Seal of Bi-Literacy for Tamil in the State of Maryland

வணக்கம் Maryland Tamil Community!

It’s our pleasure to announce that the Maryland State Board of Education (MSDE) has approved the Seal of Bi-Literacy for the Tamil Language to our Tamil school Maryland Tamil Academy on November 17, 2017. This can be benefited by our Tamil students who are studying in High School or any other High School students who are studying the Tamil language outside of our Tamil School of approved counties within Maryland state.  The qualified student will receive the Bi-Literacy seal on their diploma at the end of their high school year (12^th grade).

To receive a Maryland Seal of Bi-Literacy in Tamil, a student must:

1. Pass the PARCC in English 10; AND
2. Demonstrate Intermediate High or above proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Tamil, as measured by assessments that are aligned to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines.

The current approval to MTA was to conduct the Reading and Writing assessments by having the Tamil Virtual Academy’s (TVA) Higher Certificate Course Grade 1 (HG10). MTA is a certified TVA examination center and follows the TVA syllabus from Nilai 8 to Nilai 10. The student must pass the HG10 exam from the TVA assessment. The average passing score from TVA is 40 percent and above. The TVA exam for Reading and Writing will be conducted twice a year between the November-December period and between the May-June period. Those who would like to apply for the TVA’s HG10 exam can contact the Seal of Bi-Literacy School Coordinator at MDSealofBilireacyforTamil@marylandtamilacademy.org.

For the Listening and speaking assessments, MTA provides special coaching to undertake the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in Tamil and can be scheduled from the ACTFL website. The student must demonstrate Intermediate High or above proficiency in listening and speaking Tamil. You can find more information about OPI at https://www.languagetesting.com/oral-proficiency-interview-opi/.  To receive the OPI training and assistance, please contact our coordinator Mr. Vadivel Ramasamy and Mrs. Kalpana Srinivasan at Tamil-Biliteracyhelp@marylandtamilacademy.org.

Maryland Tamil Academy is the Authorized Exam Center for Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) in the state of Maryland and also the coordinator for Seal of Biliteracy for Tamil in the state of Maryland. To learn more about Biliteracy in Tamil and help to schedule the required TVA Exam, please fill in the contact & info FORM here. For more useful info on the Seal of Bi-Literacy in Tamil, you can check out the FAQ page.

We are so proud of student Mr. Harish Senthilkumar who has received the Seal of Bi-Literacy Gold seal on his diploma by going through the entire qualification process. (The academic Year 2017-2018)

We are so proud of our students Mr. Agathiya Tharun & Ms. Lalitha Kasi who have received the Seal of Bi-Literacy Gold seal on their diplomas by going through the entire qualification process. (Academic Year 2019-2020)

We are so proud of our students Ms. Darshini BabuGanesh & Ms. Sheena Anishraj who have received the Seal of Bi-Literacy Gold seal on their diplomas by going through the entire qualification process. (Academic Year 2020-2021)

List of MTA Students who have achieved Seal of Bi-literacy are:

MTA Students get a discount ($20 Web Proctoring Fee) while registering for the OPI Test. Please see the below attachments for details.

Registration Instructions – Ordering a Language Assessment Test – OPI