ACTFL is proud to support the Seal of Biliteracy by offering the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and the ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) in 24 less commonly taught languages.

The ACTFL OPI & WPT SOBL assessment is appropriate for high school juniors and seniors (Grades 11 & 12).
The Seal of Biliteracy forms target the proficiency range of Novice Low to Advanced Mid.
The ACTFL OPI & WPT SOBL assessment is available each Spring from January to May.
Students, parents, teachers, and schools can order the OPI & WPT for SOBL from Language Testing International (LTI), ACTFL's exclusive licensee of ACTFL assessments. Visit here to schedule an ACTFL OPI & WPT for the Seal of Biliteracy.

Languages

ACTFL offers the OPI & WPT SOBL in 24 less commonly taught and assessed languages including: Albanian, Amharic, Bengali/Bangla, Bosnia/Croatian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Dari, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Malayalam, Pashto, Polish, Swahili, Tamil, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yoruba.

ACTFL's goal is to increase access to the Seal of Biliteracy for learners of less commonly taught/tested languages. If you would like to suggest a language for development, please visit the ACTFL test development request form.

ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) for the Seal of Biliteracy

The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) for the Seal of Biliteracy (SOBL) assesses how well a person speaks a language. It is an assessment of the Interpersonal Listening and Speaking mode of communication. It is a 20 to 25-minute one-on-one interview between a certified ACTFL tester and test taker. It is interactive, continuously adapting to each test taker and their speaking abilities. The speaker’s language ability is compared to the criteria outlined in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking, and then a proficiency rating is awarded.

Test Administration & Delivery

Language Testing International (LTI) is the exclusive provider of ACTFL assessments. LTI schedules, administers, and reports over 700,000 official ACTFL assessments each year.

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OPI SOBL Format

Phases of the OPI: The OPI begins with a warm-up which consists of greetings, informal exchanges of pleasantries, and conversation openers about topics such as family, hobbies, and school. Based on the warm-up, the OPI tester begins by asking questions that help to identify the proficiency level of the speaker. The tester makes judgments by comparing the test taker’s language to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking. The interview concludes when the tester identifies enough evidence to support a proficiency rating. The interview ends with a brief exchange of conversation closers.
Tasks & Topics: The speaker is presented with tasks and topics that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice Low to Advanced Mid on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking.
Time: The average time to complete a SOBL OPI ranges from 20 to 25 minutes.
Format: The one-on-one interview is conducted over the phone by an ACTFL-certified OPI Tester.

ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) for the Seal of Biliteracy

The ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) for the Seal of Biliteracy (SOBL) is an assessment of functional writing ability in a language, addressing the Presentational and Interpersonal modes of communication. It measures how well a person spontaneously writes in a language (without access to revisions and/or editing tools) by comparing the test taker's performance on specific writing tasks with the criteria stated in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing.

WPT SOBL Format

Introduction and Warm-Up: The WPT introduction contains directions, information on test taking strategies, and a warm-up activity that targets the Novice proficiency level.
Prompts: The ACTFL WPT includes four prompts for written responses dealing with practical, social, and academic topics that are encountered in informal and formal contexts. Each prompt contains two to three tasks.
Tasks & Contexts: The writer is presented with tasks and contexts that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice Low to Advanced Mid on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing.
Prompts: The WPT SOBL prompts are written in English; the test taker's responses are written in the target language.
Time: The average time test takers typically take to complete all WPT prompts ranges from 45 - 60 minutes, up to a maximun of 90 minutes.
Demo: The WPT demo site can be found here.

Resources by Topic

OPI & WPT for the Seal of Biliteracy