Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments
(MLPA)
The Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments (MLPA) are a battery
of high-quality, proficiency-based second language assessment tools for
reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The MLPA are currently available
for French, German, and Spanish at two levels on the scale outlined by
the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Purpose of the MLPA
The MLPA were developed to determine that students have attained minimal
proficiency in a second language. They have been used for the purpose of
certifying that students have met the designated levels and to facilitate
the process of articulating expectations of student performance at the
end of secondary studies and the beginning of post-secondary studies.
Articulating Expectations
The minimal proficiency level of Intermediate-Low level on the scale
developed by the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
was selected by members of the Minnesota Articulation Project as a reasonable
benchmark for:
- students completing their secondary studies and entering college;
- students completing one year of language study at the college level.
Meeting College Language Requirements
The reading, listening, and writing assessments are also available at
a higher level selected by faculty members at the University of Minnesota
as the goal for proficiency at the end of two years of language study. Though this
language goal was designed to be equivalent to two years of post-secondary
language study, the assessments were created to ensure that students were
able to demonstrate their ability to use the language of study at the appropriate
level instead of just putting in the proper amount of “seat-time”
to meet the academic requirement.
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Features of the MLPA
The MLPA have been carefully developed with the input of teachers, faculty,
and administrators so that in addition to meeting high standards of reliability,
they are flexible and easy to implement. Below are some of the key features
of these assessment tools:
- The MLPA include performance-based assessments that measure second
language proficiency along a scale derived from the ACTFL Proficiency
Guidelines;
- Reliability coefficients from data collected to date are all in the
acceptable range;
- The assessments may be administered as a battery, or institutions
may elect to administer one or more modalities in accordance with their
needs to measure learner outcomes;
- The MLPA are easy to administer;
- An optional demographic questionnaire solicits information so that
population characteristics can be considered along with test scores;
- Items and tasks have been extensively field tested and refined;
- Tasks are authentic and varied;
- Training manuals provide samples for rating writing and speaking performance;
and
- Passing cut scores on all assessments can be calibrated to individual
institutions’ needs.
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Formats and Levels
To date MLPA have been developed to assess proficiency in reading, writing,
listening, and speaking in French, German, and Spanish. The contextualized
tasks in these assessment instruments place test takers in realistic situations
where they need to use the target language. The assessments are available
for the following levels and formats for each modality:
- Contextualized Reading Assessment
Levels Available:
- – Intermediate-Low
– Intermediate-High
- Formats Available:
- – Computer-administered
– Paper-and-pencil
- Contextualized Listening Assessment
Levels Available:
- – Intermediate-Low
– Intermediate-High
- Formats Available:
- – Computer-administered
- Contextualized Writing Assessment
Levels Available:
- – Intermediate-Low
– Intermediate-Mid
- Formats Available:
- – Computer-administered
– Paper-and-pencil
- Contextualized Speaking Assessment
Levels Available:
- – Intermediate-Low
- Formats Available:
- – Tape-mediated
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Administering the MLPA
The MLPA were designed to be easily administered to large groups as well
as to individuals. Every effort was made to assess skills in the most direct
manner possible while ensuring practicality of administration and scoring.
The computer-delivered reading and listening assessments provide immediate,
automatic scoring for both the student and administrator of the tests.
Both the computer-delivered writing and tape-mediated speaking assessments
include manuals for rater training to ensure consistent evaluation of assessments.
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Taking the MLPA
Each of the assessments in the MLPA battery creates a rich context for
test takers that is both engaging and authentic for the targeted language.
The format of the MLPA are designed to put test takers at ease with practice
items and include features that provide the opportunity for students to
“show what they can do” with the language. Easy-to-use formats
and lively graphics also serve to make the most of the testing environment.
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History of the MLPA
The MLPA began as an initiative of the Assessment Project at the Center
for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University
of Minnesota in 1994. Building on a long tradition of proficiency-based
language assessment at the University of Minnesota, the
CARLA Assessment Project staff worked in close collaboration with the language
faculty and staff at the University and K-16 language teachers involved
in the statewide Minnesota Articulation
Project to develop, field-test, revise, and produce the instruments.
Throughout the process of developing the MLPA, CARLA staff have enjoyed
the following:
- active involvement of the language teaching community throughout Minnesota;
- national leadership of the University on issues related to proficiency-based
language policies, requirements, and procedures; and
- generous funding support from the U.S. Department of Education, the
National Endowment for the Humanities, and the University of Minnesota.
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Information for Minnesota language teachers
Minnesota students who pass the Intermediate-Low MLPA can enroll in second
year language courses at the University of Minnesota. Teachers can send
a letter to University Of Minnesota's Language Testing Program with their
students' scores.
Details
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Order forms
Orders can be made using a purchase order or check along with the order
form.
>> Download
PDF
>> Download
Word Document
>> Minnesota
Language Proficiency Assessment brochure (PDF).
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For more information on the MLPA email mlpa@umn.edu.
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