ACTFL- silly question...

[uncapentin]

Okay, I know this will sound like a silly question but have to ask it anyway. I was looking at the ACTFL after reading a comment in a thread about the ability to choose from - reading, writing or oral proficiency exams. I noticed that English was one of the exams. Now, I know it would be assumed that this exam wouldn't work as a foreign language although for someone not raised speaking English it would be. How is it that a native Spanish speaker can take the exam for Spanish, pass and get credit for it as can someone who natively speaks Arabic, Russian, French, German and Chinese BUT those of us who natively speak English can't take the English exam for credit ? I would argue that there are many people who natively speak English, grew up in our schools and graduated, that aren't what you'd call proficient in the English language. Just like it is with other languages across the globe, the dialects in the English language vary across the US. 
   Also, since the ACTFL allows you to choose between reading, oral and written exams- yes, all carry college credit, is there a particular one that colleges are looking for in order to accept the credits for foreign language ?
  Yeah, I'm bucking the system I know.....

[rachel83az]

If you went to a country where the curriculum was taught in another language, you could almost certainly get credit for knowing English (assuming a foreign language was even a requirement). For instance, at XAMK, you can get an exemption to the foreign language requirement if you are not Finnish but most/all of your classes are taught in the Finnish language.

English is not a foreign language in the US. While the US has no official language, English is the de facto "official" language of the land. It is, at least, the official academic language at almost all colleges and universities. That makes English not a foreign language. And people who speak Spanish or Hindi or whatever but who get a degree in English are demonstrating that they know at least one foreign language. They simply happen to be doing most of their work in a foreign language. That's even more difficult than passing a silly ACTFL or InstantCert exam! Let's be real here: nobody would be able to complete a degree program in Spain or Mexico, in Spanish, after just InstantCert or even after taking all available courses on Study.com.

[uncapentin]

If you went to a country where the curriculum was taught in another language, you could almost certainly get credit for knowing English (assuming a foreign language was even a requirement). For instance, at XAMK, you can get an exemption to the foreign language requirement if you are not Finnish but most/all of your classes are taught in the Finnish language.

English is not a foreign language in the US. While the US has no official language, English is the de facto "official" language of the land. It is, at least, the official academic language at almost all colleges and universities. That makes English not a foreign language. And people who speak Spanish or Hindi or whatever but who get a degree in English are demonstrating that they know at least one foreign language. They simply happen to be doing most of their work in a foreign language. That's even more difficult than passing a silly ACTFL or InstantCert exam! Let's be real here: nobody would be able to complete a degree program in Spain or Mexico, in Spanish, after just InstantCert or even after taking all available courses on Study.com.

This is all true of course, but in the case of a native Spanish or Russian speaker, why wouldn't they be allowed to take the English ACTFL, especially since they'd be attending a US based university ? That would almost seem necessary. Meh, I'm always questioning the system, forgive me...... that last bit....so true.

[rachel83az]

Maybe some schools would allow that, but I'm not sure. Non-native speakers already have to take a non-credit TOEFL or similar exam to access US higher education. If that applied to me, I know I wouldn't argue too much over being told that I needed to take a different test in my native language and not yet another test in the foreign one (in this case, English).

By the way, yesterday was International Mother Language Day: https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/motherlanguageday

[ss20ts]

This is all true of course, but in the case of a native Spanish or Russian speaker, why wouldn't they be allowed to take the English ACTFL, especially since they'd be attending a US based university ? That would almost seem necessary. Meh, I'm always questioning the system, forgive me...... that last bit....so true.

Anyone can take the exam. Whether or not they could get credit for it is an entirely different questions. At most schools in the US the answer is no because you have to prove that you know English. English isn't considered a foreign language by most schools. Doesn't matter if you're a foreign exchange student or raised multilingual.

[uncapentin]

Okay, so can anyone clarify the question about accepting any one of the exams for credit or is there a specific exam we need to take ?

[rachel83az]

Which exam to take depends on the language. For English, you can take the OPI (or OPIc), RPT, WPT, or LPT. At best, these tests for English will probably be generic elective credits.

[uncapentin]

Which exam to take depends on the language. For English, you can take the OPI (or OPIc), RPT, WPT, or LPT. At best, these tests for English will probably be generic elective credits.

Sorry, I wasn't specific. I mean Spanish or other foreign language. Some in the threads just say to take an ACTFL if possible, but someone else clarified that going one step further and said to choose the format you'd like best= reading exam, writing or oral. From what I saw, each is worth credit. Is there a specific test that schools are looking for ?

[rachel83az]

No, there is no specific test. At least, not if you're only looking for "foreign language credit". For some languages, there is only one exam available. For the more popular languages, you can take whatever is easiest/cheapest. If you go to https://www.languagetesting.com/certific...nformation and select the language of choice, whatever is available is the tests you can take. Choose Marathi, for instance, and you can only take the OPI. Choose Spanish, and you can take any/all available exams.

[uncapentin]

No, there is no specific test. At least, not if you're only looking for "foreign language credit". For some languages, there is only one exam available. For the more popular languages, you can take whatever is easiest/cheapest. If you go to https://www.languagetesting.com/certific...nformation and select the language of choice, whatever is available is the tests you can take. Choose Marathi, for instance, and you can only take the OPI. Choose Spanish, and you can take any/all available exams.

Thanks for the clarification !