Proficiency Scales

Proficiency Scales

Language proficiency scales measure a language user's ability to use a target language effectively in real-world situations. When individuals take language assessments, their test performance places them at certain levels on proficiency scales to indicate how well they can use a target language.

Language Testing International® (LTI®) delivers ACTFL assessments that certify an individual's speaking, listening, reading, and writing proficiency in a particular language. ACTFL assessments use language proficiency scales to measure test-takers' skills and rate them at a certain proficiency level. Language users who place high on a language assessment scale can prove to organizations, potential employers, or educators that they have the necessary skills to carry out important academic or job-related language tasks.

What Are Language Proficiency Scales?

What Are Language Proficiency Scales?

Language proficiency scales help to measure how effectively a language user can perform different types of language tasks. They may also be used to compare different language users' abilities. Proficiency scales provide guidelines at various ability levels and outline each level's expected communication tasks and how effectively users can perform the tasks.

When an individual takes a language proficiency assessment, their test results provide a rating against the guidelines established by a proficiency scale and evaluate their proficiency level based on their test performance. 

What Skills Are Measured by Proficiency Scales?

Proficiency scales provide universal criteria against which to compare an individual's performance on a proficiency test. They measure skills such as interpersonal listening and speaking, presentational speaking and writing, and interpretive listening and reading. A person's score on a proficiency scale and the type of assessment they take indicates how well they can speak, listen, read, or write in a target language.

Well Known Language Proficiency Scales

Well Known Language Proficiency Scales

There are three very well known language proficiency scales used around the world: the ACTFL scale, the CEFR scale, and the ILR scale. Each scale measures linguistic abilities on various levels to reflect an individual's ability to communicate effectively in a target language. Proficiency scales evaluate test takers' functional language abilities regardless of how they learned or acquired the languages.

ACTFL Proficiency Scale

The ACTFL proficiency scale consists of four main levels — Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior. The Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced levels are further divided into sublevels, which are Low, Mid, and High. For example, a language user who tests in the Novice range will be rated on a more granular level as Novice Low, Novice Mid, or Novice High.

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines-2012 present proficiency levels as ranges, and each range describes which tasks an individual can or cannot do with a target language. The ACTFL scale provides a granular standard against which language productive and receptive skills can be measured. This scale is extensively applied in various arenas but is the preferred measure of proficiency for academic purposes in the U.S.

The ACTFL scale is not based on any particular educational curriculum, pedagogical methods, or specific theories. It does not indicate how individuals learn or should learn a language. The sole purpose of the ACTFL scale is to measure language users' functional language abilities.

ILR Proficiency Scale

The United States Inter-Agency Language Roundtable (ILR) developed the ILR scale to measure language ability. This scale encompasses the full scope of language abilities. The ILR consists of six base levels from zero to five, where zero represents No Practical Proficiency, and five represents Native or Bilingual Proficiency. The ILR scale also contains plus levels for use when a language user's proficiency falls between base levels.

For example, if an individual has high Limited Working Proficiency in speaking but doesn't quite demonstrate Professional Working Proficiency, their proficiency at that time would be rated at level 2+.

CEFR Proficiency Scale

The Common European Framework Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale measures language abilities in six levels — A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. The A levels represent basic language users, the B levels represent independent language users, and the C levels represent proficient language users.

The CEFR scale's A1 level corresponds to language users that can exchange simple information while communicating in a target language, while the A2 level would apply to those who illustrate the ability to understand simple information and express thoughts in familiar contexts.

A language user who tests at the B1 level can express their thoughts in familiar situations and generally handle unfamiliar contexts. A rating at the B2 level illustrates that the test-taker has the ability to express thoughts on various topics and fulfill most goals.

The C level is the highest level on the CEFR scale. Language users whose proficiency is rated at the C1 level demonstrate the ability to communicate capably, appropriately, and sensitively about unfamiliar topics, while those at the C2 level demonstrate the ability to communicate about cognitively demanding or academic material. 

The Importance of Proficiency Scales

The Importance of Proficiency Scales

While achievement tests measure specific information that an individual knows, a proficiency test measures how well they can use their knowledge and reach goals in real-world situations. Proficiency scales are important because they measure a language user's ability to communicate effectively across various settings and topics.

Language assessments allow individuals at varying proficiency levels to demonstrate their skills and abilities and have them rated against a language proficiency scale. Test-takers can then use their results to earn special academic placements, apply for specific jobs, or advance their careers. Academic institutions, organizations, and government agencies rely on language assessments to test the language skills of students, potential candidates, and current employees.

Language proficiency scales are an objective measure of how effectively individuals can use a language in non-rehearsed realistic situations. These scales help employers evaluate how well employees and potential candidates can perform language-related job duties. Proficiency scales also help instructors determine if students have the necessary language skills to take certain language classes or enroll in college language courses and programs.

LTI Is the Exclusive Licensee of ACTFL Assessments

LTI Is the Exclusive Licensee of ACTFL Assessments

Language Testing International is the exclusive licensee of ACTFL assessments, which can reliably rate test takers' abilities against the ACTFL, ILR, and CEFR scales. LTI delivers language assessments developed by ACTFL in speaking, listening, reading, and writing for over 120 languages. LTI has been a leader in language testing since 1992. Contact LTI by emailing us at customercare@languagetesting.com for more information about our language proficiency test offerings or schedule an assessment.

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