FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Camelot Marshall
703.894.2900
ACTFL and Language Testing International (LTI), the exclusive provider of ACTFL assessments, are pleased to announce a new digital badging program through Credly. Digital badges are now issued to students in higher education institutions and adults completing an official ACTFL proficiency assessment, and may include the associated ACE CREDIT recommendations for the ACTFL assessment taken. These badges will recognize the effort involved in learning a language and provide evidence of an indispensable, validated skill.
With language skills in urgent and increasing demand among the U.S. workforce, it is critical for job candidates and professionals to quickly and easily provide evidence of their language proficiency to both prospective and current employers. As Making Languages Our Business, a recent report by ACTFL and its Lead with Languages campaign, demonstrates, an astounding nine out of ten U.S. employers surveyed rely on employees with language skills other than English, and one out of four claim to have lost business due to a lack of language skills on their team. With one in three language-dependent employers reporting a language skills gap, being able to clearly demonstrate one’s language ability creates a distinct competitive advantage over non-credentialed peers at any stage of an individual’s career journey.
Digital badging addresses many components of a modern learning and recruitment environment. Security and authenticity are verified through the Credly platform; 20 digital language badges include unique data about the credential holder, the language, and the proficiency level received on the ACTFL assessment taken. Badge holders can share their digital credentials with their academic institutions, across social media platforms, in digital signatures, and embedded in a resume, thereby enhancing their profile. “We’re excited about this new digital badging initiative not only to further recognize the linguistic accomplishments of learners around the world, but also motivate them along their pathway to proficiency”, said Howie Berman, Executive Director of ACTFL. “These badges will have a profound impact on their education and careers, today and into the future.”
Individuals seeking to receive college credit for their language skills can obtain an ACE validated badge through ACTFL’s partnership with the American Council on Education (ACE) for any of the five approved assessments: ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview - Computer (OPIc), ACTFL Reading Proficiency Test (RPT), ACTFL Listening Proficiency Test (LPT), and ACTFL Writing Proficiency (WPT). Language specific badges are available for ACTFL assessments in the following languages: Arabic, Cantonese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.