How is language proficiency measured?

Frameworks

Our programs develop your communication skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing, as well as cultural knowledge and collaborative experiences, while you advance in proficiency. There are two major frameworks for the assessment of receptive and productive language skills: the scale of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).  This chart from the Goethe Institut in Germany compares these scales.  

Our majors engage in advanced level language environments and are trained at B2 levels and above.

Being Bilingual

In language learning, students come to realize there is no perfect bilingual person who is two monolinguals in one body.  Multilingualism is dynamic.  Competencies as well as abilities are in constant flux as our lives change.  When learning an additional language, we should strive for and expect to move beyond monolingualism in incremental steps of skill and perception.  There are many levels of bilingualism and bi-cultural awareness that represent an expansion of a person's communicative potential.