Assessment of Language Competence Certificates (ALC)

FAQ

General questions

What are the Assessment of Language Competence Certificates?
The Assessment of Language Competence Certificates is a testing program offered by ACER in collaboration with the Australian Multicultural Foundation to provide students and schools with information about their achievement and progress in the learning of languages.
What kinds of tests are they?
The ALC involves language skills tests in listening and reading comprehension in which students respond to realistic texts and situations with questions in a multiple-choice format.
Why don't you offer a greater range of languages?
ACER ensures that each ALC test is carefully designed by qualified teachers who are familiar with the requirements for the language and level of the learners. Such attention to high quality test development, to the efficient marking of tests and to data analysis of student results is costly and time consuming. We must rely on high levels of enrolments to maintain existing languages or to introduce new ones.
We currently offer tests in Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and Japanese. Although some schools have expressed interest in other languages, at present the level of interest doesn't support their test development.
Why do you ask questions in target languages?
Certificates 2 and 3 have some questions asked in the target language. These questions are there to provide a challenge for more able students. As students become more competent users of the language, an ability to read questions in the target language is expected.
Who can participate?
The ALC is offered to upper primary and secondary school students, who are learning languages, in schools in Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and the Pacific.
Could you please advise which level should be chosen?
The ALC is designed in three general levels based loosely on hours of language learning. However, the hours of language learning should be considered as only a guide to where your students might fit in. The questions in the tests are not based on what year level students are in, but rather their familiarity with the language, based on how long they've been learning it, and on their exposure to the language.

Certificate 1 is a Listening test only. It is usually offered to Upper Primary and Lower Secondary students and the topics tend to reflect the interests of younger students. It may be that the topics of Certificate 1 are more appropriate to your students' age group.

To make an assessment of the suitability of the tests you could refer to the 'Who can take part' section of this website and download the sample materials that are available free of charge on the 'Sample material' section of this website.

Can I buy a copy of past years' papers?
Copies of past materials (tape or CD, question booklet and answer sheet) can be purchased for A$15 for Certificate 1 and A$30 for Certificate 2 and 3, including postage and handling, while stocks last. (These are in extremely limited quantities, and are on a first-come basis. Please fax or email to reserve a copy, prior to sending payment.)
Can I photocopy past years' papers?
When you take part in the tests, you may retain the Question Booklets in the school for use as a teaching resource. It is illegal to photocopy these books, as ACER owns full copyright. If additional copies are required, please contact ACER with regard to purchasing these materials.
Can I copy past years' audio cassettes or CDs?
It is illegal to copy these as ACER owns full copyright. If additional copies are required, please contact ACER with regard to purchasing these materials.
I would like to put something about the Assessment of Language Competence Certificates in a newsletter for parents. Can you give me some information?
We have prepared a blurb about the ALC for you to use for this purpose. You will find it in the 'Sample material' section of this website. Please feel free to copy it for your newsletter.

Registration

When is the latest I can register my students?
Each year there is a closing date for registrations. It is usually in late April or early May. Please refer to the 'Registration' section of this website for this year's closing date. Registrations received after the closing date will incur a late fee.
I know my numbers, can I fax you my registration form and then send payment at a later date?
Owing to the sheer number of entries, we ask that all entries are sent with payment. Please either fax or post one copy of your registration form with payment. If you fax and then post your registration form it is very difficult to match up the multiple copies and this creates administrative problems.
I want to change the number of students I have registered. How do I go about this?
Our advice to schools is that they refrain from registering until they have the final numbers. Please note if there are changes made after the closing date they will incur the late fee.
I sent registered my students in April, when do I get my materials?
You should expect to receive the materials about a week before the testing date. This includes all instructions, answer sheets, question booklets, and CD/s.
I've lost the registration form - where can I get another one?
You can either download the form online from this website or email alc@acer.edu.au to have one sent to you in PDF document format.
Why does it cost so much per student? The other competitions are cheaper - how do I sell this to my students and our school community?

Unlike other testing programs, a new bank of items is produced for the ALC each year. These items are developed by expert and highly experienced test developers and writers. In addition, for the listening test, tasks must be professionally recorded, edited and commercially produced on a CD.

 

Costs also depend on the number of registrations. Unlike subject areas with very large cohorts of students, numbers for languages are often lower and the same economies of scale are not as readily achievable. We would encourage as many schools as possible to register, so that we can keep the costs as low as possible.

 

Parents and students can be assured that the ALC represents great value for money. It provides the student with a certificate including information about the level of achievement in Reading and in Listening. It also provides the school with a summary statement about the levels of achievement in comparison with other participating schools, along with the class sets of booklets and CDs that can be retained and used as a resource.

Tax receipts

The Registration Form is also a Tax Receipt and includes the GST component (for Australian Schools). Please note that Tax Receipts cannot be sent out on an individual basis. You are encouraged to keep a photocopy for your records.

Note, if you include an email address on your registration form (we encourage you to do so) you will be emailed a Tax Receipt.

What are the CD transcripts? How many do I need to order for my school to run the tests?
After the testing program the transcript of what is said on all the Listening CDs in every language and level is bound into a booklet titled "CD Transcripts". They are a teaching reference only. From 2007, the transcript booklet will be available for purchase as a downloadable document on the ALC website. This will be available in September.
Do I need to order a separate copy of the test for the teacher?
You do not need to order separate copies. You will receive at least one "teacher" copy of each test, possibly more, depending on the number of students your school has enrolled. It usually works out to about one extra per 30 students.
Does the CD automatically come with the booklets?
Yes, we distribute one CD per 30 or so students.
We have students with disabilities - what do you cater for?
ACER is able to make accommodations for students with disabilities.
 
Official requests must be made on school letterhead, in writing - please make these requests at least a month before close of registration, so that we can prepare the information for you in time. Requests made later than this will not be able to be complied with.
 
We can provide tests in Braille, but we generally find it works better if schools do it for the specific student. They know any nuances that the student may need to be aware of, in the language of the test.
 
If you require a CD transcript to be read to a hearing impaired student, please provide this request at the time of ordering.

The tests

What test materials will I receive?

For Certificate 1 you will receive one double sided A4 sheet for each student, plus one teacher copy for every 30 students. Certificate 1 students do not need a test booklet. Both the questions and the answers are on the one form.

For Certificates 2 and 3 which are combined in the same test booklet, you will receive a class set of booklets which you will use with both levels, plus spare teacher copies. For example, if you register 30 students for French Certificate 2 and 15 students for French Certificate 3, you will receive 30 French test booklets to be used with both groups. You will also receive one answer sheet for each student.

For the listening tests you will receive one audio CD per 30 students you register.

We have 10 papers left over. Can we return them and get a refund?
Unfortunately, we are unable to refund papers that have been supplied but not sat for. These tests still have to be printed, counted and packed, then posted. May we suggest that you retain them to use in your school as a teaching aid. They can be sat as a 'practice' test in the future.
We may not be able to get our answer sheets back to you by the due date. Is it okay to send them to you later and, if so, what is the latest that we can do that?
All answer sheets must be returned by the date stipulated in the Teachers' Handbook. If you have a serious problem and are unable to return the answer sheets by the due date, you will need to advise us so that arrangements can be made to ensure that your students' results are processed.
I have not ordered enough papers. Can I use photocopies?
We cannot accept photocopied answer sheets, as our scanners will not read them. Please contact us at alc@acer.edu.au urgently if you have this problem.

Taking the test

Can my students use a dictionary during the test?
No. Some questions depend on understanding vocabulary, and so dictionaries may not be used.
Can I have a list of topics covered, so that I can teach these to my students?
In general, the tests are developed using Stages 1 and 2 of the Australian Language Levels Guidelines, including suggested topics and text types.
 
We do not provide specific topic lists for the forthcoming tests. We keep these confidential, so that all students, regardless of state or country have equal access to the materials in the test. However, we do refer you to the available sample sheets (on this website) to give you an idea of the range of difficulty levels for your students, and for examples of topics that may be included in tests.
We do provide language specific advice where relevant. Please refer to the 'Advice to teachers' section of this website.
Why is there such a long pause between listening texts?
Sometimes, a longer pause is inserted to give students time to read the question (or questions, if there are two), or to 'process' what they have heard. This pause ensures that all students, regardless of ability, have time to read and answer the question.

Certificates

We have lost our students' results from a previous year. Can we please have another copy?
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide you with results from previous years.
Some of our certificates have errors. Can they be reprinted?
Almost all certificate errors are caused by students who fill in their details on the answer sheet incorrectly. It is very important that you check each answer sheet before returning them to us. Please note that reprints will incur a fee.
I have a student who I think sat the test but did not receive a certificate. Where is his/her certificate?
Because certificates are received some time after the tests are taken, it may be difficult for teachers to remember exactly who took part or who was absent on the day. We suggest teachers keep an accurate record of the students who sit the test. We also advise teachers to implement a system for marking off receipt of certificates against this list.