{"id":4977,"date":"2025-10-09T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.languagetesting.com\/blog\/?p=4977"},"modified":"2026-01-28T20:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:38:35","slug":"the-compelling-advantage-actfl-language-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.languagetesting.com\/blog\/the-compelling-advantage-actfl-language-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"The Compelling Advantage: ACTFL Language Certification – LTI Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not all language tests are worthy of your attention. Here\u2019s why the ACTFL\u00ae<\/sup> language tests delivered by LTI\u00ae<\/sup> <\/strong>stand out from the rest.<\/p>\n

Research-backed<\/h2>\n

ACTFL\u00a0(the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) has been conducting research for decades, specifically, on best practices for measuring language proficiency accurately and consistently, whether in the productive skills of speaking and writing or the receptive skills of listening and reading. The Language Educator<\/em><\/a> and Foreign Language Annals<\/em><\/a> are two ACTFL publications that are dedicated to academic research on assessment validation studies, test item analyses, and reliability evidence of testing results.<\/p>\n

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines<\/em><\/a> (Guidelines) <\/em>and ACTFL Performance Descriptors<\/em><\/a> are useful in understanding what qualifies language capability at different levels of proficiency. As a professional organization, ACTFL\u2019s over 12 thousand members worldwide are testament to the authority and integrity of their resources and work.<\/p>\n

ACTFL is the authority of language proficiency assessment precisely because it\u00a0<\/strong>does the heavy lifting of language acquisition and test development research.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Experience<\/h2>\n

For over 30 years, Language Testing International<\/a> (LTI) has been the exclusive licensee of ACTFL. No other language testing entity can issue ACTFL ratings or administer ACTFL tests, though some companies insinuate that their ratings align with the ACTFL scale<\/a>, which is based on the Guidelines<\/em><\/a>. If assessment testers and raters have not been trained and certified by ACTFL, such raters cannot provide accurate ACTFL ratings. Only LTI can provide the peace of mind that the ratings of ACTFL language proficiency tests follow ACTFL quality assurance protocols.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s not LTI, it’s not ACTFL either<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

LTI was established in 1992 to work as ACTFL\u2019s exclusive testing branch. From very humble beginnings, LTI has grown into a world leader in language proficiency testing. We are the \u2018go to\u2019 option when rating accuracy matters. Thousands of clients in the commercial, government, and academic sectors have been satisfied, long-term LTI clients that depend on accurate<\/u> language testing results. \u00a0Many Fortune 500 companies trust LTI for their language testing needs. Below are links to a sampling of LTI\u2019s satisfied clients.<\/p>\n