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ALTA is a market leader in foreign language testing, performing thousands of written assessments each year to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. When you need communications prepared in English or another language, whether a letter to a customer, marketing collateral, or other documentation, you can trust ALTA’s writing test to help you determine who among your candidates has the language skills to successfully represent your organization in the written materials that reach your audience.
The writing skills test is used to measure a candidate’s ability to write in the target language. It is available in 80+ languages, and results are available within two business days. ALTA’s writing skills test consists of a variety of prompts that one would encounter in a variety of business settings; however, ALTA can also customize the exam for your organization. All of ALTA’s written exams are scored according to our 12-level scale.
The writing skills test is easy to administer and gives you flexibility to test your candidates at your convenience. The tests are provided to your administrator electronically or as a hard copy (where required). They can be administered at your location at any time under proctored conditions. Any completed tests can be sent back to ALTA for scoring, and results are emailed to your designated company administrator within two business days.
ALTA’s evaluators are highly trained native speakers of their language, and have been educated through the college level (or its equivalent) in a country where that language is spoken. This means that every written assessment that is scored by ALTA is in the hands of a uniquely capable individual who understands the nuances of how the language is written. Additionally, ALTA uses a quality assurance process in which exams are randomly selected for review to verify our inter-rater reliability, or the degree to which two raters provide the same score on the same written samples. By closely monitoring this data, we know that accurate scores are being provided to our clients.
ALTA’s writing skills test can also be customized to meet your organization’s needs. If you require a writing test tailored to your industry, we can help. Simply contact us and we will be happy to discuss how we can create an exam based on the communications that occur in your industry.
ALTA has administered writing tests since 2005. ALTA’s writing skills test involves pools of prompts designed to elicit writing samples in a variety of styles and forms. Research has shown that lower‐level candidates perform better on writing tests when given a number of short writing tasks and prompts, whereas higher‐level candidates are able to adapt their skills to tasks of different difficulties and lengths. ALTA’s test ensures that candidates at all levels are able to demonstrate their skills in several writing samples. Scores are based on the organization and expression of ideas, quality and style of sentences, grammar and spelling, and more.
To see a sample of this test, please review our writing practice test. This practice test is written in English, but actual test prompts will be written in the target language selected for the test taker.
To see which languages we provide language assessments for, visit our Testing Languages Offered page.
Should you have any questions about this written language assessment test, just fill out our contact form or call us at 404.920.3832. We will answer your questions, listen to your needs, and help you get started with your testing program.
View our test prep materials or FAQ’s for common questions about taking a test.