Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)

Procedures for ALTA Language Services, Inc.

The OPI may be taken on the following days only for 2026: 

Location: Remote
January 8-9 - Registration deadline Jan. 1
February 5-6 - Registration deadline Jan. 30
March 12-13 - Registration deadline March 6
April 23-24 - Registration deadline April 17
May 14-15 - Registration deadline May 8
June 11-12 - Registration deadline June 5
July 23-24 - Registration deadline July 17
August 13-14 - Registration deadline Aug. 7
September 10-11 - Registration deadline Sept. 4
October 8-9 - Registration deadline Oct. 2
November 12-13 - Registration deadline Nov. 6
December 10-11 - Registration deadline Dec. 4

Testing Limitations
The candidate may take the English and target language interview as many times as needed until receiving a passing score of 10 on each interview.

(1) Schedule interview by registering on-line with ALTA
To purchase your test(s) Call ALTA at 1-888-465-4648 and ask them to add you to the portal. They will then send you an email with a link to purchase the OPI.

The group code for the OPI is “ACTN”

The cost for the OPI is $66.00 for each interview.

Please schedule to take the English and target language interviews in 30-minute increments, for example: English OPI at 10:00 a.m., Spanish OPI at 10:30 a.m. The latest time an interview can be scheduled is 3:30 p.m.

(2) Notify the AOC of you testing date and time
Once the interview has been scheduled, please contact Ryan Mouser at the AOC, ryan.mouser@tncourts.gov with notification of the date and time of the interview.

(3) Length of Interview
Each oral test takes an average of fifteen to twenty minutes and is recorded. The evaluator will ask the candidate various questions to get a sample of the candidate’s ability to speak and comprehend the language. The questions are designed to elicit the full range of the target language and require the candidate to perform various linguistic tasks (e.g., giving a supporting an opinion, providing a description, explaining something that occurs daily or that occurred in the past). The evaluator is listening for what the candidate can do with the language, as well as how well the candidate uses and controls the language (i.e., handling structures of the language, etc.).

Test Results
Following the test, the evaluator determines the skill level of the candidate in each subcategory (see Oral Assessment Categories) according to ALTA’s Oral Language Testing Protocol. The evaluator then assigns an overall score. Test results are reported to the AOC the next business day following the interview. Once results have been received, the AOC will email the results to the candidates within 5 business days. 

1. A level 1 speaker has no ability whatsoever in the language. They cannot understand anything and can convey nothing.
    
2. A level 2 speaker can understand isolated words and simple expressions. They can convey isolated words or simple expressions and memorized sentences.
    
3. A level 3 person can understand and express simple sentences using subjects and verbs in the present tense. The range of vocabulary is limited to elementary needs and basic courtesies.
    
4. The level 4 person can understand basic sentences around the immediate setting as well as basic questions. They can express simple ideas using the present tense and may occasionally use other simple tenses. They can convey basic information but has difficulty even in basic conversations.
    
5. A person at a level 5 has the ability to participate in basic conversations. The subjects are routine in nature and tend to be repetitive, for example weather. A level 5 speaker uses primarily the present tense and cannot use advanced tenses, thus is very restricted on expressing and understanding any subject other than what is most familiar to him/her. Speech is slow, and he/she requires more rephrasing and repetition to understand a native speaker.
    
6. A level 6 person can use and understand the present, past and future tenses with some errors. They do not use advanced tenses. They can easily participate in a conversation on basic subjects like weather, but not in a general conversation. They usually cannot understand normal native rates of speech.
    
7. A person at a level 7 cannot easily participate in general conversations. They can participate in conversations that are routine or on topics that are well known to the person. They will have trouble with a native speaker’s normal pace. They will use simple tenses with a few errors but will avoid advanced tenses. A candidate at this level in a general conversation will cause misunderstandings between them and the listener based on lack of ability to convey clearly their message.
    
8. A person at a level 8 can participate in general conversations surrounding routine and topics in most social and work-related settings. They will have trouble with some normal speed conversations and with topics that are more advanced or specialized. They may lack the capability to speak at a normal speed, and will not use advanced grammatical structures or will make many mistakes. A candidate at this level will potentially cause misunderstandings between himself/herself and the listener based on some lack of ability to convey clearly his/her message.
    
9. A person at a level 9 can successfully handle in-depth conversations in the target language, on a broad range of subjects and at a normal rate of speech. They difficulty understanding some slang or idioms or some advanced grammatical structures, but can figure out what is said by the context of the discussion. When speaking, a person at a level 9 can express himself/herself over a broad range of topics at a normal speed.
   They may have a noticeable accent and will make grammatical errors, for example with advanced tenses, but the errors will not cause misunderstanding to a native speaker.
    
10. A person at a level 10 can handle all the tasks that a level 9 can, with the addition of demonstrating skills such as selling and persuasion. They can successfully handle in-depth client questions and does not require as much contextual support for understanding of slang and idioms. A person at this level can select vocabulary that conveys a finer shade of meaning with more precision than a level 9 and can better support his/her opinions. Errors in speech are few, are limited to advanced grammatical situations and do not affect understanding.
     
11. A person at a level 11 is nearly fluent. They can handle a wide variety of communicative tasks with finesse. Their communication is close to that of a well-educated speaker, and only encounters difficulty if speech is highly abstract. Errors in speech are very few, are limited to advanced grammatical situations and do not affect understanding.
     
12. The level 12 oral skills are equivalent to native fluency. The person can understand everything said in the language and can speak with precision and finesse using the full of grammar, vocabulary, idioms and expression.
    Oral Assessment Categories
    The ALTA evaluation process assesses the level of skill in two areas – speaking and listening – which are further subdivided into the scoring subcategories as shown below:

Communication – Communication consists of four elements:

1. ACCENT: What degree of non-native accent and pronunciation does the candidate have?
2. SCOPE: How easily can the candidate express ideas?
3. SPEED: How rapidly can the candidate speak and how much does the candidate hesitate?
4. STRUCTURE: How well does the candidate use the complexity of the language?

Comprehension – Comprehension consists of three elements:

1. SCOPE: How wide is the candidate's range of comprehension?
2. SPEED: What speed of talking by a native speaker can the candidate understand?
3. STRUCTURE: What complexity of speech can the candidate understand?

Grammar – Grammar consists of three elements:

1. NOUNS: How well does the candidate use proper gender and cases (where applicable)?
2. STRUCTURE: How well does the candidate use complex structures?
3. VERBS: How well does the candidate use correct conjugations, subject-verb agreement, mood and voice?

Vocabulary – Vocabulary consists of one element:

1. SCOPE: How wide is the candidate's range of vocabulary and how precise?
   All oral evaluations are scored across these subcategories according to ALTA’s scoring protocol, which encompasses each of these elements. An overall score is provided which is a holistic measurement of performance with respect to performance in all the scoring subcategories.