ATCH_3 _ALiSS_Language_Proficiency_Levels.pdf

ALiSS – Language Skill SAQMMA14R0042

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LANGUAGE SKILL LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS

Speaking and Reading

Spoken Proficiency

The following proficiency level descriptions characterize spoken language use. Each of the three "base levels" implies control of any previous "base levels" functions and accuracy. The examples given here illustrate, but do not exhaustively describe, either the skills a person may possess or situations in which he/she may function effectively.

Unless otherwise specified, the term "native speaker" refers to native speakers of a standard dialect.

Speaking Level S-0 (No Proficiency) o Unable to function in the spoken language.

o Oral production is limited to occasional isolated words.

o Has essentially no communicative ability.

Speaking Level S-1 (Elementary Proficiency) o Able to satisfy minimum courtesy requirements and maintain very simple face-to-face conversations on familiar topics.

o A native speaker must often use slowed speech, repetition, paraphrase, or a combination of these to be understood by this individual.

o Similarly, the native speaker must strain and employ real-world knowledge to understand even simple statements/questions from this individual.

o This speaker has a functional, but limited proficiency.

o Misunderstandings are frequent, but the individual is able to ask for help and to verify comprehension of native speech in face-to-face interaction.

o The individual is unable to produce continuous discourse except with rehearsed material.

Examples:

1. Structural accuracy is likely to be random or severely limited.

2. Time concepts are vague.

3. Vocabulary is inaccurate, and its range is very narrow.

4. The individual often speaks with great difficulty.

5. By repeating, such speakers can make themselves understood to native speakers who are in regular contact with foreigners but there is little precision in the information conveyed.

6. Needs, experience, or training may vary greatly from individual to individual; for example, speakers at this level may have encountered quite different vocabulary areas.

7. However, the individual can typically satisfy predictable, simple, personal and accommodation needs; can generally meet courtesy, introduction, and identification requirements; exchange greetings; elicit and provide, for example, predictable and skeletal biographical information.

8. He/she might give information about business hours, explain routine procedures in a limited way, and state in a simple manner what actions will be taken.

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9. He/she is able to formulate some questions even in languages with complicated question constructions.

10. Almost every utterance may be characterized by structural errors and errors in basic grammatical relations.

11. Vocabulary is extremely limited and characteristically does not include modifiers.

12. Pronunciation, stress, and intonation are generally poor, often heavily influenced by another language.

13. Use of structure and vocabulary is highly imprecise.

Speaking Level S-2 (Limited Working Proficiency) o Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements.

o Can handle routine work-related interactions that are limited in scope.

o In more complex and sophisticated work-related tasks, usage generally disturbs the native speaker.

o Can handle with confidence, but not with facility, most normal high-frequency social conversational situations, including extensive but casual conversations about current events, as well as work, family, and autobiographical information.

o The individual can comprehend most everyday conversations, but has some difficulty understanding native speakers in situations that require specialized or sophisticated knowledge.

o The individual’s utterances are minimally cohesive to articulate basic concepts.

o Linguistic structure is usually not very elaborate and not thoroughly controlled; errors are frequent.

o Vocabulary use is appropriate for high-frequency utterances, but unusual or imprecise elsewhere.

Examples:

1. While these interactions will vary widely from individual to individual, the individual can typically ask and answer predictable questions in the workplace and give straightforward instructions to subordinates.

2. The individual can participate in personal and accommodation-type interactions with elaboration and facility; that is, can give and understand complicated, detailed and extensive directions and make non-routine changes in travel and accommodation arrangements.

3. Simple structures and basic grammatical relations are typically controlled; however, there are areas of weakness.

4. In the commonly taught languages, these [areas of weakness] may be simple markings such as plurals, articles, linking words, and negatives, or more complex structures such as tense/aspect usage, case morphology, passive constructions, word order, and embedding.

Speaking Level S-3 (General Professional Proficiency) o Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional topics.

o Nevertheless, the individual’s limitations generally restrict the professional contexts of language use to matters of shared knowledge and/or international convention.

o Discourse is cohesive.

Attachment 3 Page 3 of 6 o The individual uses the language acceptably, but with some noticeable imperfections;

yet, errors virtually never interfere with understanding and rarely disturb the native speaker.

o The individual can effectively combine structure and vocabulary to convey his/her meaning accurately.

o The individual speaks readily and fills pauses suitably.

o In face-to-face conversation with natives speaking the standard dialect at a normal rate of speech, comprehension is quite complete.

o Although cultural references, proverbs, and the implications of nuances and idiom may not be fully understood, the individual can easily repair the conversation.

o Pronunciation may be obviously foreign.

o Individual sounds are accurate; but stress, intonation, and pitch control may be faulty.

1. Can typically discuss particular interests and special fields of competence with reasonable ease.

2. Can use the language as part of normal professional duties such as answering objections, clarifying points, justifying decisions, understanding the essence of challenges, stating and defending policy, conducting meetings, delivering briefings, or other extended and elaborate informative monologues.

3. Can reliably elicit information and informed opinion from native speakers.

4. Structural inaccuracy is rarely the major cause of misunderstanding.

5. Use of structural devices is flexible and elaborate.

6. Without searching for words or phrases, the individual uses the language clearly and relatively naturally to elaborate concepts freely and make ideas easily understandable to native speakers.

7. Errors occur in low frequency and highly complex structures.

Speaking Level S-4 (Advanced Professional Proficiency) o Able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs.

o The individual’s language usage and ability to function are fully successful.

o Organizes discourse well, using appropriate rhetorical speech devices, native cultural references, and understanding.

o Language ability only rarely hinders performance of any task; yet the individual would seldom be perceived as a native.

o Speaks effortlessly and smoothly and is able to use the language with a high degree of effectiveness, reliability, and precision for all representational purposes within the range of personal and professional experience and scope of responsibilities.

o Can serve as an informal interpreter in a range of unpredictable circumstances.

o The individual can perform extensive, sophisticated language tasks, encompassing most matters of interest to well-educated native speakers, including tasks that do not bear directly on a professional specialty.

1. Can discuss in detail concepts that are fundamentally different from those of the target culture and make those concepts clear and accessible to the native speaker.

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2. Similarly, the individual can understand the details and ramifications of concepts that are culturally or conceptually different from his/her own.

3. Can set the tone of interpersonal official, semi-official, and non-professional verbal exchanges with a representative range of native speakers (in a range of varied audiences, purposes, tasks, and settings).

4. Can play an effective role among native speakers in such contexts as conferences, lectures, and debates on matters of disagreement.

5. The individual can advocate a position at length, both formally and in chance encounters, using sophisticated verbal strategies.

6. Understands and reliably produces shifts of both subject matter and tone.

7. Can understand native speakers of the standard and other major dialects in essentially any face-to-face interaction.

Speaking Level S-5 (Functionally Native Proficiency) o Speaking proficiency is functionally equivalent to that of a highly articulate, well-educated native speaker and reflects the cultural standards of a country where the language is natively spoken.

o The individual uses the language with complete flexibility and intuition, so that speech on all levels is fully accepted by well-educated native speakers in all of its features, including breadth of vocabulary and idiom, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references.

o Pronunciation is typically consistent with that of well-educated native speakers of a non-stigmatized dialect.

Reading Proficiency

In the following descriptions a standard set of text-types is associated with each level. The text-type is generally characterized in each descriptive statement. The word “read,” in the context of these proficiency descriptions, means that the person at a given skill level can thoroughly understand the communicative intent in the text-types described. In the usual case, the reader could be expected to make a full representation, through summary, or translation of the text into English.

Other useful operations can be performed on written texts that do not require the ability to “read,” as defined above. Examples of such tasks which persons of a given skill level may reasonably be expected to perform are provided, when appropriate, in the descriptions.

Reading Level R-0 (No Proficiency) o No practical ability to read the language.

o Consistently misunderstands or cannot comprehend at all.

Reading Level R-1 (Elementary Proficiency) o Sufficient comprehension to read very simple connected written material in a form equivalent to usual printing or typescript.

o Can read either representations of familiar formulaic verbal exchanges or simple language containing only the highest frequency structural patterns and vocabulary, including share international vocabulary items and cognates (when appropriate).

Attachment 3 Page 5 of 6 o Able to read and understand known language elements that have been recombined in new ways to achieve different meanings at a similar level of simplicity.

o Texts may include simple narratives of routine behavior, highly predictable descriptions of persons, places or things; and explanations of geography or government such as those simplified for tourists.

o Some misunderstandings possible on simple texts.

o Can get some main ideas and locate prominent items of professional significance in more complex texts.

o Can identify general subject matter in some authentic texts.

Reading Level R-2 (Limited Working Proficiency) o Sufficient comprehension to read simple, authentic written material in a form equivalent to usual printing or typescript on subjects within a familiar context.

o Able to read with some misunderstandings straightforward, familiar, factual material, but in general insufficiently experienced with the language to draw inferences directly from the linguistic aspects of the text.

o Can locate and understand the main ideas and details in material written for the general reader.

o However, person who has professional knowledge of a subject may be able to summarize or perform sorting and locating tasks with written texts that are well beyond their general proficiency level.

o The R-2 can read uncomplicated, but authentic prose on familiar subjects that are normally presented in a predictable sequence which aids the reader in understanding.

o Texts may include descriptions and narrations in contexts such as news items describing frequently occurring events, simple biographical information, social notices, formulaic business letters, and simple technical material written for the general reader.

o Generally, the prose that can be read by an R-2 is predominantly in straightforward/high-frequency sentence patterns.

o The R-2 does not have a broad active vocabulary (that is, which he/she recognizes immediately on sight), but is able to use contextual and real-world cues to understand the text.

o Characteristically, however, the R-2 is quite slow in performing such a process.

o Is typically able to answer factual questions about authentic texts of types described above.

Reading Level R-3 (General Professional Proficiency) o Able to read within a normal range of speed and with almost complete comprehension a variety of authentic prose material on unfamiliar subjects.

o Reading ability is not dependent on subject matter knowledge, although it is not expected that an R-3 can comprehend thoroughly subject matter which is highly dependent on cultural knowledge or which is outside his/her general experience and not accompanied by explanation.

o Text-types include news stories similar to wire service reports or international news items in major periodicals, routine correspondence, general reports, and technical material in his/her professional field; all of these may include hypothesis, argumentation, and supported opinions.

o Misreading rare.

Attachment 3 Page 6 of 6 o Almost always able to interpret material correctly, relate ideas, and “read between the lines,” (that is, understand the writer’s implicit intents in texts of the above types).

o Can get the gist of more sophisticated texts, but may be unable to detect or understand subtlety and nuance.

o Rarely has to pause over or reread general vocabulary. However, may experience some difficulty with unusually complex structure and low frequency idioms.

Reading Level R-4 (Advanced Professional Proficiency) o Able to read fluently and accurately all styles and forms of the language pertinent to professional needs.

o Has extensive enough experience with the written language to relate inferences in the text to real-world knowledge and understand almost all socio-linguistic and cultural references.

o Is able to "read beyond the lines" (i.e. to understand the full ramifications of texts in their wider cultural, political, or social environment).

o Is able to read and understand the intent of writers' use of nuance and subtlety.

o Can discern relationships among sophisticated written materials in the context of broad experience.

o Can follow unpredictable turns of thought readily in, for example, editorial, conjectural, and literary texts in any subject matter area directed to the general reader.

o Can read essentially all materials in a special field, including official and professional documents and correspondence.

o Recognizes all professionally relevant vocabulary known to the educated non-professional native, although may have some difficulty with slang.

o Can read reasonably legible handwriting without difficulty.

o Is almost as accurate as a well-educated native reader.

Reading Level R-5 (Functionally Native Proficiency) o Reading proficiency is functionally equivalent to that of the well-educated native reader.

o Can read extremely difficult and abstract prose; for example, general legal and technical as well as highly colloquial writings.

o Is able to read literary texts, typically including contemporary avant-garde prose, poetry, and theatrical writing.

o Can read classical/archaic forms of literature with the same degree of facility as the well-educated, but non-specialist native.

o Reads and understands a variety of vocabulary and idioms, colloquialisms, slang, and pertinent cultural references.

o With varying degrees of difficulty, can read all kinds of handwritten documents.

o Is as accurate in comprehension as a well-educated native reader.