Language Assessment
The Center conducts oral proficiency language testing for undergraduate and graduate students as well as for faculty an staff. The tests assess one’s ability to use language for real-world purposes and accomplish linguistic tasks across a wide range of topics and settings.
Test Format
There are three test formats that we offer through the CSLC: ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer (OPIc) and the True North oral exam. The ACTFL OPI/OPIc are offered by Language Testing International, an exclusive licensee of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). They grant students an external accreditation based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Testers compare the examinee’s oral performance of specific communication tasks with proficiency criteria identified by ACTFL.
OPI consists of a one-on-one conversation between a certified tester and an examinee, usually via telephone. The average cost is $145.
With the OPIc, the tester responds to questions administered by an avatar on a computer, where their recorded responses are played back and rated by a certified tester from LTI. The average cost is $73.
The True North oral exam is comprised of two sections. In the first, the tester repeats sentences that are stated by the tester. The sentence is said once so students cannot repeat, skip ahead or go back to a question. The second section requires timed responses to open-ended questions displayed on the screen. The cost ranges between $15 and $25.
Languages Offered
The center can facilitate testing in the languages listed below:
OPI
ACTFL: Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Arabic (MSA), Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cebuano, Chavacano, **Chechen, Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Ga, Georgian, German, Greek (Modern), Guajarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Korean, Krio, **Kurdish-Kurmanji, Kurdish-Sorani, Lao, **Lingala, Malay, Malayalam, Mandingo-Bambara, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Polish, (European) Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, **Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Yoruba, Zulu
ILR scale only: Levantine, Algerian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Palestinian, Sudanese, Syrian, Tunisian, Yemeni
OPIc
Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Pashto, Persian Farsi, European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
True North Language Assessment
English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Scheduling
For scheduling and other related questions, please contact the CSLC Director, Alessia Blad-Miller.