Appendix 2.2 The Concept of Proficiency: A Historical Summary*
Prior to World War II
Foreign language instruction centered on the development of literacy
skills reading, and writing.
World War II
Realization that Americans had difficulty communicating with
foreigners; Army Language School (later to become the Defense
Language Institute) in Monterey, California, began teaching for oral
communication.
1950s
Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Language School began to rate speaking
ability of students and personnel using an interview-based evaluation
procedure linked to a rating scale.
1960s
ETS staff members were trained in the OPI procedure and began to test
Peace Corps personnel.
1970s
Application of OPI to educational setting (as part of
certification procedure for bilingual and ESL teachers,
evaluating students and personnel). “Common Yardstick
project” began, bringing together ETS with the English
Speaking Union of Great Britain, the British Council, the
Deutscher Volkschochschulerband, representatives of the
U.S. government and various business and academic groups for the
purpose of refining the FSI (currently called ILR) scale and interview
procedure for academic use.
1978-1979
President's Commission on Foreign Language and
International Studies formed to assess need for language
specialists, recommend types of language programs needed,
recommend how to call public attention to the importance
of foreign language and international studies, and to
identify legislative changes. Report of the Commission,
"Strength Through Wisdom" recommended that foreign
language proficiency test be developed to assess foreign
language teaching in the United States. MLA-ACLS
(Modern Language Association-American Council on
Language Studies) Language Task Force for the President's
Commission made similar recommendations.
1980
ILR scale expanded at Levels 0 and 1 and levels renamed.
Under the sponsorship of two grants, ACTFL continued development
of longer verbal descriptions of each level in the form of "guidelines"
for the four skills and culture. ACTFL began to conduct OPI tester
training workshops.
1986
ACTFL Provisional Proficiency Guidelines were published
and first OPIs were conducted.
1986-87
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines revised, no longer provisional. Features
of less commonly taught languages included. Culture guidelines were
eliminated since it was recognized that language-specific work would
be needed. Teaching for proficiency workshops of various kinds were
added to the ACTFL Professional Development Workshop list.
1990
First extensive research on comparability of the proficiency
scales across languages and skills reported in Dandonoli and Henning
(1990); revealed that speaking guidelines were most solid in terms of
validity. Projects were initiated to work on guidelines in other skills.
1992
OPI testing was expanded to commercial sector. Language
Testing International (LTI) was established to handle the
volume of testing. The Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI)
procedure was designed by the Center for Applied Linguistics as an
adaptation of the OPI.
1994
The first tape-mediated proficiency test (Texas Oral Proficiency Test)
was used as a competency examination for FL and bilingual teachers.
1999
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines in speaking were revised. ACTFL
Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners were published.
2000
ACTFL OPI was accepted by the American Council on Education
(ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service as a measure through
which college credit may be granted.
2001
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines in writing were revised.
Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) was launched
2003
Twentieth anniversary of ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
was commemorated with special issue of Foreign
Language Annals dedicated to oral proficiency testing.
2006
ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview – computer (OPIc®) in English was
launched.
2007
ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview – computer (OPIc®) in Spanish
was launched.
2008
ACE Credit Recommendation for ACTFL OPI is renewed and ACE
Credit recommendation is awarded for ACTFL WPT and ACTFL OPIc
ACTFL OPIc Jr. in English launched in Korea. Designed for K-12
learners.
ACTFL finalized the Framework for the ACTFL Assessment for the
Performance and Proficiency of Languages (AAPPL). Prototype items
were developed and piloted in Chinese.
2009
ACTFL plans to release the OPIc for Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Korean,
French, Persian, and Russian
ACTFL plans to launch the OPIc Jr. in English and Spanish in the U.S.
2010
ACTFL plans to publish the 2010 Revisions to the ACTFL Proficiency
Guidelines. The 2010 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Listening
and Reading will reflect new sub-levels of Low, Mid, and High at the
Advanced level. The 2010 Guidelines for Speaking and Writing will
include the addition of a major level above Superior (Distinguished).
ACTFL plans to launch Construct-based Proficiency Tests in Reading
and Listening.
Source: Shrum & Glisan, original material, 2008
*Thanks to Elvira Swender from ACTFL for her contributions to this chart.