For over twenty years, companies, organizations, and government agencies alike have relied on ALTA Language Services to provide valid and reliable language testing. Whether hiring employees for a bilingual role, verifying second-language skills for incentive programs, or recruiting linguists to deploy overseas, the goal of these very diverse organizations is the same: to identify who among their candidates has the language skills to do the job. ALTA is the third-party organization trusted by hundreds of employers to provide independent language testing services.
The General Speaking and Listening Assessment is ALTA’s most popular assessment, and is available in more than 80+ languages, from the widely spoken languages (e.g. Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, and Arabic), to the less commonly spoken (e.g. Haitian Creole, Baluchi, and Twi). Through a series of carefully designed questions, this exam is aimed at eliciting a candidate’s ability to converse in the language being tested. The candidate is asked a series of questions that gradually increase in complexity, requiring the candidate to perform various spoken tasks. In doing so, ALTA’s evaluators are able to accurately rate how well a candidate can speak the language according to our scale.
ALTA’s Listening and Speaking Assessment is delivered through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. IVR tests are available 24/7/365 from any location with a reliable phone or internet connection. Once connected, a human voice guides candidates through a series of prompts and real-world scenarios. Candidates listen and respond conversationally, moving through tasks that elicit natural communication. All responses are recorded and then reviewed and scored by our expert evaluators. Scores are available on the portal within two business days. Account Administrators can assign tests to candidates, review scores, view test status, and access reporting on our secure portal.
The candidate receives an email with a link to the test within 15 minutes of assignment. The test can be taken at any time. Once connected, the candidate hears instructions and is led through a practice question. The IVR format is intentionally designed to feel like a conversation and not an exam. The human voice, conversational subject matter, and cadence of the test create a comfortable environment, which elicits a more authentic response and more accurate results.
ALTA’s rigorous rating and quality assurance methodologies yield consistent, defensible results while keeping turnaround time efficient. We use highly trained native speaking evaluators, who have been educated through the college level (or its equivalent) in a country where that language is spoken. Additionally, we leverage AI for scoring on certain assessments, implementing a specialized system that operates within our performance monitoring framework. Our quality assurance process implements expert human oversight and ensures inter-rater reliability scores that exceed industry standards.
ALTA’s General Listening and Speaking Assessment measures general proficiency in the target language. For a role-specific evaluation, we offer research-backed Listening and Speaking Assessments tailored for roles in many industries. However, should you require a customized assessment that we have not yet developed, simply contact us and tell us about your needs. ALTA has experience designing assessments to incorporate the specialized terminology and scenarios that occur in various specialized settings.
To see which languages we provide language assessments for, visit our Testing Languages Offered page.
Questions? Simply fill out our contact form or call us at 404.920.3832 and someone from our sales team will be happy to answer your questions, listen to your needs, and help you decide which type of testing is right for you. If you are ready to get started, a team member will also assist you with setting up an account so that you can begin testing your candidates right away.
View our test prep materials or FAQ’s for common questions about taking a test.