Oral Proficiency Levels in the Workplace

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) developed a scale to demonstrate the main language functions that a learner can perform with full control at each of the major levels. The chart shows the connection of the levels of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines with the rating system used by the federal government, agencies, and armed services. Important messages reinforced by this chart includes:

1. Two years of studying a language is NOT sufficient (no jobs have the Novice level as the minimum entry requirement).

2. The professions or positions that correspond to each proficiency level are based on analysis of the minimal language requirements for each job, determined by experts from companies and agencies who use ACTFL proficiency tests. Factors include how controlled or unpredictable are the situations one encounters in that job and also how repetitive, creative, or abstract is the language needed. Educators can help learners by designing learning activities that are less teacher-controlled and that encourage less predictable responses.

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Brain Processes Sign Language Similar to Spoken Language

American Sign Language, or even simple gestures are processed by deaf people in the part of the brain that is used for spoken language, according to a recent international research study headed up by a neuroscientist from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Aaron Newman, Associate Professor with the university’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, and collaborators Ted Supalla and Elissa Newport from Georgetown University, student Nina Fernandez, and Daphne Bavelier from the Universities of Geneva and Rochester, were able to show those who are congenitally deaf process signs and gestures in the left hemisphere of the brain. Those test subjects who were not deaf and not users of sign language processed the information in the portion of the brain used to process human movement. “It is a basic science study, with no immediate implications for people in the area of health,” Newman said in an interview.

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10 Tips to Ace Your Job Interview

The start of the New Year is always prime time for employers to look for and hire new talent.

So how can you be best prepared?

View the list below for some helpful tips:

    1. Do your research. Visit the website of the company you’re interviewing with and understand their history, management, and overall business. Be sure to research any of their recent announcements so you’re up to speed.
    2. Your attire. Always dress business professional, unless specifically told otherwise. Be clean, well-groomed and scent-free.
    3. Your questions. Consider who it is you’ll be speaking to and prepare questions in advance on a single sheet of paper. Your questions should reflect your interest in and research of the employer and its markets and competitors.

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Protests Spark at U.S. Colleges Over Micro-Aggressions

In recent months there have protests at college campuses across the nation calling attention to a previously little-known term: “micro-aggressions,” commonly defined as routine verbal and non-verbal slights and harassment (often based on race and gender but also including age, sexual orientation and disability) that is typically unintentional but nonetheless hurtful.

Calls for colleges and universities to implement training at these schools for faculty to spot and recognize these forms of micro-aggressions have been gaining more and more attention.  Training would help others recognize and avoid these biases that come in form of Caucasian students telling a black person “you don’t really act black,” or asking a Hispanic-American about immigration-related matters.
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Michigan Now Requires ACTFL Tests for Teacher Credentialing

Language Testing International (LTI) is pleased to announce that Michigan is now the 26th state requiring ACTFL tests for Teacher Credentialing.  We have moved steadily forward, adding OPIc and ProFluent+ to many states that have previously only accepted the OPI. Additionally, we are continually adding new states to our growing list overall.

The addition of Michigan means that the state will now require OPI or OPIc to meet the oral proficiency requirement for World Language Educators. More, importantly, it is one of 16 (of those 26) states that requires our tests for ALL languages.

Now that we are past the mid-point of states that require ACTFL tests, we will continue the effort and seek to land the 27th state and beyond in the coming year.

Talking Toys: Helping or Hurting Young Language Learners?

A new and very interesting study in JAMA Pediatrics discovered that toys marketed as language promoters don’t prove to be so in most cases. In fact, the study found that these toys in fact, hindered the language learning process in young children.

Professor Anna Sosa, of Northern Arizona University, led the study and provided participating families three different types of toys: books, traditional toys like stacking blocks and a shape sorter, and electronic toys.

“We had a talking farm — animal names and things,” Sosa says of the electronic toys. “We had a baby cellphone. And we had a baby laptop. So you actually open the cover and start pushing buttons, and it tells you things.”
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Happier Holidays For Multilingual Businesses

During the holiday season many retailers, both at the store-level and online, find that communicating with customers in their native language to be a challenge. Selecting which languages communicate in for both employees and website retailers, should reflect your product’s market opportunities and long-term goals. Using backend technologies like geolocation or tracking of billing addresses help identify the origin of your consumer and determine their language preferences.

For merchants seeking to penetrate new international online markets, there are 13 languages that can unlock nearly 90% of online business opportunities. They include English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Arabic and Swedish.
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Create a Positive Customer Experience in Any Language

As the American population continues to diversify and businesses expand operations around the world, multilingual employees provide a valuable resource. Their words often generate a customer’s first impression of your company and determine his or her willingness to engage in the future. Determining that your multilingual employees are proficient will ensure that they will provide excellent service in all their interactions and is an investment in your company’s future success. As the recognized industry leader in language proficiency assessment, Language Testing International (LTI) provides consistent and defensible testing that helps companies make that investment wisely.

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Will the US Become a Bilingual Country?

In the U.S., speaking more than one language fluently is not very common – except in Los Angeles, California.The city has one of the largest populations in the U.S. of young people between the ages of 18 and 34. This generation is often called millennials. More than half of millennials in Los Angeles are bilingual, which means they speak more than one language.

Maria Elena Burgos is cooking a Mexican breakfast. She says making Mexican food is just one of the many traditions in her home. Another is speaking Spanish to her children.

“We want them to be bilingual. We want to keep the Spanish somewhere in their learning too, not only at home.” When Ms. Burgos first came to the United States from Mexico, she learned English. She knew her children would learn English quickly. So she wanted them to speak Spanish at home and study the language at school.
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Measuring English Proficiency in Real-World Situations

Note: This post has been updated on April 2, 2024 to reflect the updates to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

Trust — but verify. We trust that English language learners are gaining something through their studies, but how do we verify what they actually can do with their language skills? We may believe that a job candidate has the language ability to take a certain position, but where is the proof?

The answer comes through evaluation of language proficiency using a common measuring stick, such as the proficiency guidelines published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). These evaluators describe “what individuals can do with language in terms of speaking, writing, listening and reading in real-world situations in a spontaneous and non-rehearsed context.”
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