Course

Course Summary
Credit Type:
Exam
ACE ID:
ACTF-0035
Organization:
Length:
80 minutes
Dates Offered:
Credit Recommendation & Competencies
Level Credits (SH) Subject
Lower-Division Baccalaureate 6 Writing ability in the respective target language
Upper-Division Baccalaureate 3 Writing ability in the respective target language
This exam will receive 6 semester hours in the lower division and 3 semester hours in the upper division with a total number of 9 semester hours.
Description

Objective:

The ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test is an assessment of functional writing ability that measures how well a person spontaneously writes in the target language in response to four carefully constructed prompts dealing with practical, social, and professional topics that are encountered in true-to-life informal and formal contexts. The individual whose writing proficiency is being evaluated is presented with tasks and contexts that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice to Superior. A recommended length of written text to be produced and a suggested time to dedicate to the writing of each prompt are included with each prompt. All instructions and prompts are written in English; responses are written in the target language. The WPT can be administered in booklet form or via the Internet. The WPT lasts for 80 minutes (with an additional 10 minutes allotted for instructions). The elicited writing sample is compared to the descriptions contained in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Writing, and a rating is assigned. Each test is rated by a minimum of two ACTFL Certified WPT Raters. The two ratings must agree exactly. Any rating discrepancy is arbitrated by a third rater and an Official ACTFL WPT rating assigned when two ratings agree exactly. The languages include: Albanian, Arabic, Chinese-Cantonese, Chinese-Mandarin, English, French, German, Greek (Modern), Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian-Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Skills Measured:

The ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) assesses functional writing ability in the target language across the four major levels of the ACTFL Proficiency Scale (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior). The WPT measures a writer's ability to respond in writing to real-world writing tasks on topics dealing with practical, social, and professional topics that are encountered in both informal and formal contexts. These tasks range from writing short messages and invitations (Intermediate level), to writing paragraph-length narrations and descriptions in major time frames (Advanced), to dealing abstractly with current issues of general interest, supporting one's opinion and hypothesizing in multi-paragraph, essay-like discourse (Superior level). The WPT assesses Presentational Writing (Standard 1.3) as defined in the World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages.
Instruction & Assessment
Supplemental Materials