Rooted in Proficiency: Why Language Learning Grows Stronger When We Focus on What Learners Can Do
- Adam Slaton
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
By Gosia Jaros-White, Director of Marketing at Language Testing International® (LTI)
In language education, it is easy to become focused on what we teach—the vocabulary lists, grammar structures, and textbook chapters that fill a curriculum. But proficiency-based teaching invites us to shift our perspective. Instead of asking, “What content did I cover?” we ask, “What can my learners do with the language?”
This shift is at the heart of a proficiency-based approach and reflects decades of work by ACTFL® and language educators committed to helping learners use language in meaningful, real-world contexts.
The Roots of Proficiency
Proficiency is not a new concept. It has evolved through a rich history of standards, guidelines, and performance frameworks designed to support language learning. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners, and NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements provide educators with a common language for describing growth and setting expectations.
Together, these resources help educators move beyond measuring what students know about a language and toward measuring what they can actually do with it.
The result is a more learner-centered approach; one that recognizes language development as a continuum rather than a checklist of completed lessons.
Performance and Proficiency: Understanding the Difference
One of the most important distinctions in language education is the difference between performance and proficiency.
Performance reflects what learners can do in familiar classroom situations where support, practice, and guidance are available. Proficiency, on the other hand, measures what learners can do independently and spontaneously in real-world contexts.
A student may successfully complete a classroom activity after extensive preparation, but proficiency asks a deeper question: Can they communicate effectively when the script is gone?
Understanding this distinction helps educators design instruction that gradually builds learner independence, preparing students for authentic communication beyond the classroom.
From Standards to Action
The World-Readiness Standards and the familiar “5 Cs”—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—provide a vision for language learning that extends far beyond grammar mastery.
The NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements bring that vision to life by describing specific language functions learners can perform at different proficiency levels. These statements help students understand their goals and allow teachers to design instruction around meaningful communication.
Rather than focusing exclusively on what students should know, Can-Do Statements emphasize what students can accomplish. This simple shift promotes learner ownership, encourages reflection, and makes progress visible.
Measuring Growth That Matters
Proficiency-based assessment provides valuable insights for both learners and educators.
For students, proficiency-based assessments clarify expectations, support goal-setting, and highlight individual growth over time. Instead of comparing students to one another, proficiency assessments focus on each learner’s progress along a developmental continuum.
For educators and program leaders, proficiency data offers evidence that can inform curriculum decisions, strengthen instruction, and demonstrate program effectiveness. It helps answer important questions:
Are students becoming more capable communicators?
Which instructional practices lead to measurable growth?
How can we better support learners at different proficiency levels?
When assessment is aligned with proficiency goals, it becomes a tool for learning rather than simply a measure of achievement.
Proficiency-based ACTFL assessments play an important role in this process because they provide a reliable way to measure proficiency growth against nationally recognized benchmarks. The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) is a proficiency- and performance-based assessment and is specifically designed to evaluate learners' ability to communicate in real-world contexts across the three modes of communication (interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive). Rather than simply reporting a score, proficiency-based assessments help educators understand what learners can do with the language and identify the next steps for continued growth.
Growing Stronger Language Programs
A proficiency-based mindset transforms more than assessment. It influences the entire learning experience.
Classrooms become places where students engage with authentic resources, explore cultural perspectives, and use language to communicate meaningful ideas. Instruction is driven by real-world communication rather than isolated language forms. Success is measured by learners’ ability to function in the language, not simply by their ability to recall information.
Most importantly, proficiency-based teaching helps educators keep the ultimate goal of language learning in focus: empowering learners to communicate with confidence and purpose.
When schools pair proficiency-based instruction with ACTFL assessments, they gain meaningful data that can guide decision-making at every level. Teachers can monitor student progress, administrators can demonstrate program effectiveness, and learners can see tangible evidence of their growth. Assessments become more than accountability; they become a roadmap for continuous improvement.
Staying Rooted in What Matters
Being rooted in proficiency means keeping learners at the center of every instructional decision. It means focusing on growth, communication, and meaningful language use. And it means recognizing that proficiency is not a destination but a lifelong journey.
When educators align teaching, learning, and assessment around proficiency, they create stronger pathways for student success and stronger language programs for the future.
The question is no longer, “What did we teach?” The question becomes, “What can our learners do now that they couldn’t do before?” Proficiency-based teaching, supported by ACTFL assessments, provides the answer. Together, they create a clear pathway for measuring growth, celebrating achievement, and preparing learners to use language confidently in the real world.
About the author:
Gosia Jaros-White, MA is a bilingual marketer and former English teacher with 20+ years of experience in educational publishing and EdTech, currently working as a Director of Marketing at Language Testing International. Her background in both education and marketing allows her to bridge the gap between content, audience, and impact. Driven by a strong belief in the power of language, Gosia is a passionate advocate for language education and multilingualism. She is committed to promoting the value of language learning as a tool for opportunity, connection, and global understanding.
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