Heritage Language Proficiency Testing

Connecting with one’s heritage through language is more than learning words; it’s embracing an identity and opening doors to a multilingual future. Bilingual and multilingual individuals are highly valued in today’s global job market, often enjoying better career opportunities and higher salaries.

Avant offers a clear, accessible pathway for heritage language learners through a selection of assessments that are tailored for different types of situations. Read more about the purpose for each type of assessment.

Our online assessment leads to Sceaux de bilinguisme des États, the Sceau mondial de bilinguisme, Avant badges numériques, and credit-by-exam which showcase proficiency and open opportunities in higher education and beyond.

For teachers in heritage programs, we provide essential resources to enhance teaching, understand assessment results, and enrich curriculums. Join us in nurturing the next generation of bilingual and multilingual leaders, celebrating their unique cultural identities.

Avant Tests for Heritage Programs

STAMP 4S

Évaluation des 4 compétences pour adolescents et adultes

Lecture Écriture Écoute Parler

STAMP 4Se

Évaluation des 4 compétences pour les écoles primaires

Lecture Écriture Écoute Parler

STAMP WS

Évaluation des compétences pour adolescents et adultes

Écriture Parler

STAMP pour ASL (langue des signes américaine)

Évaluation de compétence en Langue des Signes Américaine à 2 niveaux

Réceptif Expressif

شل

Test de langue patrimoniale espagnole pour les programmes patrimoniaux

Lecture Écriture Parler

STAMP Monolingue

Évaluation des 4 compétences avec instructions dans la langue de test

Lecture Écriture Écoute Parler

Objectives of the STAMP Language Assessments

Avant STAMP language assessments are most commonly used for:

Qualifying students to receive State or Global Seals of Biliteracy and Avant Digital Badge to potentially receive credits or advanced placement at universities.
Credit-by-Exam testing to award high school language credit for a learner’s native language ability. Washington state and Texas are examples of states that offer credit-by-exam.
Showcasing the effects of language learning.
Informing language program curriculum.
Providing teachers with valuable insights on the level of learner’s knowledge of the language and progression of skills.
Aiding teachers’ ability to improve results throughout the language learning process for well-rounded proficiency.

المستويات المعيارية

There are three major proficiency levels assessed: novice, intermediate and advanced. There are three sublevels within the first two levels: low, mid and high, and two (low and mid) for the highest level, corresponding to the one to eight rating. The Avant STAMP ratings are based on the US national proficiency standards.

Writing and Speaking Rating

Writing and speaking skills are assessed by Avant Certified Raters who use the generally accepted scoring rubric procedure, appropriate for individual levels of language competence.

Topics Guide

Novice topics

Presentations: name, address, family status, gender, age, date and place of birth, nationality, language, school, education, profession
Calendar/ Time
Colors/ Shapes
Wild animals/ Pets
School /Classroom
Weather / Seasons
Clothing / footwear
Food /Beverages /Restaurants / Bars / Dishes
Places / Geography, location, towns, public institutions, monuments, tourist attractions
Daily life / Everyday routine
Shopping / Stores
Leisure / Activities
Household / House

Intermediate topics

الصحة
Holidays / Celebrations
Occupations / Professions
Transportation / Travel / Vacations
Future plans
ثقافة
قضايا معاصرة
Current events
اقتصاد
أدب
علم
العلوم الاجتماعية
تاريخ
Plus, more in-depth aspects of Novice topics

Advanced topics

Arts
سياسة
دين
الرياضيات
Science / Technology
Plus, more in-depth aspects of Intermediate topics

Opportunities for Bilingual Credentials

Sceaux de bilinguisme des États, Global Seals of Biliteracy, and Avant badges numériques were created to honor students’ language proficiency skills and provide a reliable validation mechanism to higher education institutions and employers.

All Seals of Biliteracy and digital badges are earned by a demonstration of language proficiency in two or more languages through an approved external assessment like the Avant STAMP 4S, WS and ASL. In most traditional schools and districts, students achieving the minimum score required to earn a seal have the results placed on their official transcript.

Sceaux de bilinguisme des États

Sceaux de bilinguisme des États are awards granted by a school, district, or state to high school seniors in public school environments.

Avant badges numériques

Avant badges numériques can be earned by any student and submitted to institutions of higher education for advanced placement into higher-level courses.

Global Seals of Biliteracy

Global Seals of Biliteracy enable recipients to showcase their language skills to any school or employer across state lines and national borders, with a unique serial-numbered document. The Global Seal is awarded at three levels: Functional, Working, and Professional. Students, teachers, community members, and professionals are all eligible for the Global Seal.

Credit-by-Exam

Credit-by-Exam is also offered in some states to award high school world language credit to learners with native ability. Washington state and Texas are such examples.

Helping Learners Prepare

Avant STAMP is a real-world communication proficiency assessment. Meaning, it is about what the test taker can do at this point in time. “Cramming” will not help improve scores. Regular practice in writing and speaking the language will help the test taker improve their skills over time.

Avant has several resources for test takers to help them prepare for the test included in the Test Taker Power-Up Guide.

This guide and its related resources include:

Strategies for improving language skills.
Target “can-do” statements to help them understand what they need to be able to do to get to the next proficiency level.
Video tutorials on what to expect on the test.
Sample tests.

Resources for Community-Based Teachers

Échelle de Référence — Our Benchmark and Rubric Guide is your key to understanding your students’ proficiency levels.

Knowing how to help your language learners improve and demonstrate proficiency is key to growing their skills.

Avant has several resources to help teachers understand the levels of proficiency based on internationally recognized standards and use them to inform their curriculum for improved outcomes.

Avant’s free resources include:

Training on the Proficiency Standards

ADVANCE d'Avantboosts teacher confidence in accurately scoring student writing responses.

ذاتي السرعة مع ردود فعل فورية
تدرب على تقييم استجابات الطلاب
يساعد في تحديد الأهداف وأهداف الكفاءة
Online and affordable

اعرف المزيد عن Avant ADVANCE

Avant STAMP 4S

Avant STAMP 4S is the premier computer-adaptive language proficiency assessment typically administered to second-language learners.

STAMP يختبر اختبار 4S القراءة، والكتابة، والاستماع، والمحادثة، وهو أكثر اختباراتنا شمولاً. يستغرق هذا الاختبار، في المتوسط، ساعتين (2) لإكماله ويتوفر بـ 17 لغة مختلفة.

تكون أقسام القراءة والاستماع متعددة الاختيارات ويتم تسجيلها على الكمبيوتر مع إتاحة النتائج على الفور. أما قسمي الكتابة والمحادثة فيتم تسجيلهما من قبل مقيّمين معتمدين من خبرائنا Avant .

The instructions and questions require an Intermediate-Mid understanding of English. For learners with limited English proficiency, a two-skill Writing and Speaking assessment may be used where the prompts may be heard in the testing language in addition to the English written instructions.

Avant STAMPe

Avant STAMPe هو المعيار الذهبي لمحتوى التقييم اللغوي الملائم لغويًا وتنمويًا للمتعلمين من سن 12 عامًا فأقل.

STAMPe تمت الموافقة على استخدام اختبارات K-1 في وقت مبكر.

STAMP 4Se يقيّم القراءة والكتابة والاستماع والمحادثة وهو التقييم الأكثر شمولاً لدينا. يستغرق هذا الاختبار، في المتوسط، ساعتين (2) لإكماله ويتوفر بـ 14 لغة مختلفة.

STAMP WSe اختبارات الكتابة والمحادثة. يستغرق إكماله ساعة واحدة (1) في المتوسط، وهو متاح بلغتين.

يمكن إكمال كل قسم بأي ترتيب وواحد في كل مرة للحصول على أوقات ومدد اختبار أكثر مرونة.

Avant STAMP WS

Avant STAMP WS language proficiency assessment is a semi-adaptive Writing and Speaking test. Test takers will be asked to answer seven (7) self-evaluation questions that best represent their skill/ability level in both the Reading and Listening sections.

The self-evaluated Reading score is used to determine the level of prompt delivered for the Writing section. The same applies for the Listening self-evaluation related to the Speaking prompts. This allows the language productive sections to be more appropriately leveled for the test taker.
STAMP WS takes about one (1) hour to complete. The test is fully scored by our expert Avant Certified Raters.

The instructions and prompts require an Intermediate-Mid understanding of English. For learners with limited English proficiency, the prompts may be heard in the testing language in addition to the English written instructions.

اختبار Avant SuperLanguage

*الأبخازية والبورمية والبورمية والكارينية والجينغفو (الكاشين) غير متوفرة مؤقتًا.

STAMP pour ASL (langue des signes américaine)

Avant STAMP for ASL is a first-of-its-kind American Sign Language test. It was developed for second-language learners of ASL and Children of Deaf Adults (CODA) in collaboration with Bridges Oregon. This assessment is designed for ages 13-18.

يمكن تقييم المتقدمين للاختبار على المهارة الاستقبالية (القدرة على فهم ASL) وكذلك المهارة التعبيرية (القدرة على إنشاء ASL) بما في ذلك استخدام قواعد ASL. يتم إجراء اختبار لغة الإشارة هذا المكيف مع الكمبيوتر بالكامل عبر الإنترنت.

The Receptive skill is computer-adaptive and results are available immediately upon completion of the section. The Expressive skill is scored by members of the ASL linguistics community who have undergone Avant Rater Certification training. Expressive results are available in 20-22 business days.

لغة التراث الإسباني (SHL)

Avantتقييم اللغة الإسبانية التراثية هو اختبار تحديد المستوى لبرامج اللغة التراثية. وهو يقيس المفردات، والنحو، واستخدام الأفعال، والتهجئة، والكتابة، وإتقان المحادثة باللغة الإسبانية بما يتناسب مع النطاق الواسع للغة الإسبانية المحكية في الولايات المتحدة.

ويحدد اختبار Avant SHL الطلاب الأقل كفاءة بسرعة ويسمح لهم بالخروج من الاختبار مبكراً، بينما يخضع الطلاب الأكثر كفاءة للاختبار بأكمله لجمع البيانات اللازمة لتحديد مكانهم بدقة.

Avant STAMP أحادي اللغة

Avant developed the STAMP Monolingue as a proficiency test that is designed to include instructions, questions, and prompts all in the target language. Educators may use STAMP Monolingual tests to accurately assess incoming heritage speakers, provide credit for a heritage language, or assess proficiency in a bilingual or multicultural environment.

STAMP Monolingual يقيم القراءة والكتابة والاستماع والمحادثة. يستغرق هذا الاختبار، في المتوسط، ساعتين (2) لإكماله ويُقدم بلغتين.

Contact our team to get a custom quote based on your heritage program’s needs.

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Mise à jour : Octobre 2025

Heritage Language Proficiency Testing

Avant Tests for Heritage Programs

STAMP 4S

STAMP 4Se

STAMP WS

STAMP pour ASL (langue des signes américaine)

شل

STAMP Monolingue

Objectives of the STAMP Language Assessments

المستويات المعيارية

Writing and Speaking Rating

Topics Guide

Novice topics

Intermediate topics

Advanced topics

Opportunities for Bilingual Credentials

Sceaux de bilinguisme des États

Avant badges numériques

Global Seals of Biliteracy

Credit-by-Exam

Helping Learners Prepare

Resources for Community-Based Teachers

Training on the Proficiency Standards

Avant STAMP 4S

STAMP اختبارات عينة 4S

Avant STAMPe

STAMP 4Se اختبارات العينة

STAMP WSe اختبارات العينة

Avant STAMP WS

STAMP اختبارات عينة WS

اختبار Avant SuperLanguage

STAMP pour ASL (langue des signes américaine)

STAMP for ASL اختبار العينة

لغة التراث الإسباني (SHL)

اختبار عينة SHL

Avant STAMP أحادي اللغة

STAMP Monolingual اختبارات العينة

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