On May 18, 2016, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rules implementing new anti-discrimination rules for Non-English Speakers within provisions of the Affordable Care Act § 1557. This is the first of several alerts discussing aspects of the new rule. The alert focuses on those provisions requiring language assistance for persons with limited English proficiency; future alerts will cover rules related to sex discrimination and persons with disabilities. The new language assistance rules build on but extend beyond HHS’s 2003 Guidance Regarding Limited English Proficient Persons.
Continue reading
ACTFL Establishes Center for Assessment, Research & Development
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) announces the establishment of the ACTFL Center for Assessment, Research and Development. The ACTFL Board of Directors approved the proposal for the Center during its May 13-15 annual meeting.
The mission of the Center is to support PK-12 schools and institutions of higher education in areas of assessment and articulation; to develop and maintain high-quality language proficiency assessments; to train, certify and maintain highly reliable testers and raters; to conduct research on proficiency and performance outcomes; and to collaborate with other language organizations and government agencies to support and promote research in the areas of high quality language teaching and learning, including examining implications for teacher education.
Continue reading
The OPIc Arrives in China
The Oral Proficiency Interview computer system (OPIc), developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), was recently introduced in Shanghai to assist those seeking employment with international companies to demonstrate their proficiency. Currently, the OPIc covers 13 languages and five of them, English, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, are now available in China.
“The system was introduced in China because it contains evaluation tests for multiple languages, rather than a single language like other tests,” said Li Peize, President of the Beijing-based Chinese Testing International of the Confucius Institute. “It was designed by more than 10,000 language experts around the world.”
Continue reading
Visit LTI @ SHRM (April 18-20) Booth # 308
Visit LTI at Booth # 308 in Florida during the SHRM Talent Management Conference & Exhibition – 4/18-20. While here, take a spin at our Prize Wheel where you can win gift cards, free tests and much more! Speak with one of Language Testing professionals and learn how we work with the HR community to ensure the best hires.
The SHRM 2016 Talent Management Conference & Exposition gives you the tools, resources, innovations and solutions you need to evolve your human capital strategies. The conference provides ideas to advance you personally and professionally, while boosting your talent management strategies. More than a thousand HR professionals will join us in Orlando April 18-20, 2016—this is an excellent opportunity to make new connections, network with old friends and expand your list of contacts.
Visit LTI @ the TESOL Expo (April 5-8) – Booth #633
Language Testing International is excited to once again participate and exhibit at TESOL this year. For those of you attending, be sure to stop by the LTI booth (#633) and speak to one of our Language Testing professionals.
And don’t forget to take a spin at our “PRIZE WHEEL” where everyone is guaranteed to win!
We also urge you to attend our informative Workshop Sessions on Wednesday, April 6th. See below for more details.
- Wednesday, April 6th @ 2pm – Room #323 – “ACTFL Testing Proficiency Performance/K12 & Higher Education.” Presented by Brett Laquercia.
- Wednesday, April 6th @ 3PM – Holiday #1 – “Empowering Language Learners by Developing and Recognizing 21st Century Literacies” – (Sponsored by ACTFL) Presented by: Marty Abbott.
To learn more about TESOL or to view the Expo schedule click here!
Improvements to AAPPL Shorten Test Segments
Starting April 1, 2016, ACTFL has launched new updates to AAPPL, The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages.
The changes shorten test segments by 10 minutes and impacts all three current levels that include:
Novice, Intermediate and Advanced.
Due to these improvements, the test segments are now 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes. Each level (Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced) now has three topics.
Continue reading
ACTFL Signs Memorandum of Cooperation with University of Guadalajara
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO — Earlier this month, The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) announced a strategic international partnership to expand and enhance foreign language collaboration at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. ACTFL and the Centro Universitario de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades (CUCSH) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation initiating a new educational alliance to support academic research, new language assessments, and professional development workshops for language instructors at the University.
Leading the delegation (and pictured on left) was ACTFL Director of Professional Programs, Elvira Swender, along with the CEO of Language Testing International (LTI), Helen Hamlyn. Representatives from the University included CUCSH Dean, Héctor Raúl Solis Gadea and Dora Meléndez Vizcarra, Chair of the Department of Languages.
Click here to read the entire article on the ACTFL website.
World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages define the central role of world languages in the learning career of every student. The five goal areas of the Standards establish an inextricable link between communication and culture, which is applied in making connections and comparisons and in using this competence to be part of local and global communities.
The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages create a roadmap to guide learners to develop competence to communicate effectively and interact with cultural competence to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world.
Continue reading
Superior Social Skills Tied To Bilinguals
It’s well-known that being bilingual has obvious advantages. Some of which are that it allows you to take advantage of new experiences new conversations. But in recent years, psychology researchers have demonstrated some less obvious advantages of bilingualism, too. For instance, bilingual children may enjoy certain cognitive benefits, such as improved executive function — which is critical for problem solving and other mentally demanding activities.
Now, two new studies demonstrate that multilingual exposure improves not only children’s cognitive skills but also their social abilities.
ACTFL Receives ACE Recommendations for Two New Tests!
LTI is happy to report that ACTFL has once again received credit recommendations by The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE) for the following: OPI, OPIC, WPT and for the first time, both the Reading and Listening Proficiency Tests (RPT and LPT).
“ACTFL is extremely pleased with the renewal of college credit recommendations for ACTFL speaking and writing assessments (OPI, OPIc, and WPT) and the initial recommendations for ACTFL reading and listening tests (RPT and LPT),” said Elvira Swender, Director of ACTFL Professional Programs. “The implications of ACE College Credit Recommendation for ACTFL tests cannot be overestimated. These recommendations allow even non-traditional language learners to demonstrate their language proficiency according to the national and internationally recognized ACTFL scale, and to be recommended for college credit based on that credential.”
Continue reading