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Language Testing and Proficiency Assessments

ALTA Language Services is the leader in language testing for government agencies, healthcare organizations, and businesses nationwide. Our language testing team develops and administers thousands of valid and reliable language assessments in more than 100+ languages each year. Successful businesses seeking to create a multilingual workforce have partnered with ALTA to create a reliable and affordable language testing platform for employees. We have worked with organizations to provide language proficiency tests that objectively measure and report language performance for all types of bilingual positions, including customer service representatives, nurse practitioners, law enforcement officers, sales representatives, flight attendants, personal bankers, physicians, government linguists, and legal document reviewers.

We offer language tests to test various language skills like speaking, writing, reading comprehension and more. We also offer standard language proficiency tests for all job types, in various industries. Contact us to determine the testing solution that best meets your needs.

Learn More about Our Language Testing Services

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Types of Language Tests

Language tests work best when they are designed and developed to measure specific language skills such as Speaking and Listening, Writing Proficiency, Reading Comprehension, the ability to Translate text, or the ability to Interpret spoken language. ALTA language tests measure language proficiency for a wide variety of jobs using one or more of our language test types. Our testing team will help your organization match a bilingual position to the appropriate test type and determine a legally defensible proficiency level.

  • The Speaking and Listening Assessment: This test measures how well candidates can speak and understand the language when spoken.
  • The Written Assessment: This test measures the candidate’s ability to write in the target language.
  • The Reading Assessment: This test evaluates the candidate’s ability to read and comprehend the language at the required skill level.
  • The Interpretation Assessment: This test verifies whether or not the candidate can provide a consecutive interpretation between two speakers in English and the target language.
  • The Translation Assessment: This test verifies whether or not the candidate can translate material written in English into the target language, or material written in the target language into English.

If one of our standard tests does not meet your needs, we develop custom tests in any of the 100+ languages that we regularly assess. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Job-specific Language Proficiency Tests

Two decades of developing and administering language proficiency tests has helped us to gain a deep understanding of the language needs that apply to distinct industries, from government at the federal, state, and local level, to healthcare, legal, financial, global recruitment, travel and hospitality. We’ve articulated specific language needs for each industry and developed language proficiency tests based on the job requirements, industry terminology, and even a custom suite of tests.

  • Based on Job Requirements: Our thorough Job Analysis process defines the language requirements for any job in any industry, recommends the best test, and sets a legally defensible cut-score.
  • Industry-specific Terminology: For industries that rely on specific language skills and terminology, we have developed custom suites of language tests, such as our award-winning language assessments developed in partnership with Kaiser Permanente for Healthcare organizations, and our custom Government and Legal language testing solutions.
  • Recruitment and Training: ALTA language tests are a valuable tool in the recruitment and training processes for major airlines, financial institutions, non-profit organizations, U.S. government agencies, and businesses of all sizes that serve a multilingual clientele or are looking to expand internationally.

Language Tests by Industry

  • Medical Language Tests: These tests measure the language skills of healthcare professionals, from nurse practitioners and physicians to administrative staff and medical interpreters.
  • Legal Language Tests: These tests will allow you to verify the language skill level of legal professionals who perform foreign language legal document reviews, interpreters, translators, and administrative staff.
  • Government Language Tests: This suite of proficiency tests with results reported on the ILR scale is trusted by U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as by law enforcement professionals and city governments nationwide.
  • Customer Service Language Tests: This suite of language testing services is designed to help organizations employing multilingual customer service providers, from multilingual call-centers, to airlines and companies engaged in social media customer outreach initiatives.
  • Seal of Biliteracy: This testing is done in conjunction with school districts throughout the United States to recognize the achievements of students who are fluent in more than one language.

The Languages We Test

We are able to provide language proficiency testing in more than 100+ languages anywhere in the world by harnessing the talents of linguists and subject matter experts with whom we have worked for over thirty years on translation, language training, and language testing solutions. If your organization only needs to assess the performance of Spanish speaking customer service representatives, then ALTA has the best solution.

To see a full list, please visit our Languages We Test page. If you do not see the language you need, contact us to learn about our custom test development process.

Valid and Reliable Language Testing

ALTA adheres to the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing when developing and validating our assessments. Among the organizations that rely on us to measure and report the language proficiency of their multilingual workforce are U.S. government agencies, global corporations, national healthcare providers, financial institutions, and global non-profit organizations.

ALTA’s language tests are developed in-house by an experienced team of test developers who specialize in creating reliable language performance measurement tools. Our language assessments are delivered through a secure online and telephonic testing system, in many cases available 24/7, that decreases administrative burden and streamlines the testing process. Setting us apart from other affordable language solutions, our assessments are scored by trained expert evaluators who are educated native speakers of the target language – not by an algorithm or a person who speaks the target as a second language. Our evaluator training program and strict quality assurance system provide for the highest levels of inter-rater reliability in the language testing industry. With little or no scheduling time required, and results guaranteed within two business days or sooner, our unparalleled suite of language testing tools will provide value to your organization as you define and implement your language strategy.

Contact ALTA Languages Services at 1-888-624-6165 or fill out the form above to discuss your language testing needs.

What Our Clients Are Saying

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We’re Proud To Have Provided Services For

  • Delta
  • Walmart
  • BB&T
  • Kaiser
  • AECOM
  • American Express
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Additional Language Testing Services & Resources

Beyond Words®

Read articles on Language Testing on the ALTA blog:

Specialized Language Testing Services

ALTA offers a robust catalog of specialized language testing services that have been established for businesses and government agencies, including:

Our Clients

ALTA provides language testing to industries as diverse as call-centers, airlines, government agencies, and financial institutions. See a list of our Testing clients.

Contact Language Testing

To learn how we can help you with language testing, please fill out our contact form above, or call us at 1-888-624-6165.

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Regularly Requested Testing Languages

  • Arabic
  • Mandarin
  • Cantonese
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions about language proficiency tests, scheduling a test, pricing, the evaluation process, or receiving test results, please read our answers to frequently asked Language Testing questions.

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