The ACTFL's (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language) 2012 Speaking Proficiency Guidelines describe five major levels of proficiency: Distinguished, Superior, Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice. This is the language proficiency scale used to evaluate Volunteer language proficiency throughout service. The levels are accompanied by videos of speakers at each major level of proficiency. Volunteers should use these guidelines to set goals and self-assess their language development.
The description of each major level is representative of a specific range of abilities. Together these levels form a hierarchy in which each level subsumes all lower levels. The major levels Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice are divided into High, Mid, and Low sublevels. The Guidelines describe the tasks that speakers can handle at each level, as well as the content, context, accuracy, and discourse types associated with tasks at each level. They also present the limits that speakers encounter when attempting to function at the next higher major level. These Guidelines can be used to evaluate speech that is either Interpersonal (interactive, two-way communication) or Presentational (one-way, non-interactive).