The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is a standardized procedure for the global assessment of functional speaking ability. This means that an OPI is a testing method which measures how well a person speaks a language by comparing their performance of specific language tasks, not with some other person's, but with the criteria for each of ten proficiency levels described in the ACTFL Revised Proficiency Guidelines-Speaking, revised by ACTFL in 1999.

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. A ratable speech sample is elicited from the interviewee by an individually determined series of questions or comments, which follow the established ACTFL protocol of "probes" and "level-checks."

For ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Speaking

Writing Proficiency Tests

The ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) is a standardized test for global assessment of functional writing ability in a language. The ACTFL WPT is a vehicle that measures how well a person spontaneously writes in a language (without access to dictionaries or grammar references) by comparing his/her performance of specific writing tasks with the criteria stated in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Writing (Revised 2001) descriptions. The ACTFL WPT is a carefully constructed assessment with four requests for written responses dealing with practical, social, and professional topics that are encountered in informal and formal school contexts. The writer is presented with tasks and contexts that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice to Superior on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Writing (Revised 2001). The tasks and prompts are written in English with the expectations that the responses be written in the target language.

The ACTFL Business Writing Test (BWT) is a standardized test for the global assessment of functional business writing ability. This business writing test is a vehicle which measures how well a person writes in a language by comparing that person's performance of specific writing tasks against the criteria and descriptions of the Interagency Language Roundtable Writing Proficiency Guidelines. The ACTFL Business Writing Test is a carefully structured test with five requests for a written response dealing with general business situations.

For ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Writing