ACTFL Proficiency Scale Levels

Place: EDEP

Presenter Biography: Dr. Mahdi Alosh is well-known in the domain of teaching Arabic to non-native speakers as he trains Arabic teachers and assessors at American and Arab universities. Moreover, he is a member of different councils and institutes including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). 

Attendees: Administrative and teaching staff at EDEP. 

Workshop themes: 

1. Defining the educational objective as a description of the expected or aimed linguistic behavior of a student as a result of being exposed to the curriculum and their interactions during the sessions. 
2. Determining text levels according to ACTFL standards and how to use them in tailoring language curricula, developing the four language skills, and teaching translation, in addition to designing tests to select the appropriate texts for each level.
3. The three dimensions to be considered when determining the level of texts are:
   1. Proficiency levels prescription. 
   2. The linguistic characteristics of different linguistic functions.
   3. The five types of texts: enumerative, directive, informative, evaluative, and projective. 

For each language level, the lecturer emphasized the importance of several points such as the linguistic function, the language use areas, and the language aspects in each text; then, he presented multiple samples for each level. 

1. Emphasizing the importance of these points which are the keys to developing the skills of teaching Arabic to non-native speakers.