ACTFL Digital Badges Powered by Credly

ACTFL and LTI are proud to be partnering with Credly to provide a new way to showcase your language skills by earning and displaying a digital badge as a credential for use on social media sites, in digital signatures, or embedded in a resume. Please see ACTFL’s Press Release from 4/9/2021 and review the information below.

What is Digital Badging? How are Credly badges earned?

Credly badges are digital credentials that recognize the effort involved in learning a language and provide evidence of an indispensable, validated skill. They are awarded for each of the four communication skills, Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening, and show earners’ proficiency level in one of those skills based on their test score on one of our Official Language Proficiency Assessments including the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), Oral Proficiency Interview - Computer (OPIc), Writing Proficiency Test (WPT), Listening Proficiency Test (LPT), or Reading Proficiency Test (RPT).

These tests are rated according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines; Credly badges display the proficiency level or level range demonstrated when taking one or more of the tests above and are automatically issued to individual candidates who take an Official OPI, OPIc, WPT, LPT, or RPT that they have either purchased for themselves or taken through select Higher Education or Commercial organizations. Test candidates who demonstrate a proficiency level of at least Novice High for Speaking and Writing, Intermediate Mid for Listening, and Intermediate High for Reading receive Credly badges, in accordance with the American Council on Education’s (ACE’s) Credit Recommendations for ACTFL Assessments.

For what languages are badges available? What information do potential employers and others who view Credly badges see?

Language specific badges are issued for Arabic, Cantonese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Persian Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. These badges show the earner’s name, a description of the language skill and proficiency level certified by the test taken, a link to a description of the test taken to earn the badge, the American Council on Education Credit Recommendation associated with the badge, the date of issue of the badge, the test date, rating and certificate number, and skill tags connected to the badge.

For less commonly taught and tested languages, badges show the earner’s name, the test taken, the proficiency level or range demonstrated and the communicative skill (Speaking, Writing, Reading, Listening), the American Council on Education Credit Recommendation associated with the badge, the date of issue of the badge, as well as the earner’s certificate number, and skill tags connected to the badge.

Viewers of all badges can visit LTI’s Verify a Credential page and enter the certificate number shown on the Credly badge to see earners’ Official Certificate.

How can badges be shared and displayed? What do they look like?

Badge earners can enhance their profiles by sharing their digital credentials with their academic institutions, across social media platforms, in digital signatures, or embedded in a resume. Credly badges can be shared through integrations on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and shared in other locations as a link.

Language-specific badges can be issued for Arabic, Cantonese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin), Persian Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

This image shows a complete badge earned by a candidate with all of the included information.

Badges for less commonly taught and tested languages include the ACE logo on the badge visual.

What is the cost to earn a badge?

Credly badges are free to earners who take one of our Official tests that qualify for badging (OPI, OPIc, WPT, LPT, and RPT).

Do badges expire? Can badges be issued for a test taken in the past?

Credly badges do not expire and will remain visible on social media for as long as the earner chooses to display them. The Official Certification of the proficiency level demonstrated on an ACTFL Assessment expires after two years, but this does not affect the earner’s ability to display the Credly badge for as long as desired.

Badges can be awarded retroactively upon request up to two years after the test date for Official tests taken in the past. Please contact LTI by emailing customercare@languagetesting.com with your full name, the email address associated with your test, the test type, and the language. Our Support team will create your badge and notify you. If you took your test more than two years ago, you will need to retest in order to earn a new certification and badge. If you took an Unofficial test within the past 2 years and would like to upgrade your rating to an Official one in order to earn a Credly badge, please contact us at the email address listed above.

How are Credly badges connected to ACE college credit endorsements?

The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service has evaluated five of ACTFL’s Assessments. For more information, please visit the ACE CREDIT website.

How do I claim and share my badge?

Once your Official OPI, OPIc, WPT, LPT, or RPT is scored and your rating released, you will receive an email notification from Credly with instructions for accepting your badge. Once your badge is accepted, you can then share it on social media or as a link. Please visit the Credly Help Center for information on accepting and sharing badges and managing your account, including Step-by-Step videos.