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.

An online version of the reading, writing, and listening MLPA is now available. CARLA is currently recruiting teachers of French, German and Spanish to help pilot the speaking assessment. Contact CARLA if you are interested in participating.

• Purpose
• Features
• Formats and Levels
• Administration
• Taking the MLPA
• History of the MLPA
• Information for Minnesota language teachers
• See samples of the MLPA
• Order forms

 
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:

– Web-based

Contextualized Listening Assessment
Levels Available:

– Intermediate-Low
– Intermediate-High

Formats Available:

– Web-based

Contextualized Writing Assessment
Levels Available:

– Intermediate-Low
– Intermediate-Mid

Formats Available:

– Web-based

Contextualized Speaking Assessment
Levels Available:

– Intermediate-Low

Formats Available:

– Tape-mediated 

         – Web-based administration is under development

 

 

 

 

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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 is 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.

N.B. There is a chnage of address on the letter to reflect the new address of the Testing Program.

Details

• For students planning to attend the University of Minnesota (PDF or Word Format)
• A sample letter on MLPA scores (PDF or Word Format)

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Ordering Information

For more information on the MLPA, pricing, viewing sample items, or to order the assessments, email mlpa@umn.edu. You can also contact the CARLA Assessment office at 612-625-8866.

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