English Language Professionals Can Earn Extra Money as an ACTFL OPIc Rater.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Langauges (ACTFL) has recently developed and launched a new oral proficiency assessment for English – the ACTFL OPIc (Oral Proficiency Interview-computer). The ACTFL OPIc is an internet-delivered assessment of spoken language proficiency that is based on ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) elicitation and rating protocols but is delivered in a semi-direct manner.

If you are a language teacher, tutor, graduate student, writer, copy editor, translator, or experienced in a related language field, and are interested in earning extra income through part-time work that can be done from your home in your free time – then becoming an OPIc Rater may be of interest to you!!!

Criteria for Applying
1. Native speaker of English with a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
2. English teaching, testing, tutoring, writing, translating, copy editing, or similar experience.
3. Sufficient time to dedicate an average of 15-20 hours per week to rating tests.
4. A computer and access to high speed internet access.
5. Facility with internet technology.
6. Willingness to learn new skills.

ACTFL OPIc Rater Training
To become an ACTFL OPIc Rater you will need to attend TWO 2-day training sessions.

Training location
The training will take place in White Plains (Westchester County). White Plains is approximately 30 miles north of New York City and is easily accessible by car (Rt 287, Rt 87, Hutchinson River Pkwy, Sprain Brook Pkwy, etc), via the Harlem Line of Metro-North Railroad (leaving from Grand Central Station), and by public bus transportation.

Training dates
The first training, Phase I, will familiarize you with the ACTFL oral proficiency testing and rating protocols. The Phase II training will focus on the OPIc, the OPIc test forms and OPIc rating. You will need to attend one Phase I training session and one Phase II training session. Each session is 2 full days (8:30 AM – 5:00 PM). You may select any combination of dates as long as the Phase I training precedes the Phase II training. There are a number of Phase I and Phase II training sessions scheduled in June, July and early August.

After the training sessions
Following the 4 days of face-to-face training, there will be follow-up rating practice to be completed in your own time and from your home computer. This rating activity will take approximately 10-15 hours. OPIc Rater certification will be awarded when rating reliability reaches 80%. The precise procedure for rater certification will be explained in detail at the training sessions.

Training materials, travel expenses, and honorarium
For the 4 days of training, ACTFL will provide all of the training, training materials and lunch. You will responsible for local transportation costs. Upon completion of the 4 training days AND submission of the follow-up rating activity, you will receive an honorarium payment of $450.

Being an OPIc Rater
OPIc Raters need to commit to an average of 15-20 hours per week. Rating volume will not be steady – we anticipate testing surges during the second and third weeks of the month. OPIc Raters access speech samples and submit ratings via an online rater site. Because OPIc rating is done via an online rater interface, ratings can be done any day of the week, and at any time of the day or night.

Interested applicants can apply here. [Link removed; position has been filled.]

Original post can be found here.

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