The ACTFL Language Testing Office
3 Barker Avenue Suite 300, White Plains, NY 10601

ACTFL CERTIFIED PROFICIENCY TESTING PROGRAM
ORAL AND WRITING PROFICIENCY TESTING
FOR STATE OF GEORGIA PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS

All relevant applications, forms and information are available through the click-on links within this document. Please read carefully.

THE ACTFL ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW

The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview, or ACTFL OPI is:

The ACTFL OPI takes the form of a carefully structured conversation between a trained and certified interviewer and the person whose speaking proficiency is being assessed. The interview is interactive and continuously adapts to the speaking ability of the individual being tested. There is no script or prescribed set of question; the topics discussed during the interview are based on the interests and experiences of the speaker.

Through a series of personalized questions, the interviewer elicits from the test candidate examples of his or her ability to handle the communication tasks specified for each level of proficiency in order to establish a clear "floor" and "ceiling" of consistent functional ability. Often candidates are asked to take part in a role-play to prove linguistic functions not easily elicited through the conversational format.

Since the ACTFL OPI is an assessment of functional speaking ability, independent of any specific curriculum, it is irrelevant when, where, why and under what conditions the candidate acquired his/her speaking ability in the language.

The interview lasts from ten to thirty minutes. Each interview is tape recorded and assigned an initial rating by the tester. The interview is then blindly rated by a second certified tester. Under the supervision of the ACTFL Testing Office, Language Testing International, a final rating is assigned and an ACTFL OPI Certificate is issued

THE ACTFL WRITING PROFICIENCY TEST

The ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test, or ACTFL WPT is:

The ACTFL WPT takes the form of a carefully constructed assessment with four requests for written responses dealing with practical, social and professional topics that are encountered in informal and formal contexts. The writer is presented with tasks and contexts that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice to Superior on the ACTFL scale. The tasks and prompts are articulated in English with the expectation that the responses be written in the target language. The prompts ask for written constructed responses of paragraph length or longer demonstrating narrative writing, informative writing and persuasive writing.

Since the ACTFL WPT is an assessment of functional writing ability independent of any specific curriculum, it irrelevant when, where, why and under what conditions the candidate acquired his/her writing ability in the language.

The examinee is given 90 minutes to read the directions and complete the test. A completed WPT is reviewed by an ACTFL certified testers to assign the ACTFL proficiency rating that best describes the proficiency demonstrated by the individual. The test is then forwarded to another ACTFL certified tester for a second independent ("blind") rating for final rating confirmation.

THE ACTFL CERTIFIED TESTERS

ACTFL OPIs are conducted and rated by ACTFL certified proficiency testers. ACTFL WPTs are also rated by ACTFL certified raters. These testers and raters are highly specialized language professionals who have completed a rigorous training process that concludes with a tester's demonstrated ability to consistently elicit ratable samples and to rate samples with a high degree of reliability. ACTFL strictly monitors all testing and rating.

ACTFL ASSESSMENT LANGUAGES

While ACTFL provides testing in many languages (58 as of the printing of this brochure), Georgia Foreign Language Permits use only the following ACTFL assessments:

ROMAN-BASED ALPHABET NON-ROMAN-BASED ALPHABET
French Arabic
German Chinese-MANDARIN
Italian Hebrew
Portuguese Japanese
Spanish Korean
  Russian
  Swahili

Both the OPI and WPT (if available) are required. Note, however, that as this brochure is being published the WPT is not yet available for Hebrew and Swahili. Until those WPTs are finalized, only the OPI is necessary for those two language permits. All of the WPTs are available in test booklet form and the WPT in French, German and Spanish may also be taken online through the internet.

PASSING PROFICIENCY RATINGS

The State of Georgia has set a requirement of Advanced-Low or higher as the passing proficiency ratings in Speaking and Writing for the Roman-Based Alphabet languages identified above. A proficiency rating of Intermediate-High or higher is required for the Non-Roman based alphabet languages.

FEES FOR INDIVIDUAL OPI

Individual Certified ACTFL OPI $134.00
Individual Certified ACTFL WPT $65.00
Rescheduling Fee $55.00
Missed OPI appointment/No Show $55.00
Express Processing Service $50.00

Payment may be made by credit card authorization (MasterCard, Visa or Discover Card), money order, or personal check. Payment must accompany application form(s).

SCHEDULING AN ACTFL OPI

APPLICATIONS, FORMS & INFORMATION


Step 1. Complete an OPI Application Form: Click here for OPI Application

Step 2. Telephonic OPI Test Site and Proctor

You may request an OPI to be taken telephonically at your own school/university, if you have an appropriate, approved proctor as identified below.

At your K-12 School or university.

Telephonic OPI- requires the presence of a designated Proctor* who:

*K12 Schools and School District Proctors:
A proctor at a K12 school or school district may only be a Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean, Administrative Assistant to the Principal or Dean, School District HR personnel, or Academic Chair. No other administrators or staff may act as proctors.

*University or College Proctors:
A proctor at a college may be a Professor, Department Chair, Dept. Administrative Assistant or Teacher Education Coordinator

* If a long distance call cannot be placed from the Proctor's office telephone, the test candidate should bring a phone card to use in order to place and charge the phone call.

Step 3. Submit Application Package

For your test request to be processed, you must submit ALL the below:

  1. A completed OPI application; including a check, money order, or credit card authorization
  2. The OPI Proctor Form signed by your proctor, if you are requesting an OPI to take place at your school
  3. A completed Test-Taker Agreement

  Incomplete application packages will NOT be processed.

Step 4. Wait for notification by Email of OPI Appointment.

Once your application has been processed you will be sent an e-mail with your confirmed test date, time and other instructions. This e-mail will provide you with a unique ID and PASSWORD to access your test information and status on the LTI Test Candidate Website www.languagetesting.com/individual. Please keep this important e-mail and website information. Using this website and secure passwords, you will be able to verify the date and time of your OPI and, after the test, check the status of your test result. On this website, you will be able to print your ACTFL OPI Proficiency Certificate.

The Proctor will also be notified of the OPI date, time and telephone number by E-mail.

Step 5. Confirm Appointment

Finalize appointment arrangement with Proctor. All appointments are considered confirmed, unless we receive notification from the candidate or proctor.

Rescheduled or missed OPI Appointments

In the event that an appointment needs to be rescheduled:

Cancelled Application

There is a fee of $55.00 for cancelled applications which will be deducted from your refund should you cancel an application.

NOTIFICATION OF OPI RESULTS

Once the rating of your test is completed, you will be able to view the test result and print your ACTFL Oral Proficiency Certificate on the LTI Individual Information Center site (www.languagetesting.com/individual) using your unique ID and password. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission will receive the candidate's test results via an electronic report.

ACE College Credit Recommendation for ACTFL OPI Ratings

The American Council on Education (ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service has established college credit recommendations for Official ACTFL OPI ratings. For ACE credit recommendations for OPI scores, read the ACTFL FL Annals article with ACE recommendations at http://www.languagetesting.com/actfl_article.htm For more information on the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service, visit the ACE Website at http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Learners.


SCHEDULING AN ACTFL WPT

APPLICATIONS, FORMS & INFORMATION

STEP 1. Complete an WPT Application Form: Click here for WPT Application

Step 2. WPT Test Site and Proctor

You may request a WPT to be administered in test-booklet format, or by Internet in Spanish, French and German only, if you have an appropriate, approved proctor as identified below.

At your K-12 School or University (INTERNET WPT).

An Internet WPT (Spanish, French and German only) must be administered and proctored by an approved Proctor* who:

At your K-12 School or University (TEST-BOOKLET WPT).

A test-booklet WPT must be administered and proctored by an approved Proctor* who:

*K12 Schools and School District Proctors (Test-booklet format):
A proctor at a K-12 school or school district may only be a Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean, Administrative Assistant to the Principal, School District HR personnel, Academic Chair, Curriculum Coordinator or School Assessment Officer. No other administrators or staff may act as proctors.

*University or College Proctors (Test-booklet format):
A proctor at a college may be a Professor, Department Chair, Department Administrative Assistant, Teacher Education Coordinator, Registrars Office Staff, or College Assessment Officer. No other administrators or staff may act as proctors.

STEP 3. Submit Application Package.

For your test request to be processed, you must submit ALL the items below:

  Incomplete application packages will NOT be scheduled.

STEP 4. Wait for notification a WPT assignment

At your school or university:
Once your application has been processed, you will be sent an e-mail your WPT may be scheduled with your proctor. The same e-mail will provide a unique ID and PASSWORD for you to use on the LTI Test Candidate website: www.languagetesting.com to be able to access your test status and results.

Your WPT proctor will also receive an e-mail with WPT instructions. You will then need to determine with your proctor the week day and time (between 8am and 5pm Eastern Time) for the proctor to administer the WPT to you by computer in his or her office. If you or WPT proctor have any questions regarding the administration of the WPT, please write us as testing@languagetesting.com

NOTIFICATION WPT TEST RESULTS

Once the rating of your test is completed (usually within 2 to 4 weeks), you will be able to view the test result and print your ACTFL Oral Proficiency Certificate on the LTI Individual Information Center site (www.languagetesting.com/individual) using your ID and password provided in your email, as described in Step 4. Each test becomes a permanent record in the ACTFL Test Archive.

PREPARING FOR AN OPI AND WPT

To prepare, make opportunities to speak the target language, making sure to tell stories (in as much detail as possible) about personal and professional experiences that have happened, are happening and will happen. Do the same thing in writing by writing essays about personal and professional experiences that have happened, are happening and will happen, making sure to give much background information as well as details of the experience.

Read the ACTFL Proficiency Descriptions for Speaking and Writing found on the ACTFL website. The State of Georgia has set a requirement of Advanced-Low or higher as the passing proficiency ratings in Speaking and Writing for the Roman-Based Alphabet languages identified earlier in this brochure. A proficiency rating of Intermediate-High or higher is required for the Non-Roman based alphabet languages. Make sure that you fully understand the functions that you will need to be able to demonstrate that you can handle and with what level of accuracy and discourse length in order to be obtain a satisfactory proficiency level.

TEST TAKING TIPS FOR AN OPI AND WPT

When taking the oral proficiency interview, listen carefully to the questions asked by the interviewer before answering. When answering, give as detailed a response as possible. Saying little to avoid making mistakes will not improve your rating. If you do not know a specific term in the test language, describe it in the test language and try not resort to English, another language, or making up words. If you do use an Anglicism or slang term, do not be surprised if the interviewer asks you to describe what that word means. Demonstrating how well you can explain in the target language terms that you do not know the exact word(s) for is a communication task that is looked for at the Intermediate High level and above.

When taking the writing test, read the directions for each of the four prompts carefully. Make sure that your written response addresses the tasks and specifications outlined in the prompt. For example, if the prompt asks you describe a specific work experience you have had, be sure to recount the details of a specific work experience and not just give a general description of your work experience. It is also very important that you follow the time allocation specified for each prompt. If a prompt asks you to give a brief description of a paragraph in length that should not take more than ten minutes to write, do not respond to that prompt by writing five paragraphs and taking twenty-five minutes. If you do this, you will not have enough time to address later prompts fully.

LTI: The ACTFL Testing Office
Tel: 914-963-7110 ext. 10
Fax: 914-963-7113
testing@languagetesting.com
www.languagetesting.com

Exclusive Licensee of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc.

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