Periodic language proficiency assessments can help you become a better, more confident world language teacher. In fact, certified language proficiency can even earn you a higher salary. A recent paper published in the Empirica journal indicates, “the advanced command of a foreign language yields a wage premium of 11% on average,” with proficiency in Spanish (32%), French (22%), and Italian (15%) yielding particularly high premiums. By regularly testing your world language proficiency — referring to your ability to use language in real-world or spontaneous contexts — you can accurately measure your current language skills, brush-up in any areas you may be lacking, and achieve the certification needed to impress employers.
Stand out to employers
World language teachers are essential for helping students improve their academic performance, communication skills, and career opportunities — yet qualified world language teachers are in short supply, according to UNESCO and the Education Policy Center at American Institutes for Research. In the United States, there’s been a shortage of world language teachers for a few decades in roughly 44 states, along with Washington, D.C. So, by becoming a world language teacher, you’re already having a positive impact on the lives of students, and language proficiency assessments can help you stand out even more to employers. These assessments can give you a clear picture of your current proficiency level and help you identify areas where you need to strengthen your language skills as needed. E-learning courses, in particular, can be a powerful tool to help you maintain your world language proficiency. Since e-learning courses are flexible, you can fit your studies in during times that best suit your current working schedule.
Language proficiency: essential for classroom confidence
World language proficiency is a key component in teaching engaging and professional . In fact, world language proficiency has even been determined to influence teacher confidence levels in the classroom. When it comes to framing and carrying out spontaneous classroom tasks and routines — referring to any activity that can’t be mapped out in advance — language plays a foundational role. In these situations, you need to be able to adjust and rephrase language as needed depending on the feedback and reactions provided from your students. Since there’s no telling quite which way things are going to go, having a level of proficiency that allows for quick reaction and communication is essential improvising and reacting spontaneously are essential skills.
The value of language proficiency tests
With ACTFL language proficiency assessments, you can periodically test your proficiency in each of the four key language skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Each of the available tests can identify where exactly you stand when it comes to world language proficiency, and therefore help you identify the skills you need to strengthen. In turn, you can become a better and more confident teacher as a result.
For example, during the Listening Proficiency Test (LPT), you’ll listen to audio recordings and answer related multiple-choice questions. The goal is to assess how well you’re able to understand spontaneously spoken language. Alternatively, during the Reading Proficiency Test (RPT), you’ll read texts in the test language before answering questions relating to what you’ve read. This assessment measures your level of reading comprehension. And the Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) provides you with a series of open-ended writing prompts, which you’re tasked with responding to in detail. Your responses are then assessed for proficiency, as measured against the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines – 2024.
If you want to focus on your speaking skills, the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) can evaluate your abilities in this area. You’ll have a conversation with an ACTFL-certified tester over the phone. The tester will then assess your language proficiency level according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines – 2024. The OPI assessment reflects as it mimics a real-life conversation, while simultaneously sticking to a carefully-developed structure and protocol. Alternatively, if you want to take this test online rather than over the phone, the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc) can evaluate your speaking skills this way at any time that’s convenient to you. This test is similar to the OPI, although you’ll be asked to answer a series of questions by an online virtual avatar instead of a live tester.
Conclusion
In conclusion, incorporating periodic language proficiency assessments into your role as a world language teacher is not only a practical step for personal and professional growth but also a strategic move for career advancement. Embracing language proficiency tests allows you to identify strengths and areas for improvement across crucial language skills. By investing in periodic assessments of your language proficiency and engaging in activities that will help you maintain your language skills, you can remain effective, confident, and well-prepared for the dynamic demands of education.
