ACTFL Proficiency Scale
The ACTFL Proficiency Scale was developed to meet the need for academically oriented proficiency guidelines that could be used instead of the Federal Government’s Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Scale. The ACTFL proficiency scale has five main levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and Distinguished). The first three levels are each subdivided into three sublevels (Low, Mid, and High). The description of each major level is representative of a specific range of abilities. Together these levels form a hierarchy in which each level subsumes all lower levels. ACTFL assessments measure proficiency in the Novice to Superior range, which are described below.
The ACTFL scale provides a great deal of definition, especially at the lower levels of language proficiency usually achieved in world language learning. It is widely used in many areas, such as with commercial clients, and particularly in academia. Find more information about the ACTFL scale.
How to Use the ACTFL Proficiency Scale
The ACTFL Proficiency Scale describes proficiency as a range and measures what a language user can do regardless of where, when, or how they learned the language, in real-world situations and in spontaneous and non-rehearsed contexts, according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. By providing objective criteria against which one can measure language proficiency levels, the scale gives language users insight into their skills and can help them identify strategies to increase their proficiency.
For a user's language skills to receive a specific proficiency level rating, they must demonstrate certain abilities. Each level of the proficiency rating scale applies to all four language skills — speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Language proficiency assessments allow for those skills to be measured and rated based on what a language user can do at a determined level of proficiency as well as what they can't do at the next higher proficiency level. However, it is essential to remember that proficiency is fluid, and users' abilities often change over time.
Examples of Skills Demonstrated at the Novice Level
Novice speakers can communicate about topics directly affecting them through isolated words they have memorized or encountered frequently. Speakers at the Novice level generally provide short responses.
Listeners at the Novice level can understand formulaic expressions and contextualized keywords like introductions. Novice-level listeners typically require repetition or a slowed speech rate for comprehension and are most accurate when they can anticipate topics.
Readers at the Novice level can understand a limited amount of information in predictable texts where the topic or context is familiar, like a credit card receipt. Readers at the Novice level rely on their background knowledge and can recognize keywords.
Writers at the Novice level can copy or recall basic words or phrases. At the Novice level, writers can express simple biographical information and may be able to produce a limited number of words or phrases from memory.
Examples of Skills Demonstrated at the Intermediate Level
Speakers at the Intermediate level can discuss familiar topics directly related to their daily lives. At Intermediate, speakers can recombine what they have learned to express ideas and ask simple questions to succeed in survival situations.
At the Intermediate level, listeners can understand simple sentence-length speech on daily topics. Generally, listeners at the Intermediate level can comprehend one utterance at a time while engaging in conversation or listening tasks like receiving directions.
Readers at an Intermediate proficiency level can understand information through context clues in predictable texts. Most readers at this level can comprehend texts that convey basic information and messages in everyday contexts.
Writers at an Intermediate proficiency level can meet functional writing needs, such as simple messages and letters, and respond to basic questions in written form. At the Intermediate level, writers can also use language to communicate facts and ideas through loosely connected sentences in the present tense.
Examples of Skills Demonstrated at the Advanced Level
For a speaker to be at an Advanced proficiency level, they must actively participate in conversations to communicate information about themselves and topics of interest on a community or international scale. Speakers at the Advanced level can deal with unexpected complications in social situations and narrate and describe past, present, and future events.
Listeners at the Advanced level can understand the main ideas in conversation about general topics and compensate for limitations in their lexical or structural control through real-world knowledge and context clues. Listeners at the Advanced level can understand a range of general interest topics.
Readers that meet the Advanced-level proficiency guidelines can understand the main ideas in a text and use context clues to compensate for any limitations. At the Advanced level, readers can understand texts with a clear and predictable structure and show independence in reading new subject matter.
Writers at the Advanced level can write formal and informal correspondence in past, present, and future time frames. At the Advanced level, writers can also produce a paragraph of connected discourse and showcase control of frequently used writing structures.
Examples of Skills Demonstrated at the Superior Level
Speakers at the Superior proficiency level can accurately and fluently communicate to participate in conversations on various topics. At the Superior level, speakers can present their opinions, use extended discourse without unnaturally long hesitations and provide structured arguments.
Listeners at the Superior proficiency level can understand familiar and unfamiliar topics. Listeners at the Superior level can follow extended discourse and have a greater command over a language due to a broad vocabulary and understanding of complex structures within a specific culture.
At the Superior level, readers must be able to understand texts from many genres and draw inferences from complex structures and target cultures. At Superior, readers can understand texts with specialized vocabulary and elements such as hypotheses and abstract linguistic formulations.
Writers at the Superior proficiency level can produce formal and informal correspondence that deals with concrete and abstract topics. At the Superior level, writers can organize and prioritize ideas and showcase a high degree of control with a precise and varied vocabulary.
Order an ACTFL Test Today
Language Testing International® is the exclusive licensee of ACTFL, making us a reliable resource for your language testing needs. Major corporations across the globe recognize accredited ACTFL language assessments, and examinees can test their proficiency in the four language skills of speaking, listening, writing, and reading. All ACTFL tests accurately determine an individual's language proficiency level and provide a valid and defensible language credential.
If you are an individual language user interested in testing your proficiency, please see our resources on scheduling a test. To learn more about LTI or ACTFL proficiency testing for organizations, we encourage you to contact us.