Academics
Seal of Biliteracy
Are you bilingual, have you studied a language other than English, or do you speak another language at home?
Trinity students have the opportunity to be recognized by the State of Illinois for earning proficiency in English and an additional language.
The Seal of Biliteracy is an award granted by the Illinois State Board of Education and given by Trinity High School in recognition and celebration of students who demonstrate a high level of proficiency in one or more languages in addition to English by the end of their senior year. Students who earn the Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy will have their achievement acknowledged on both their diploma and transcripts.
The Seal of Biliteracy is awarded to those whose proficiency level is equivalent to the Intermediate High scale set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (see below description)
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Intermediate High speakers are able to converse with ease and confidence when dealing with routine tasks and social situations. They are able to handle successfully uncomplicated tasks and social situations requiring an exchange of basic information related to their work, school, recreation, particular interests, and areas of competence. Intermediate High speakers can narrate and describe in all major time frames using connected discourse of paragraph length, but not all the time. Intermediate High speakers can generally be understood by native speakers unaccustomed to dealing with non-natives although interference from another language may be evident (e.g., use of code switching, false cognates, and literal translations), and a pattern of gaps in communication may occur.
Students who do not meet Intermediate high, but who demonstrate a proficiency of Intermediate low can receive a notation of Commendation.
According to HB 4330, Illinois public universities will accept the State Seal of Biliteracy as equivalent to two years of foreign language credit if a student's high school transcript indicates the student received the State Seal of Biliteracy.
What are the specific requirements to qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy or Commendation?
- Students must demonstrate both English proficiency and proficiency in another language other than English.
- For the English language students must achieve a composite score of at least 18 OR earn an 18 ELA score on the ACT.
- For students in IB language B French or Spanish a score of 3 in higher level and a score of 4 in standard level qualifies for the State Seal. A score of 2 in either higher level or standard level qualifies for a Commendation.
- For testers in all other languages there are a variety of acceptable assessments, all of which are fee-based and currently not administered by Trinity High School. The specific score requirements and acceptable language proficiency assessments are listed on the PDFs below:
- https://www.isbe.net/Documents/ACT-memo.pdf
- https://www.isbe.net/Documents/language-proficiency-assessment-list.pdf
For further information or for questions, please contact the World Language Department.
