Have you found yourself asking any of these common questions pertaining to the AAPPL?
How can I prepare my students for the AAPPL?
Is the AAPPL a performance test or a proficiency test?
How do I prepare my students for the AAPPL if there aren’t set topics to learn?
The underlying motivation of these questions we often hear from educators is a desire to guide learners through a successful testing experience and to help them to demonstrate their maximum potential in the language. Knowing that proficiency is more than a set of vocabulary terms or grammar rules to know inside and out, let’s start by looking at how performance and proficiency are part of the AAPPL.
What does Performance toward Proficiency mean?
The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) is sometimes mistakenly identified as a performance test, yet the AAPPL is an assessment that was purposefully designed with both proficiency and performance in mind. The ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners define proficiency and performance as follows.
“Proficiency is the ability to use language in real world situations in a spontaneous interaction and non-rehearsed context and in a manner acceptable and appropriate to native speakers of the language. Proficiency demonstrates what a language user is able to do regardless of where, when, or how the language was acquired (p.4).”
“Performance is the ability to use language that has been learned and practiced in an instructional setting. Coached by an instructor, whether in a classroom or online, or guided by instructional materials, performance refers to language ability that has been practiced and is within familiar contexts and content areas (p.4).”
Notice how AAPPL scoring is aligned to both the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines-2024 and the ACTFL Performance Scale (see image below). The three links below also lead to tables that contain the full range of scores for each section of AAPPL. These comprehensive sets of score descriptions and strategies may be helpful in establishing curriculum goals and strategies.
“AAPPL is . . . ideal for language learners who will transition from using the language in planned, rehearsed classroom settings (performance) to using it spontaneously in completely novel settings (proficiency); the AAPPL combines the two approaches to focus attention on both what students have learned to do and what they can do in new settings” (https://www.actfl.org/resources/press-releases/actfl-releases-topics-aappl-assessment). The AAPPL is intended to encourage a washback effect into the classroom that motivates educators to take an overall proficiency-based approach.
Preparing Learners for Proficiency-based Testing
Returning to the initial questions, how can we guide learners to success on a and proficiency-focused test? With AAPPL, certainly reviewing the AAPPL content and topics can help you have an idea of what to expect.
But let’s look at preparation from a different angle for a moment. Think of performance like a piano student learning to play a song for a recital. They learn the notes of the keyboard, how to read music, and practice their piece many times, maybe even memorizing it in preparation for the performance. The student will review and look at that particular piece of music many, many times as they work on timing, accuracy, dynamics, and musicality in the way they play the song. Their performance of the piece is tied to the curriculum/lessons and practice they have done specifically to prepare themselves to perform that piece of music.
Now, let’s think of proficiency like looking at a piece of music for the first time and being able to read the time signature, identify what key the song is in, and perhaps even sight read the piece. Regardless of what the piece of music is, the student with a certain level of music proficiency will be able to spontaneously apply their knowledge. Certainly, the knowledge and practice that leads to a good performance is also foundational to the development of proficiency. As with music, in testing it is possible to master specific aspects of language performance that help build toward proficiency. But a proficiency test is not a recital performance. In other words, we can best help learners prepare by teaching skills that build proficiency and prepare them to use the language in unscripted ways.
