American Councils (AC): Korean language proficiency assessment

NEWL: Korean Information:

**American Councils (AC) is seeking interested Korean language 
programs for participation in the 2016 Pilot administration of AC’s 
Korean language proficiency assessment, developed as part of its 
multi-language special portfolio for “critical” world languages.

A joint academic project of American Councils and the College Board, 
the NEWL is intended for both heritage and non-heritage secondary 
school students to provide students with credit for language 
proficiency they already have, independent of how they actually 
acquired it. The NEWL: Korean targets student’s language proficiency 
in the Novice High to Intermediate High levels across the four skills: 
Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Of these four skills, the 
Writing and Speaking portions of the exam are assessed through our 
partner ACTFL/LTI. Aside from Korean, we currently offer operational 
assessments in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian (see below) as well as 
pilot assessment(s) in Portuguese.

The Pilot administration of the NEWL: Korean is scheduled for the 
final week of April. Registration for the exam closes on Friday, April 
1, 2016. The NEWL: Korean exam fee is $92, which includes the online 
portion of the exam and the oral assessment. Of the $92, testing 
centers will receive a $15 refund, per student, to defray the cost of 
administering and proctoring the exam. A reduced exam fee of $48 is 
available to those students who qualify, and the corresponding refund 
to schools is $4. Students participating in the Pilot administration 
of the NEWL: Korean will receive a final grade report and will have 
one score report sent to a college or university of their choosing.
American Councils is pleased to offer this administration as part of 
the new World Language Initiative. Please share this letter and 
attachment with colleagues, as we welcome all schools interested in 
participating in this Pilot administration.

Please visit the following link for additional important information 
regarding dates, deadlines, fees, and more: 
http://www.americancouncils.org/services/testing-and-assessment/NEWL/registration-information
Sample test items are available at https://exams.americancouncils.org/samples.

§ NOTE: Some sample items currently target proficiency levels higher 
than those assessed by the NEWL exam. We will be adding lower level 
items in the coming weeks.

We welcome any questions or inquiries into the exam process. Please 
email the NEWL Coordinator at NEWL@americancouncils.org.

Sincerely,

Matthew Bell

NEWL Coordinator
Assessment and Curriculum Development
American Councils for International Education
1828 L Street N.W., Suite 1200
Washington, D.C. 20036
T 202 833 7522 Ext 130
F 202 833 7523
www.americancouncils.org