the results of the examination may cause a washback effect so as to improve the quality of teacher education, especially with regards to foreign language development. KEYWORDS: EFL; language testing; proficiency; teacher education; test design; washback effect.