ABSTRACT
The ability to function competently in one’s native or in a second language, involving a sense for appropriate linguistic behavior in a variety of situations. Since the late 1960s, the proficiency movement has played a dominant role in foreign language instruction in the United States and Canada. The ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) provisional proficiency guidelines, first disseminated in 1982, were developed in cooperation with American and international government, business and academic groups, and represent an adaptation of a scale formulated by linguists at the United States Foreign Service Institute in the early 1950s. The ACTFL guidelines outline levels for proficiency in the four skills of speaking, writing, listening, and reading. The levels (Novice Low, Mid, High; Intermediate Low, Mid, High; Advanced, Advanced High, and Superior; the Distinguished level also applies to the reading and listening skills) establish parameters for determining the degree of proficiency in the different skills. Oral proficiency, one of the key goals of the proficiency movement, is measured by the ‘oral proficiency interview,’ a test administered by a specialist trained in identifying the linguistic functions, contexts, text types, and accuracy levels characteristic of the different levels of proficiency. ( also second language acquisition)
References
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 1986. ACTFL proficiency guidelines. New York.
