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The Alignment of Language Proficiency Scales for assessing competence in English language

Pathways to Proficiency


The Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority (QCA) would like to thankRichard West (University of Manchester)and Nigel Reeves (Aston University) as the principal researchers and authors ofthis report and Angela Simpson, the mainconsultant on the project. We are alsograteful to the DfES Adult Basic SkillsStrategy Unit for its support for this work.

The Unit has funded the research and this publication as part of the Skills for Life strategy. The work will provide afoundation for the second round ofaccreditation of qualifications in Englishlanguage in 2004. The ABSSU is alsosupporting associated QCA developmentsincluding the preparation of guidance foraccreditation of ESOL specifications, andmaterials to illustrate standards in writingby ESOL students from Entry 1 to Level 2.

In addition, thanks are due to members ofthe awarding bodies who devoted time toreading and commenting on the workthroughout its preparation.

For any enquiries about this research,please contact:

Janet WhiteEnglish team, QCA Tel: 020 7509 5734

Liz LawsonAdult Basic Skills Strategy Unit, DfES Tel: 020 7273 1382

Acknowledgements

PATHWAYS TO PROFICIENCY

Introduction Background to the research 03

Section 1 How the language scales were aligned: the research methodology 06

Section 2 Descriptions of the scales: the spectrum of language proficiency 17

Section 3 Maps illustrating the alignment of scales and levels 25

Section 4 Next steps 48

Section 5 Summary and conclusions 50

Appendix List of standards, scales and associated literature 52

Key to abbreviations 53

Pull-out-and-keep poster Mapping different language assessment scalesThe alignment of language proficiency scales back page

Contents

The immediate background to the workreported here is the accreditation ofqualifications to the national qualificationsframework (NQF): the process wherebyawarding bodies submit their specificationto the regulatory authorities for reviewagainst published criteria, in order to seekaccredited status. Accreditation indicatesthat a qualification is fit for purpose at theappropriate level and that the awardingbody has suitable systems in place toguarantee valid and reliable assessment.The accreditation system and the nationalqualifications framework enable users tosee the relationship between accreditedqualifications from different awardingbodies and at different levels, and henceassist them to make the appropriatechoices for learning and progression.

Planning for the accreditation of generalEnglish language qualifications began in2000. In consultation with awardingbodies, QCA invited the submission of all these qualifications at the same time,irrespective of whether they were primarilyfor users of English as a first or otherlanguage. It was also decided to definequalifications for speakers of otherlanguages as the ‘ESOL family’, whetherthey had hitherto been regarded as EFL orESOL qualifications, in acknowledgementthat these boundaries were no longerclear-cut. The scope of the accreditationcovered all qualifications available tocandidates in England, dealing withcompetence in one or more modes of communication in English.

The outcome of these decisions was thatfrom January 2001 a range of English-related qualifications was submitted toQCA, the great majority in the areas ofbasic skills adult literacy and ESOL.Qualifications in key skills communication,AS and A-level English Language hadbeen accredited earlier.

Historically there have been no formalsystems for relating ESOL or EFLqualifications used in England toqualifications primarily for native speakers.In some cases, informal ‘equivalences’have grown up over time. Theaccreditation process brought these factssharply to light. In 2001, for the first time,there were nationally agreed definitions of proficiency in English relating to the NQF: the adult literacy standards. Theseset out the skills and capabilities neededfor Speaking and Listening, Reading andWriting at three levels from Entry level(subdivided into Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3) to Level 1 and Level 2 for all adult users of English, whether as a first or other language.

The adult literacy standards provided thestarting point for the work described in this report, which set out to examine howthese standards might be cross referred toother language proficiency scales used byawarding bodies to determine the levels oftheir qualifications. It must be stressed thatthe work described here is not aboutcomparing qualification with qualification.

03

Introduction: background to the research



The research enquiry was concerned withscrutinising, comparing and ultimatelycross-referring a selection of differentscales for measuring language proficiency.In some cases these scales are designedto be applied to any modern language, not specifically English.

The research makes no assumptionsabout the needs of different groups oflearners who might be aiming for the samelevel of competence. The research wasnot concerned with the teaching andlearning required to achieve competenceat particular levels, nor with how thesemight differ for ESOL users and firstlanguage users. Clearly the needs ofstudents working at the same level arelikely to differ, for example in terms oflength of time required to achieve the level,most appropriate teaching styles andteaching materials.

QCA’s original schedule for accreditation of English qualifications was timed to takeaccount of the findings published in A Fresh Start 1. That report recommended a national strategy and targets for basicskills, national standards, a national corecurriculum based on these standards and a national system of qualifications.Subsequently, the Government’s Skills for Life strategy has supported the development of all these. As well asthe national standards for adult literacy,

there are now core curricula for literacy,numeracy and ESOL aligned to thesestandards, a pre-entry curriculumframework for literacy and numeracy, and newly accredited qualifications atEntry Level for adult literacy and numeracy,and national tests at Level 1 and Level 2.

A Fresh Start did not directly address the needs of people with first languagesother than English. The subsequent report Breaking the Language Barriers 2,examined the needs of ESOL learners and made a series of recommendationsdesigned to give them access to highquality, relevant English language provisionleading to nationally recognisedqualifications. The remit of the Adult BasicSkills Strategy Unit established within theDfES in 2000 includes language, as wellas literacy and numeracy, and the Unitcurrently oversees a wide range ofinitiatives associated with ESOL.

These developments were just beginningat the time when the first sets ofqualifications in ESOL were beingconsidered for accreditation, and theESOL curriculum had not yet beenpublished. Qualifications submitted in the ‘ESOL family’ had to demonstrate their relevance to the needs of Englishlanguage users living in this country byincluding some coverage of the skills,knowledge and understanding in the

04 INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH

1 A Fresh Start Improving literacy and numeracy. The report of the working group chaired by Sir Claus Moser, DFEE, 1999

2 DfES, 2000

adult literacy standards and the Key SkillsCommunication Specifications. Thosequalifications submitted and accredited todate have all been existing qualificationswhich were able to make any necessaryadjustments to meet these requirements. It has been agreed with awarding bodiesthat for the second round of accreditationin 2004, all qualifications in the ESOLfamily submitted at Entry 1 to Level 2 willinclude coverage of the ESOL curriculumat the appropriate levels.

In the meantime, as a result of the workreported here, it has been possible toaccredit some ESOL qualifications at theappropriate level in the NQF, alongsidequalifications designed for first languageusers with some confidence that they are‘broadly equivalent’. This is a significantstep towards the long term aim of atransparent and progressive system of high quality qualifications in Englishlanguage for all users in this country,whatever their language background.

The work reported here also has relevancefor the future development andaccreditation of adult literacy qualifications.In establishing a system of alignmentacross several sets of language scales itprovides a basis for further development of shared understanding about whatconstitutes language performance atdifferent levels. The research also paves

the way for future work in the context of adult literacy and ESOL qualificationscollectively, for example in developingconsistent interpretation of the standardsin terms of expectations of performance at different levels and appropriateassessment tasks.

The common system of alignment ofqualifications in English within the NQF,which this mapping research makespossible, does not mean that allqualifications will be the same, or that the same approaches to teaching andlearning will necessarily be appropriate.Qualifications will continue to differ, forexample in the extent of coverage ofparticular language modes, and in thecontent and emphasis provided fordifferent client groups. However, such asystem will make it easier for teachers andeducational managers to select the mostappropriate qualification and level for theirstudents, and to plan for progression inEnglish and in other disciplines.

QCAAugust 2002

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1.1The scope of the researchThe investigation reported here wasoriginally commissioned by theDepartment of Education and Skills (DfES)and the Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority (QCA) as a preliminary to theaccreditation of language qualifications inESOL/EFL within the United Kingdom’snational qualifications framework. Theinvestigation examined the feasibility ofaligning scales which describe languageproficiency in various related sectors: adult literacy and communication, English for Speakers of Other Languages(ESOL)/English as an Additional Language(EAL), English as a Foreign Language(EFL), and Modern Foreign Languages(MFL).

Proficiency scales describe the languagethat can be expected of users at aspecified number of levels. They consist of descriptors of what language users cando with the target language at each level.Scales have been in use for over 50 yearsfor a variety of purposes: defining thelanguage level needed to carry out aparticular job, assessing a learner’s currentlevel of language proficiency, describing a learner’s current level of proficiency, and comparing the levels of languageexaminations and qualifications. Such

scales have been used in a number ofeducational sectors: mother tongue,second/additional language, and foreignlanguage. Language proficiency scales,even within the same sector, have rarelybeen systematically aligned with eachother, so that it has been difficult to matchthe levels on one scale with those onothers.

The questions which the research soughtto answer were:

i) Is it possible to align the mostcommonly-used scales for describinglanguage proficiency to enable crossreference between them?

ii) Given that the principal scales forliteracy and communication in England(the national adult literacy standardsand the Key Skills Specifications) are already linked to the nationalqualifications framework (NQF), is itpossible to align other scales to thesescales and hence to the NQF?

iii) Given that the adult literacy standardsand the Key Skills Specificationsdescribe proficiency in English atdifferent levels for people living,studying and working in the UK, couldlanguage scales specifically designed

06 SECTION 1 HOW THE LANGUAGE SCALES WERE ALIGNED: THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Section 1How the language scales werealigned: the research methodology

to describe performance in second orother languages be aligned to them,thus identifying some equivalencebetween different scales with differentpurposes and from different sectors?

iv) If these questions could be answeredpositively, could the alignmentsidentified serve as a practical tool forassigning qualifications in English fromvarious sectors to levels in the nationalqualifications framework (and hencerelate them to the mainstreamqualifications system of the UK),irrespective of whether qualificationswere designed for native or non-nativespeakers of English?

To answer these questions it wasnecessary to find a way of aligning theEuropean language scales to which mostESOL qualifications are mapped, to thenational adult literacy standards and theKey Skills Communication Specifications,the scales now in place to measurecommunicative proficiency in Englishlanguage in this country. The investigationconcluded that such alignment of scaleswas feasible and the proposals werepresented to QCA and the DfES in mid-2001. That report was then put out toconsultation with Awarding Bodies andother interested parties in the autumn of2001. The conclusions of the consultationhave been taken into account in thisreport. The initial purpose of the researchhas already been fulfilled, in that theresults of the 2001 report have beenapplied in accrediting ESOL qualificationsto the NQF.

It is envisaged, however, that themethodology used in aligning the scaleswill be of interest to a range of readers,including language learners and users,teachers, examiners and other languageprofessionals, admissions tutors ineducational institutions and employers (see section 3.4.2 below).

1.2Summary of researchmethodologyThe research into the methods andfeasibility of aligning various languagescales was carried out in seven stages:

i) data gathering and selection:appropriate scales and associateddocumentation were gathered and the principal scales to be investigatedwere identified

ii) establishing the bases for comparison

iii) preliminary alignment of the levels ofdifferent proficiency scales

iv) refinement of the initial alignments

v) drafting of skills maps (Maps 3-6:listening, speaking, reading and writing)

vi) verification of alignment of levels

vii) summary of findings (Map 1: OverallLanguage Proficiency and Map 2:General Language Proficiency).

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1.3Investigation of the scalesand the outcome

1.3.1 Data gathering and selection

The consultants’ terms of reference statedthat the scales of language proficiency tobe investigated should include the mostwidely-used scales from three mainsectors: adult literacy and key skillscommunication, English for Speakers ofOther Languages/English as an AdditionalLanguage, and Modern ForeignLanguages. These scales were thenidentified and collected. This involvedobtaining the latest versions, some ofwhich had been through several editions,as well as the associated literature (seeAppendix).

The investigation was restricted todocuments currently in use in varioussectors of language education in theUnited Kingdom, and did not includescales from North America or Australia.Five scales were identified as being themost appropriate for the research. Allcome from the sectors identified and are in the public domain. This was felt to beimportant in assisting the objectivity andtransparency of the exercise.

The five scales were:

The national standards for adult literacy

Key Skills CommunicationSpecifications

A language in common: assessingEnglish as an additional language(QCA)

Common European Framework ofReference for Languages

The National Language Standards

In addition, two scales, The English-Speaking Union Framework and The Association of Testers in EuropeFramework were considered but omittedfrom the alignment maps because they are proprietary scales and not in the public domain in the manner of the others considered.

1.3.2Bases for comparisonInitially, there was concern that the scaleswere too diverse for alignment to bepossible, for the following reasons:

The sectors of language usedescribed. Some scales describemother tongue proficiency, while others describe language used as anadditional (second or foreign) language.Comparison of language proficiencyacross sectors had not previously been attempted.


The number of proficiency levels.The number of levels in different scalesranged from five to eleven. It was alsoevident that several scales did notattempt to describe the full range oflanguage proficiency, but insteadconcentrated on the middle-range withrelatively little description at the upperand lower ends of language use.

The lack of common criteria ofdescription. While scales used inlanguage assessment usually describelanguage according to clearly-definedcriteria such as accuracy, range and soon, some of the scales investigatedhere describe general languageproficiency without such explicit criteria.

Fullness of description.The scales and their descriptors variedconsiderably in breadth and depth ofdescription. The thinnest was set outon a single sheet describing proficiencyin terms of the four skills of reading,writing, listening and speaking; othersrequired several chapters or evencomplete manuals to describe variousapplications of the skills.

However, beneath this initial perception of difference were similarities of approachwhich made it possible to progress withthe task. These similarities derive fromwhat may be described as the Britishtradition of writing language scales. TheCouncil of Europe (2001: 205) contraststhis tradition with the American/Australiantradition and characterises it as preferringpositiveness, definiteness, clarity, brevityand independence of description. Thiscommon tradition means that descriptorsare expressed in terms that facilitatedcomparison between one scale andanother. In particular, it was found that allthe scales described language proficiencyin the following ways:

Orientation. The scales were initiallywritten for purposes of planninglanguage learning at institutional,national or international levels, althoughsome have subsequently been appliedto language assessment.

Descriptive approach. The scalestake a purely descriptive approach,describing language proficiency atvarious levels in much the way that a thermometer describes temperatureon a scale. This approach focuses onactual language performance, andseeks to eliminate subjective andrelative concerns such as the length of time that learners have beenlearning, their age, intelligence orbehaviour, or the linguistic distancebetween the learners’ first languageand the language they are learning.

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Adult users. With the exception of A language in common the scalesdescribe language proficiency of adultusers, that is the performance of userswho are all cognitively mature.

Output models. The scales describelanguage proficiency in terms of acompetence-based output (thelanguage user’s performance in termsof reading, writing, listening andspeaking) rather than language input(the number of hours of tuition or the number of points on a languagesyllabus that the user had to master).Because of this output-basedapproach, all the scales investigatedare framed in ‘can-do’ statementsdescribing what language users arecapable of in the target language.

Layered construction. The scales take a variety of approaches to thepresentation and description of thedifferent layers of language proficiency.For example, the thinnest, the KeySkills Communication specifications are written for the learner and combinefeatures from different layers ofdescription on single A4 sheets foreach level. The adult literacy standardsprovide amplification of the key skillsand include considerably more detailabout the skills involved in eachlanguage mode, at the same time

bringing together features from differentlayers on a single A3 sheet per level.This explicitly multi-layered approachcan also be seen in the The NationalLanguage Standards and The CommonEuropean Framework. All these scales,although they are written with differentdegrees of detail, include: some‘global’ scale of language proficiency,derived scales describing performanceaccording to skill (reading, writing,listening and speaking), and a third‘layer’ describing performance inparticular applications (e.g. speaking atmeetings/discussions or writing letters).This multi-layered construction (calledthe ‘hypertext analogy’ by the Councilof Europe (2000: 40)) can berepresented in the following way:


Layer 3

Applications (e.g. to writing)

Layer 2Language skills

(reading, writing, listening speaking)

Layer 1Global language proficiency

This approach means that all the scalesoffer aligned descriptions across a number of levels, even though the precisestructure, amount of description andallocation of description between the threelayers may differ somewhat. The user can,for example, find a general descriptor at a particular level at layer 1, then see howthis is converted into a more detaileddescriptor of a skill such as writing, at the same level, and then locate theapplications of the skill, usually in layer 3.This process is set out below withillustrations from the standards for adultliteracy for Entry 2 Writing, and from theCommon European Framework, level A2,for Writing.

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Layer 3

Applicationsin documents such as forms, lists, messages, notes, records, e-mails, simple narratives

National standards for adult literacy, QCA 2000

Layer 2Writing

An adult will be expected to:

use written words and phrases to record and present information

construct simple sentences and compound sentences using common conjunctions to connect tow clauses, eg as, and, but

use adjectives

use punctuation correctly, eg capital letters, full stops and question marks

use a capital letter for proper nouns

spell correctly the majority of personal details and familiar common words

produce legible text


Layer 1General Proficiency

E2At this level, adults can:

write to communicate information with some awareness of the intended audience




All of the similarities of approach describedabove, in particular the layered nature ofthe scales, facilitated their comparison andenabled finer matching to be undertaken.

1.3.3Preliminary alignmentAs all scales include what has beentermed layer 2: description of reading,writing, listening and speaking, they were scrutinised at this layer first and a preliminary alignment was drafted in

a series of maps. This was achieved byestablishing the initial match between the broad descriptors of each of the skillsat layer 2 of each scale. The method foraligning the layer 2 descriptors of threedifferent scales: The adult literacystandards, The Common EuropeanFramework and The National LanguageStandards is demonstrated in the followingexamples from the descriptions of writingat the lower end of the scales. Thedescriptors of the various lower levels


Layer 3

ApplicationsCREATIVE WRITING

A2

Can write about everyday aspects of his/her environment, eg people, places, a job or studyexperience in linked sentences

Can write a series of simple phrases and sentences about their family, living conditions, educational background, present or most recent job

Can write short simple, imaginary biographies and simple poems about people

CORRESPONDENCES

A2

Can write very simple personal letters expressing thanks and apology

NOTES, MESSAGES and FORMS

A2

Can take a short, simple message provided he/shecan ask for repetition and reformulation. Can write short, simple notes and messages relating to matters in areas of immediate need

Common European Framework p.62, 83, 84

Layer 2Writing

A2

Can write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like ‘and’ and ‘but’ and ‘because’

Common European Framework p.61

Layer 1General Proficiency

A2

Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (eg. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment)

Can communicate in simple routine tasks requiring a simple direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters

Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need

Common European Framework p.24

were placed side-by-side and scrutinisedfor similarities and differences at levelsabove and below. This would indicatepreliminary alignment and a provisionalanswer to the question as to which levelsof each scale (A1 or A2 on the CommonEuropean Framework; Levels 1 or 2 of theNational Language Standards) should bealigned with Entry 2 of the adult literacystandards.

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Entry level 2 An adult can:

write a message to a colleague on work issues

write a brief letter or postcard

use written words and phrases to record or present information

construct simple and compoundsentences, using conjunctions to connect two clauses, eg as, and, but

use adjectives





use a simplified dictionary to find meanings and spell words

in documents such as forms, lists,messages, notes, records, e-mails,simple narratives

Adult literacy standards

A1 Breakthrough The writer can:

write simple isolated phrases and sentences

A2 Waystage The writer can:

write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like and, but and because

Common EuropeanFramework

Level 1: The writer can:

write effectively to deal with predictable day-to-day activities

write down routine facts and data related to predictable day-to-day activities

write simple messages

Level 2: The writer can:

write effectively to deal with routine and daily activities

compile routine records using set phrases and structures

compose notes and short messages to fulfil routine and daily requirements

compose correspondence usingset phrases and structures

National LanguageStandards



The different scales offer different levels of detail in their descriptions of writing.However, during the scrutiny, it becameclear that there were some key descriptorswhich suggested a preliminary equivalencebetween the scales at different levels. In this example, the comparison of keydescriptors resulted in the preliminaryalignment of the levels shown here:

This preliminary alignment was madeacross all of the four skills and an initial ‘fit’ was established.

1.3.4 RefinementIt was found that the preliminary alignmentof layer 2 left gaps: one scale includedmore detail than another, or one gaveexemplification that the others lacked. Themulti-layered construction enabled detailto be recovered from layer 3 of the scales,so that more direct comparisons of thedescriptors at layer 2 could be made. Forexample, the writing descriptors of onescale might be exemplified by reference toreport writing, while the others made no

mention of this; but references for reportwriting were included at layer 3 of theother scales. The placing of layer 3 detailalongside layer 2 enabled more directcomparisons to be made. In the illustrationbelow (taken from Map 6: Writing Skills),the additional descriptors recovered fromlayer 3 are indicated in italics. It can beseen that the detailed descriptors on thethree scales are now more comparableboth in extent and delicacy.








Level 1:



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write a message to a colleague on work issues

write a brief letter or postcard

use written words and phrases to record or present information


use adjectives





use a simplified dictionary to find meanings and spell words

in documents such as forms, lists,messages, notes, records, e-mails,simple narratives

Source: QCA national standards foradult literacy and numeracy, 2000




write short, simple formulaic notes relating to matters in areas of immediate need

copy short sentences on everyday subjects, e.g directionshow to get somewhere

write with reasonable phonetic accuracy (but not necessarily fully standard spelling) short words that are in his/her oral vocabulary

write short, simple formulaic notes relating to matters in areas of immediate need

write very simple personal letters expressing thanks and apology

take a short, simple message provided he/she can ask for repetition and reformulation

Common European Framework, p.61, 83, 84, 89, 118


Level 1: The writer can effectively:

deal with predictable day-to-day activities

write down routine facts and data related to predictable day-to-day activities


use the written form of the language in a limited range of standard formats, eg filling in standard forms or composing standard letters using stock phrases and formats

use a small number of memorised sentences and individual words and set phrases, which he/she can substitute to adapt existing simple texts

The National Language Standards,p.107




1.3.5 Drafting of skills mapsFrom this refinement, the four skills maps(Map 3: Listening, Map 4: Speaking, Map 5: Reading and Map 6: Writing) weredrafted, referencing direct quotations fromthe wording of the original scales. Thealignment of the descriptors at all levels on these maps illustrates the fit of thevarious scales in a transparent way.

1.3.6 VerificationFurther verification was sought byreference to other data. Although noprevious attempts have been made to map all the scales examined in thisresearch, there were some sources ofinformation about more limited mapping of some of the scales, and these wereconsulted. Some of these weredocuments in the public domain (such asthe Association of British ESOL ExaminingBoards Framework, published 2001) andothers drew on professional knowledge. Inaddition, a summary of the first draft of the

report, together with the maps showingthe alignments, was circulated, to seek the views of awarding bodies and otherinterested parties, before a more extensiveconsultation took place. There were nosuggestions that the alignment of thescales on any of the maps was incorrector unacceptable.

1.3.7 Summary of findingsTwo summary maps (Maps 1 and 2)showing overall alignment were drawn up from Maps 3-6. Map 1 shows only thebroad alignment of each scale against theNQF, while Map 2 includes descriptors ofgeneral language proficiency. While it isrealised that these are the maps which arelikely to be most widely used, it is hopedthat users will understand that they are the least detailed in terms of languageapplications, so may not be the maps that are most useful or relevant in allcircumstances.


2.1Spectrum of languageproficiencyThe scales listed in 1.3.1 and 1.3.2, whichare considered individually below, tend to concentrate on the broad range ofproficiency within which most users’performance falls, whether in a first orother language, although there are somewhich offer description for the very top of the scale or for the beginner stage. Forexample, at Level 5, Key Skills describes a level of communicative competencecommensurate with the demands of high level management or research. TheEnglish-Speaking Union Framework coversthe full range of proficiency in its nine-level

scale, but as this was ultimately notchosen for alignment, A language incommon (QCA) was consulted fordescriptions of the very earliest stages.

2.2The scalesThe scales cover language proficiency inthe context of literacy and communication,English as a foreign or other language,other modern foreign languages:

Some of the scales have associatedsupplementary scales or literature, andthese are referred to where appropriate.

It will also be noted that some scales refer to the UK (or England) alone,whereas others are European in scope.

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Section 2Descriptions of the scales: the spectrum of language proficiency

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

LITERACY/COMMUNICATION (UK)

The adult literacy standards

Key Skills Communication Specifications

EFL/ESOL/EAL

The Common European Framework

A language in common

MODERN FOREIGNLANGUAGES




2.3The national qualificationsframework (NQF)This framework supplied the levels whichwere used as the basis for the alignmentof the language scales. Established in1999 it provides a structure within whichall accredited qualifications in all subjectsin the UK can be located. It has fiveprincipal levels [1-5], and below those,Entry 1-3. The following table displays thelevels of the NQF alongside other relevantnational standards:

18 SECTION 2 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SCALES: THE SPECTRUM OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

National qualificationsframework Level 5

(Higher level qualifications)



(e.g. A level)


(e.g. GCSE grades A*-C)


(e.g. GCSE grades D-G)

E3

E2

E1

Key SkillsLevel 5

Key SkillsLevel 4

Key SkillsLevel 3

Key SkillsLevel 2

Key SkillsLevel 1

Adult literacy standardsLevel 2

Adult literacy standardsLevel 1

Adult literacy standardsEntry 3



National Curriculum Level 5





The NQF does not set out to definecompetence or proficiency in particularsubjects. Its aim is to provide atransparent system of cross reference to demonstrate how different types ofqualification can be regarded as broadlyequivalent in terms of level, for thepurposes of progression and entryrequirements to employment or further study.

Scales for assessingcommunication in English in the United Kingdom

2.4National standards for adult literacy (QCA)These were published by QCA in 2000 in order to ‘specify the full range of skillsrequired for an adult to communicateconfidently, effectively and efficiently’(2000: 2). The standards are described at five levels and are aligned to the levelsof the national qualifications framework, as demonstrated above.

Several important points need to be noted in relation to the national standardsfor adult literacy which affect theirinterpretation in the current research.

The standards are written in ‘plainEnglish’ for an intended audience ofeducational professionals rather thanadult learners themselves, as is thecase with most of the other scalessurveyed.

While ‘literacy’ is not explicitly definedin the standards, it includes spokencommunication. It is described in terms of the four skills: reading, writing,speak to communicate and listen and respond. Reading and writingdescriptors include text, sentence and word level skills.

The national standards for adult literacycover level 2 at the top end and beginat Entry 1, which corresponds toNational Curriculum level 1. It is evidentthat Entry 1 in these Standards, likeNational Curriculum level 1, does notbegin with the very earliest stages oflearning a language. Some basic abilityin spoken communication in English isassumed, which may be the result ofbeing a native speaker, or may havebeen already acquired as a secondlanguage speaker. (See A language in common 2.3.2.d below)

The standards were written to describethe levels of language competenceneeded by adult speakers of Englishliving, working and studying in thiscountry, whether English is their firstlanguage or not. They have now beenused as the starting point fordeveloping the Adult Literacy CoreCurriculum (DfES/BSA 2001), designedfor native speakers, and the AdultBasic Skills ESOL Core Curriculum(DfES/BSA 2001), which relatesspecifically to non-native speakers ofEnglish. Through these curricula, eachrelated to the same standards, explicitlinks have been made between theproficiency levels of native and non-

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native speakers of English in wayswhich were not possible before. Eachcurriculum is designed to cover theskills required by users of English in this country, taking account ofdifferences in curriculum content,teaching and learning for ESOL and first language learners.

2.5Key Skills Specifications(QCA)These specifications in their current formwere produced by QCA in 1999. At levels1-4 they describe six skills, includingCommunication, which is the concern ofthis report. The Key Skills CommunicationSpecifications were particularly useful inthe investigation as, in effect, they extendto NQF levels 3, 4 and 5 (see Map 1).

The Key Skills Specifications areaddressed directly to post-16 learnersrather than to professionals, as with theadult literacy standards. They make no reference to non-native speakers,but like the adult literacy standardsdescribe the levels of competencerequired to do certain things in English,with the assumption that these apply toboth native and non-native speakers inthe context of education, employmentand day-to-day living in this country

The Key Skills CommunicationSpecifications pre-date the adultliteracy standards and influenced theirpreparation. At levels 1 and 2 the twoscales have close overlap, though

written for different audiences. In thisresearch, levels 3, 4 and 5 of the KeySkills Communication Specificationswere regarded as an extension of theadult literacy standards beyond level 2,facilitating comparisons with otherscales at the higher levels. At level 3 and 4, the CommunicationSpecifications were closely referred to. At level 5 Key Skills Communicationdoes not separate communication or literacy from other areas ofcompetence, but it clearly describes a level of language attainment which is well beyond that of level 4. Level 3and 4 of the Key Skills specificationalso provided the basis for thedevelopment of the SubjectSpecifications for teachers of adultliteracy and numeracy, DfES/FENTO2001, which set out the skills,knowledge and understanding forspeaking, listening, reading and writingat levels 3 and 4.

The adult literacy standards and KeySkills Communication Specificationswere combined to make one overallscale for use in the Maps [Section 3],which goes from Entry 1 to level 4.


2.6A language in common:assessing English as anadditional language (QCA)

A language in common (2000: 11-15)was consulted to give an indication ofwhat descriptors at the lowest levelsmight look like. The booklet waspublished in 2000 and relatesspecifically to English as an additionallanguage (EAL) within the school-basednational curriculum. As such, it fallsoutside the scope of this report, whichdeals with adult scales. However,reference was made to it because it offers a description of levels ofobservable proficiency below nationalcurriculum level 1. With minoradaptation, these could also be appliedto describe adult proficiency in theearliest stages of learning Englishbelow NQF Entry 1 and may in futureprovide a starting point for descriptionsof beginner levels for adults.

Scales referring to a rangeof languages

2.7Common EuropeanFramework of Reference for Languages (CEF)The Council of Europe Frameworkdescribes six levels of foreign-languageproficiency. The document was originallycirculated in draft in 1996, with anupdated draft in 1997. The final editionwas published in 2001. The frameworkprovides several dozen scales, rangingfrom general proficiency to narrow sub-skills such as ‘transactions to obtaingoods and services’, all described at the same six levels. In the original edition,the levels were given labels such as‘Threshold’ and ‘Vantage’, but these havebeen dropped in the published edition,although they are still widely used and are given here for reference (see Map 1).

Several points should be noted about theCommon European Framework:

levels refer specifically to proficiency ina language which is not the user’s firstlanguage;

levels of language proficiency aredescribed without any relation toeducational level. While this is similar to the other scales considered in this report, it is a departure fromeducational practice in many European countries;

21



unlike other scales, it was not originallydevised as a framework for assessmentor for qualifications, although it isincreasingly used as such. Indeed,many countries (including the UnitedKingdom) are now aligning proficiencyin foreign languages at variouseducational levels to the CEF, oftenthrough the European LanguagePortfolio [LNTO/CILT 2002];

although much of the Council ofEurope’s work was originally withadults, the scale makes little referenceto vocational uses of language. It is, however, now frequently used to describe school-basedproficiency/achievement;

it includes very full and detaileddescriptors which proved most usefulin checking and refining the alignmentswith other scales;

it provides a link between scales usedonly in England and a scale which iswell-established and well-regardedacross Europe, thus making theproposed alignments of levels ofEnglish proficiency intelligible to users beyond England.

2.8The National LanguageStandards 2000 (LNTO)The National Language Standards 2000,produced by the Languages NationalTraining Organisation is one of many sets of national standards in a variety ofvocational areas and skills, which havebeen produced by national trainingorganisations and industry lead bodies.They are the second revision of standardsoriginally published in 1993, and definestandards for the vocational use ofModern Foreign Languages as applied to the use of these languages in theworkplace.

The Standards define proficiency in thetarget language at five levels, aligned to the national qualifications frameworklevels in the context of Modern ForeignLanguages rather than for mother-tongueEnglish, and were related originally to the competency statements of the UKNational Vocational Qualifications. Whilethe standards describe proficiency levelsprimarily of non-native speakers, their use to confirm or accredit mother-tongueproficiency for defined work purposes is approved by the Languages NationalTraining Organisation.

Several points need to be highlighted inthe context of this report with regard tothe National Language Standards:

their developers consulted theCommon European Framework todefine the stages of progression [The


National Language Standards in ActionLNTO 2001:30]. This provides somelink between the scales written for usein England, and the European scale,which assisted the processes ofalignment;

they were specifically designed toassess competence in any languageother than the user’s first language; thisincludes any foreign, second/additional,community (eg Bengali, Turkish) orindigenous language (eg Welsh, Gaelic).Their application is thus wider than theother scales originating in England, andrather different to the CEF;

they are described in terms of the fourskills: reading, writing, listening andspeaking (layer 2) which are thenexpanded in a series of tables of‘typical attainments’ in specificapplication (layer 3) thus facilitatingcomparison with the other scales;

they provide the basis for NationalVocational Qualifications language unitsin foreign languages. These have a levelby level correspondence within theNQF (ie an NVQ unit at level 2 is atlevel 2 in the NQF). In the context of the mapping reported here, allalignments to the NQF have beenmade by comparison to levels oflanguage skills in English. The effect of this is that the levels of the NationalLanguage Standards do not have thesame one to one correspondence withthe levels of the NQF when applied toEnglish, as Maps 1 to 6 demonstrate.

Scales outside the publicdomain

2.9 Association of LanguageTesters of Europe (ALTE)ALTE was established in 1990 as anassociation between various language testproviders across Europe. ALTE developedits own Framework of five (later six) levelsand subsequently aligned these with thelevels of the Common EuropeanFramework.

Points to be noted:

The ALTE scale is designed to be usedfor foreign languages and not withnative speakers. It describes languageproficiency regardless of educationallevel.

The 2001 version of the scales relatesboth to general proficiency in the fourskills and to social/tourist, work andstudy applications.

Although the levels of the ALTE scalehave been aligned with those of theCouncil of Europe (see CommonEuropean Framework 2001: 248-49),the descriptors of the two scales aredifferent and the relationship betweenthe two is not necessarily obvious tothe user.

23



ALTE is generally restricted to oneexamination provider per language andother providers may not use the ALTEscale. The ALTE English-language memberis the University of Cambridge LocalExaminations Syndicate (UCLES). TheALTE Framework can be used only bymembers of the Association and is thusnot in the public domain. For this reason, it was not included in the maps in thisreport.

2.10The English-Speaking UnionFramework (ESU)This is a scale describing foreign-languageproficiency at nine levels, covering the full range of proficiency from beginner to educated bilingual. It was originallypublished both as a book and a chart in1989, and further editions of the chartwere published in 1993 and 1997. Thecharts provide a single scale describinggeneral language proficiency; the originalbook gave 20 further scales describingproficiency in the four skills and social,business and academic/studyapplications. The aim was to provide a framework on to which the principalEFL/ESOL examinations could bemapped. The examinations providersrepresented formed themselves into theAssociation of British ESOL ExaminingBoards (ABEEB) in 1989.

Although authorised translations of theESU Framework have been published and the scale has been widely distributed,it is not strictly in the public domain asonly members of ABEEB may align theirexaminations with its levels. For thisreason, it was not included in the maps in this report.


3.1Demonstrating how skillsand levels alignRather than a single map showing thealignment of the various scales, a series of maps has been produced illustratingdifferent language layers and skills. In part, this reflects the methodology of theresearch. More importantly, it is believedthat different users will find the detailed

alignment of descriptors of differentaspects of language useful. The alignmentof the levels of the scales to those of the national qualifications framework isconsistent throughout all the maps and all modes of language use:

25

Section 3Maps illustrating the alignment of scales and levels


NQF levelMap 1overall

alignment

Map 2overall

proficiency

Map 3Listening

Skills

Map 4Speaking

Skills

Map 5Reading

Skills

Map 6WritingSkills

Level 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Level 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Level 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Level 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Level 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3 Entry 3




The six maps included here are as follows:

Map 1: Overall alignment of languageproficiency scales

This provides an overview of the alignmentto the national qualifications framework ofthe five general language proficiencyscales under consideration:

The national standards for adult literacy

Key Skills CommunicationSpecifications

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages


A language in common

Map 2: General language proficiency

This map aligns the descriptors of generallanguage proficiency from the four mainscales under consideration [the first fourfrom the list above] to the nationalqualifications framework from Entry 1 to Level 5.

The same principles of organisation asused in Map 2 are applied in Maps 3 to 6.Here the four scales, arranged to makethree overall scales by combining KeySkills and the adult literacy standards, arealigned to each other and to the NQF interms of the detailed skills associated witheach language mode

Map 3: Listening Skills

Map 4: Speaking Skills

Map 5: Reading Skills

Map 6: Writing Skills

3.2General principlesThe maps show the alignment of thevarious language proficiency scales. As detailed in section 1.3, this alignment is based solely on a scrutiny of thedescriptors used in the scales to defineproficiency levels. No external reference to examinations or qualifications offered by awarding bodies was made. Thesubsequent location of ESOL qualificationson the levels of the NQF for purposes ofaccreditation was carried out separately, at a later date, by QCA.

The maps align existing scales designedand constructed by different organisationsfor different educational sectors. They do not introduce any new scales ordescriptors, and do not attempt toconstruct an ‘anchor’ scale to which allother scales could be related. Given theinternational nature of languages and the international currency of languagequalifications, any attempt to constructsuch an ‘anchor’ scale was consideredbeyond the scope of this investigation.Moreover it was judged that the compositescales presented here should serve such a purpose.

26 SECTION 3 MAPS ILLUSTRATING THE ALIGNMENT OF SCALES AND LEVELS

Notes:

1 In the national qualifications framework, levels 4 and 5 represent higher-level qualifications, A levels are at level 3, GCSE grades A-C atlevel 2 and GCSE grades D-G at level 1.

2 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority,National standards for adult literacy andnumeracy, 2000: British national standardspublished as part of the adult basic skillsstrategy in order to specify the full range ofskills required for an adult to communicateconfidently, effectively and efficiently.

3 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, KeySkills Units, 2000: These specify a range of key skills, including communication, required to operate effectively at the respective levels.

4 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Alanguage in common, 2000: National guidancerelating to performance of speakers of Englishas an Additional Language (EAL) within theschool-based UK national curriculum.

5 Council of Europe, Common EuropeanFramework of Reference for Languages,Cambridge University Press, 2001: Descriptionsof six levels of foreign language proficiencyoffered as international standards.

6 Languages National Training Organisation, The National Language Standards, 2000:British national standards for the vocational use of foreign languages (including English as a Foreign Language).

7 There are no qualifications at pre-entry level;however the Pre-entry Curriculum Frameworkfor literacy and numeracy provides clearmilestones to enable learners to progresstowards Entry 1, accreditation at pre-entry level is available if appropriate to the learner.

3.3What the maps showThe maps enable users to see thealignment of the levels of various scalesunder consideration. Users who areinterested in particular aspects or skills of language can consult the appropriatemaps to determine comparisons and

equivalences. In order to provide detailand transparency, the maps quote thedescriptors used in the scales and, at the foot of the columns, provide pagereferences for these quotations.

27 28

MAP 1: General language proficiency scales

Nationalqualificationsframework 1

National standards for adult literacy 2

Key Skills 3 National curriculum 4

Level 5 (Level 5)

8

Nationalcurriculum levels

2

(C2.2)

Level 5

Level 4 Level 4

Level 3 Level 3 C2 Mastery

Level 4Level 2Level 2 Level 2C1 Operational

Proficiency

Level 3Level 1Level 1 Level 1 B2 Vantage

Level 2Entry level 3

Entry level 2

Entry level 1

Entry level

Level 1Secure/Threshold

B1 Threshold

Level 1A2 Waystage

(Entry)A1 Breakthrough

Pre-entry 7

EAL Step 2

EAL Step 1

Council of Europe

Framework 5

National Language

Standards 6

QCA

.

Leve

l 1A

n ad

ult

can:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

info

rmat

ion

and

narr

ativ

es,

and

follo

w e

xpla

natio

ns a

nd

inst

ruct

ions

of v

aryi

ng le

ngth

s, a

dapt

ing

resp

onse

to

spea

ker,

med

ium

and

con

text

.

spea

k to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

,ad

aptin

g sp

eech

and

con

tent

to

take

acc

ount

of t

he

liste

ner(s

) and

med

ium

.

enga

ge in

dis

cuss

ion

with

one

or

mor

e pe

ople

in

fam

iliar

and

unfa

milia

r si

tuat

ions

, m

akin

g cl

ear

and

rele

vant

con

trib

utio

ns t

hat

resp

ond

to w

hat

othe

rs s

ay

and

prod

uce

a sh

ared

und

erst

andi

ng a

bout

diff

eren

t to

pics

.

read

and

und

erst

and

stra

ight

forw

ard

text

s of

var

ying

le

ngth

on

a va

riety

of t

opic

s ac

cura

tely

and

in

depe

nden

tly.

read

and

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

from

diff

eren

t so

urce

s.

writ

e to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

cl

early

usi

ng le

ngth

, fo

rmat

and

sty

le a

ppro

pria

te t

o pu

rpos

e an

d au

dien

ce.

Ent

ry 3

A

n ad

ult

can:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

stra

ight

forw

ard

info

rmat

ion

and

narr

ativ

es,

and

follo

w

stra

ight

forw

ard

expl

anat

ions

and

inst

ruct

ions

, bo

th

face

-to-

face

and

on

the

tele

phon

e.

spea

k to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n, fe

elin

gs a

nd

opin

ions

on

fam

iliar

topi

cs,

usin

g ap

prop

riate

form

ality

, bo

th fa

ce-t

o-fa

ce a

nd o

n th

e te

leph

one.

enga

ge in

dis

cuss

ion

with

one

or

mor

e pe

ople

in

a fa

milia

r si

tuat

ion,

mak

ing

rele

vant

poi

nts

and

resp

ondi

ng t

o w

hat

othe

rs s

ay t

o re

ach

a sh

ared

un

ders

tand

ing

abou

t fa

milia

r to

pics

.

read

and

und

erst

and

shor

t, s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d te

xts

on

fam

iliar

topi

cs a

ccur

atel

y an

d in

depe

nden

tly.

read

and

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

from

eve

ryda

y so

urce

s.

writ

e to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n an

d op

inio

ns w

ith

som

e ad

apta

tion

to t

he in

tend

ed a

udie

nce.

B2

Vant

age

The

lang

uage

use

r ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

idea

s of

com

plex

tex

ts o

n bo

th c

oncr

ete

and

abst

ract

top

ics,

incl

udin

g te

chni

cal d

iscu

ssio

ns in

his

/her

fiel

d of

sp

ecia

lisat

ion.

inte

ract

with

a d

egre

e of

flue

ncy

and

spon

tane

ity

that

mak

es r

egul

ar in

tera

ctio

n w

ith n

ativ

e sp

eake

rs

quite

pos

sibl

e w

ithou

t st

rain

for

eith

er p

art.

prod

uce

clea

r, de

taile

d te

xt o

n a

wid

e ra

nge

of

subj

ects

and

exp

lain

a v

iew

poin

t on

a t

opic

al

issu

e gi

ving

the

adv

anta

ges

and

disa

dvan

tage

s of

var

ious

opt

ions

.

B1

The

sho

ldTh

e la

ngua

ge u

ser

can:

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

poin

ts o

f cle

ar s

tand

ard

inpu

t on

fam

iliar

mat

ters

reg

ular

ly e

ncou

nter

ed in

wor

k,

scho

ol,

leis

ure,

etc

.

deal

with

mos

t si

tuat

ions

like

ly t

o ar

ise

whi

le

trav

ellin

g in

an

area

whe

re t

he la

ngua

ge is

spo

ken.

prod

uce

sim

ple

conn

ecte

d te

xt o

n to

pics

whi

ch

are

fam

iliar

or o

f per

sona

l int

eres

t.

desc

ribe

expe

rienc

es a

nd e

vent

s, d

ream

s, h

opes

an

d am

bitio

ns a

nd b

riefly

giv

e re

ason

s an

d ex

plan

atio

ns fo

r op

inio

ns a

nd p

lans

.

Leve

l 3Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

is c

ompe

tent

in a

var

ied

rang

e of

lang

uage

tas

ks,

both

fact

ual a

nd e

xpre

ssiv

e, p

erfo

rmed

in a

var

iety

of

con

text

s.

has

a re

pert

oire

whi

ch is

wid

e an

d ad

apta

ble

to

the

unex

pect

ed a

nd g

rasp

of t

he g

ram

mat

ical

sy

stem

is m

ainl

y se

cure

.

Leve

l 2Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

is c

ompe

tent

in a

lim

ited

rang

e of

tas

ks,

perf

orm

ed

in fa

milia

r w

ork

and

soci

al c

onte

xts.

has

a re

pert

oire

equ

al t

o m

ost

rout

ine

lang

uage

ta

sks

and

the

user

has

suf

ficie

nt g

rasp

of g

ram

mar

to

cop

e w

ith s

ome

non-

rout

ine

task

s.

MAP 2: General language proficiency

29

The Alignment of Language Proficiency Scales for assessing competence in English language PATHWAYS TO PROFICIENCY

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 4

At

this

leve

l an

adul

t ca

n:

deve

lop

a st

rate

gy fo

r us

ing

com

mun

icat

ion

skills

ove

r an

ext

ende

d pe

riod

of t

ime.

take

the

lead

rol

e in

a g

roup

dis

cuss

ion

abou

t a

com

plex

sub

ject

.

writ

e ex

tend

ed d

ocum

ents

abo

ut c

ompl

ex s

ubje

cts.

eval

uate

you

r ov

eral

l str

ateg

y an

d pr

esen

t th

e ou

tcom

es fr

om y

our

wor

k.

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 3

At

this

leve

l an

adul

t ca

n:

cont

ribut

e to

a g

roup

dis

cuss

ion

abou

t a

com

plex

su

bjec

t.

mak

e a

pres

enta

tion

abou

t a

com

plex

sub

ject

.

read

and

syn

thes

ise

info

rmat

ion

from

ext

ende

d do

cum

ents

abo

ut a

com

plex

sub

ject

.

writ

e di

ffere

nt t

ypes

of d

ocum

ents

abo

ut c

ompl

ex

subj

ects

.

Leve

l 2A

n ad

ult

can:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

exte

nded

info

rmat

ion

and

narr

ativ

es,

and

follo

w

deta

iled

expl

anat

ions

and

mul

ti-st

ep in

stru

ctio

ns o

f va

ryin

g le

ngth

, ad

aptin

g re

spon

se t

o sp

eake

r, m

ediu

m

and

cont

ext.

spea

k to

com

mun

icat

e st

raig

htfo

rwar

d an

d de

taile

d in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

cle

arly,

ada

ptin

g sp

eech

and

con

tent

to

take

acc

ount

of t

he li

sten

er(s

), m

ediu

m,

purp

ose

and

situ

atio

n.

enga

ge in

dis

cuss

ion

with

one

or

mor

e pe

ople

in a

va

riety

of d

iffer

ent

situ

atio

ns,

mak

ing

clea

r an

d ef

fect

ive

cont

ribut

ions

tha

t pr

oduc

e ou

tcom

es a

ppro

pria

te t

o pu

rpos

e an

d to

pic.

read

and

und

erst

and

a ra

nge

of t

exts

of v

aryi

ng

com

plex

ity,

accu

rate

ly a

nd in

depe

nden

tly.

read

and

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

of v

aryi

ng le

ngth

and

det

ail

from

diff

eren

t so

urce

s.

writ

e co

mm

unic

ate

info

rmat

ion,

idea

s an

d op

inio

ns

clea

rly a

nd e

ffect

ivel

y, u

sing

leng

th,

form

at a

nd s

tyle

ap

prop

riate

to

purp

ose,

con

tent

and

aud

ienc

e.

C2

Mas

tery

The

lang

uage

use

r ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd w

ith e

ase

virt

ually

eve

ryth

ing

hear

d or

rea

d.

sum

mar

ise

info

rmat

ion

from

diff

eren

t sp

oken

and

w

ritte

n so

urce

s, r

econ

stru

ctin

g ar

gum

ents

and

ac

coun

ts in

a c

oher

ent

pres

enta

tion.

expr

ess

him

/her

self

spon

tane

ousl

y, v

ery

fluen

tly

and

prec

isel

y, d

iffer

entia

ting

finer

sha

des

of

mea

ning

eve

n in

mor

e co

mpl

ex s

ituat

ions

.

[Mas

tery

is n

ot in

tend

ed t

o im

ply

nativ

e or

ne

ar-n

ativ

e co

mpe

tenc

e].

C1

Op

erat

iona

l Pro

ficie

ncy

The

lang

uage

use

r ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd a

wid

e ra

nge

of d

eman

ding

, lo

nger

te

xts

and

reco

gnis

e im

plic

it m

eani

ng.

expr

ess

him

/her

self

fluen

tly a

nd s

pont

aneo

usly

w

ithou

t m

uch

obvi

ous

sear

chin

g fo

r ex

pres

sion

s.

use

lang

uage

flex

ibly

and

effe

ctiv

ely

for

soci

al,

acad

emic

and

pro

fess

iona

l pur

pose

s.

prod

uce

clea

r, w

ell-s

truc

ture

d, d

etai

led

text

on

com

plex

sub

ject

s, s

how

ing

cont

rolle

d us

e of

or

gani

satio

nal p

atte

rns,

con

nect

ors

and

cohe

sive

de

vice

s.

Leve

l 5Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

is a

ccep

ted

soc

ially

as

nativ

e or

nea

r na

tive

spea

ker.

is c

ompe

tent

in t

he fu

ll ra

nge

of c

ompl

ex la

ngua

ge

task

s ac

ross

a w

ide

and

ofte

n un

pred

icta

ble

varie

ty

of c

onte

xts.

has

a co

mm

and

of id

iom

and

gra

mm

atic

al

stru

ctur

es w

hich

per

mits

exp

ress

ion

of t

he fi

nest

nu

ance

s.

appl

ies

a si

gnifi

cant

ran

ge o

f lan

guag

e st

rate

gies

fro

m a

n ex

tens

ive

repe

rtoi

re, c

ontin

uous

lyup

date

d to

mee

t ch

angi

ng r

equi

rem

ents

.

has

inte

ract

ive

skills

whi

ch a

llow

com

plet

e an

d ha

rmon

ious

con

trol

of a

ny d

iscu

ssio

n an

d co

nsta

nt

revi

ew o

f its

con

tent

and

dire

ctio

n.

Leve

l 4Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

is c

ompe

tent

in a

bro

ad r

ange

of c

ompl

ex la

ngua

geta

sks

in t

he u

ser’s

spe

cial

ist

area

, pe

rfor

med

in a

w

ide

varie

ty o

f con

text

s in

whi

ch fl

exib

ility

of

lingu

istic

ada

ptat

ion

is e

ssen

tial.

has

fluen

cy in

terr

upte

d on

ly b

y th

e m

ost

conc

eptu

ally

diff

icul

t to

pics

and

the

use

r ca

n in

tera

ct s

kilfu

lly in

dis

cuss

ion,

con

trib

utin

g to

and

he

lpin

g to

mai

ntai

n co

here

nce.


MAP 2: General language proficiency (continued)

31 32

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Ent

ry 2

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

stra

ight

forw

ard

info

rmat

ion,

sho

rt n

arra

tives

, ex

plan

atio

ns a

nd in

stru

ctio

ns.

spea

k to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n, fe

elin

gs a

nd

opin

ions

on

fam

iliar

topi

cs.

enga

ge in

dis

cuss

ion

with

one

or

mor

e pe

ople

in a

fa

milia

r si

tuat

ion

to e

stab

lish

shar

ed u

nder

stan

ding

ab

out

fam

iliar

topi

cs.

read

and

und

erst

and

shor

t st

raig

htfo

rwar

d te

xts

on

fam

iliar

topi

cs.

read

and

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

from

sho

rt d

ocum

ents

, fa

milia

r so

urce

s an

d si

gns

and

sym

bols

.

writ

e to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n w

ith s

ome

awar

enes

s of

the

inte

nded

aud

ienc

e.

Ent

ry 1

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

sim

ple

narr

ativ

es,

stat

emen

ts,

ques

tions

and

si

ngle

-ste

p in

stru

ctio

ns.

spea

k to

com

mun

icat

e ba

sic

info

rmat

ion,

feel

ings

, an

d op

inio

ns o

n fa

milia

r to

pics

.

enga

ge in

dis

cuss

ion

with

ano

ther

per

son

in a

fam

iliar

situ

atio

n ab

out

fam

iliar

topi

cs.

read

and

und

erst

and

shor

t te

xts

with

rep

eate

d la

ngua

ge p

atte

rns

on fa

milia

r to

pics

.

read

and

obt

ain

info

rmat

ion

from

com

mon

sig

ns a

nd

sym

bols

.

writ

e to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n to

an

inte

nded

au

dien

ce.

So

urce

s:

QC

A,

Key

Ski

lls U

nits

3 a

nd 4

,20

00

QC

A,

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

y an

d

num

erac

y, 2

000

Cou

ncil

of E

urop

e,

Com

mon

Eur

opea

n Fr

amew

ork,

200

1: p

.24,

36

Lang

uage

s N

atio

nal T

rain

ing

Org

anis

atio

n,

The

Nat

iona

l Lan

guag

e S

tand

ard

s, 2

000:

p.2

3

A2

Way

stag

eTh

e la

ngua

ge u

ser

can:

unde

rsta

nd s

ente

nces

and

freq

uent

ly u

sed

expr

essi

ons

rela

ted

to a

reas

of m

ost

imm

edia

te

rele

vanc

e (e

.g.

very

bas

ic p

erso

nal a

nd fa

mily

in

form

atio

n, s

hopp

ing,

loca

l geo

grap

hy,

empl

oym

ent).

com

mun

icat

e in

sim

ple

and

rout

ine

task

s re

quiri

ng

a si

mpl

e an

d di

rect

exc

hang

e of

info

rmat

ion

on

fam

iliar

and

rout

ine

mat

ters

.

desc

ribe

in s

impl

e te

rms

aspe

cts

of h

is/h

er

back

grou

nd,

imm

edia

te e

nviro

nmen

t an

d m

atte

rs

in a

reas

of i

mm

edia

te n

eed.

A1

Bre

akth

roug

hTh

e la

ngua

ge u

ser

can:

unde

rsta

nd a

nd u

se fa

milia

r ev

eryd

ay e

xpre

ssio

ns

and

very

bas

ic p

hras

es a

imed

at

the

satis

fact

ion

of

need

s of

a c

oncr

ete

type

.

intr

oduc

e hi

m/h

erse

lf an

d ot

hers

and

can

ask

and

an

swer

que

stio

ns a

bout

per

sona

l det

ails

suc

h as

w

here

he/

she

lives

, pe

ople

he/

she

know

s an

d th

ings

he/

she

has.

inte

ract

in a

sim

ple

way

pro

vide

d th

e ot

her

pers

on

talk

s sl

owly

and

cle

arly

and

is p

repa

red

to h

elp.

Leve

l 1Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

is c

ompe

tent

in a

lim

ited

rang

e of

pre

dict

able

an

d si

mpl

e la

ngua

ge t

asks

, us

ing

mai

nly

set

expr

essi

ons

and

sim

ple

com

bina

tion

of t

hese

.

is c

apab

le o

f som

e re

hear

sed

gram

mat

ical

m

anip

ulat

ions

.

Leve

l 3 a

nd 4

of t

he K

ey S

kills

spe

cific

atio

n al

so p

rovi

ded

the

basi

s fo

r th

e de

velo

pmen

t of

the

Sub

ject

Spe

cific

atio

nsfo

r te

ache

rs o

f adu

lt lit

erac

y an

d nu

mer

acy,

DfE

S/F

EN

TO20

01,

whi

ch s

et o

ut t

he s

kills

, kn

owle

dge

and

unde

rsta

ndin

gfo

r sp

eaki

ng,

liste

ning

, re

adin

g an

d w

ritin

g at

leve

ls 3

and

4.

See

als

o th

e ‘C

omm

unic

atio

n in

fore

ign

lang

uage

s’se

ctio

n of

the

Eur

opea

n C

omm

issi

on’s

Con

cep

td

ocum

ent

of t

he C

omm

issi

on e

xper

t gr

oup

on

‘Key

Com

pet

enci

es’,

Mar

ch 2

002.

33


Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 4

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d pe

rcep

tivel

y to

oth

ers.

eval

uate

info

rmat

ion

obta

ined

from

di

scus

sion

s w

ith o

ther

s, id

entif

ying

opi

nion

, po

ssib

le b

ias

and

dist

ortio

n of

info

rmat

ion

whe

n m

akin

g ju

dgem

ents

.

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n an

d re

spon

d se

nsiti

vely

to

othe

rs.

Leve

l 2A

n ad

ult

can:

liste

n fo

r an

d id

entif

y re

leva

nt in

form

atio

n fro

m e

xten

ded

expl

anat

ions

or

pres

enta

tions

on

a ra

nge

of t

opic

s.

liste

n to

, un

ders

tand

and

follo

w le

ngth

y or

m

ulti-

step

inst

ruct

ions

and

nar

rativ

es o

n a

rang

e of

top

ics

and

in a

ran

ge o

f con

text

s in

a w

ide

rang

e of

form

al a

nd s

ocia

l ex

chan

ges.

C2

Mas

tery

The

liste

ner:

has

no d

iffic

ulty

in u

nder

stan

ding

any

kin

d of

spo

ken

lang

uage

, w

heth

er li

ve o

r br

oadc

ast,

del

iver

ed a

t fa

st

nativ

e sp

eed.

can

follo

w s

peci

alis

ed le

ctur

es a

nd p

rese

ntat

ions

em

ploy

ing

a hi

gh d

egre

e of

col

loqu

ialis

m,

regi

onal

us

age

or u

nfam

iliar

term

inol

ogy.

C1

Op

erat

iona

l Pro

ficie

ncy

The

liste

ner

can:

unde

rsta

nd e

noug

h to

follo

w e

xten

ded

spee

ch o

n ab

stra

ct a

nd c

ompl

ex t

opic

s be

yond

his

/her

ow

n fil

ed,

thou

gh s

he m

ay n

eed

to c

onfir

m o

ccas

iona

l det

ails

, es

peci

ally

if t

he a

ccen

t is

unf

amilia

r.

reco

gnis

e a

wid

e ra

nge

of id

iom

atic

exp

ress

ions

and

co

lloqu

ialis

ms,

app

reci

atin

g re

gist

er s

hifts

.

follo

w e

xten

ded

spee

ch e

ven

whe

n it

is n

ot c

lear

ly

stru

ctur

ed a

nd w

hen

rela

tions

hips

are

onl

y im

plie

d an

d no

t si

gnal

led

expl

icitl

y.

follo

w m

ost

lect

ures

, di

scus

sion

s an

d de

bate

s w

ith

rela

tive

ease

.

extr

act

info

rmat

ion

from

poo

r qu

ality

, au

dibl

y di

stor

ted

publ

ic a

nnou

ncem

ents

,eg

in a

sta

tion,

spo

rts

stad

ium

.

unde

rsta

nd c

ompl

ex t

echn

ical

info

rmat

ion,

suc

h as

op

erat

ing

inst

ruct

ions

, sp

ecifi

catio

ns fo

r fa

milia

r pr

oduc

ts a

nd s

ervi

ces.

Leve

l 5Th

e lis

tene

r ca

n ef

fect

ivel

y:

unde

rsta

nd a

ny k

ind

of s

peec

h, w

heth

er li

ve o

r re

cord

ed,

at n

orm

al o

r fa

ster

tha

n no

rmal

spe

ed,

on b

oth

fam

iliar

or

unfa

milia

r to

pics

with

litt

le d

iffic

ulty

.

obta

in in

form

atio

n fro

m c

ompl

ex a

nd s

peci

alis

ed la

ngua

ge.

extr

act

fact

s an

d da

ta fr

om c

ompl

ex a

nd s

peci

alis

ed

lang

uage

.

abst

ract

idea

s an

d th

eorie

s fro

m c

ompl

ex a

nd s

peci

alis

ed

lang

uage

.

iden

tify

the

eval

uativ

e co

nten

t of

com

plex

and

spe

cial

ised

la

ngua

ge.

Leve

l 4Th

e lis

tene

r ca

n ef

fect

ivel

y:

obta

in in

form

atio

n ab

out

com

plex

wor

k ta

sks.

liste

n to

lang

uage

var

ying

in c

ompl

exity

and

tec

hnic

ality

to

iden

tify

wor

k-re

late

d re

quire

men

ts.

liste

n to

lang

uage

var

ying

in c

ompl

exity

to

iden

tify

othe

rs’

opin

ions

and

val

ues.

extr

act

com

plex

info

rmat

ion

from

a w

ide

rang

e of

spo

ken

sour

ces

and

cope

with

eve

ryda

y la

ngua

ge,

live

or r

ecor

ded,

on b

oth

fam

iliar

and

unfa

milia

r to

pics

.

follo

w le

ctur

es,

disc

ussi

ons

and

deba

tes

with

rel

ativ

e ea

se,

extr

actin

g bo

th in

form

atio

n an

d ar

gum

ents

as

wel

l as

iden

tifyi

ng t

he a

ppar

ent

attit

udes

and

em

otio

ns o

f the

sp

eake

rs.

hand

le a

ran

ge o

f fam

iliar

acce

nts

and

collo

quia

lism

s.

Leve

l 1A

n ad

ult

can:

liste

n to

spo

ken

lang

uage

, in

clud

ing

info

rmat

ion

and

narr

ativ

es,

of v

aryi

ng

leng

th.

liste

n fo

r an

d id

entif

y re

leva

nt in

form

atio

n fro

m e

xpla

natio

ns a

nd p

rese

ntat

ions

on

a ra

nge

of s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d to

pics

.

liste

n fo

r an

d un

ders

tand

exp

lana

tions

, in

stru

ctio

ns a

nd n

arra

tives

on

diffe

rent

to

pics

in a

ran

ge o

f con

text

s.

prov

ide

feed

back

and

con

firm

atio

n w

hen

liste

ning

to

othe

rs.

follo

w a

nd c

ontr

ibut

e to

dis

cuss

ions

on

a ra

nge

of s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d to

pics

.

in fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

educ

atio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

B2

Vant

age

The

liste

ner

can:

unde

rsta

nd s

tand

ard

spok

en la

ngua

ge,

live

or

broa

dcas

t, o

n bo

th fa

milia

r an

d un

fam

iliar

topi

cs

norm

ally

enc

ount

ered

in p

erso

nal,

soci

al,

acad

emic

or

voc

atio

nal l

ife.

Onl

y ex

trem

e ba

ckgr

ound

noi

se,

inad

equa

te d

isco

urse

str

uctu

re a

nd/o

r id

iom

atic

usa

ge

influ

ence

s th

e ab

ility

to u

nder

stan

d.

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

idea

s of

pro

posi

tiona

lly a

nd

lingu

istic

ally

com

plex

spe

ech

on b

oth

conc

rete

and

ab

stra

ct t

opic

s de

liver

ed in

a s

tand

ard

dial

ect,

incl

udin

gte

chni

cal d

iscu

ssio

ns in

his

/her

fiel

d of

spe

cial

isat

ion.

follo

w e

xten

ded

spee

ch a

nd c

ompl

ex li

nes

of a

rgum

ent

prov

ided

the

top

ic is

rea

sona

bly

fam

iliar

and

the

dire

ctio

n of

tal

k is

sig

n-po

sted

by

expl

icit

mar

kers

.

follo

w t

he e

ssen

tials

of l

ectu

res,

tal

ks a

nd r

epor

ts a

nd

othe

r fo

rms

of a

cade

mic

/pro

fess

iona

l pre

sent

atio

n w

hich

are

pro

posi

tiona

lly a

nd li

ngui

stic

ally

com

plex

.

unde

rsta

nd a

nnou

ncem

ents

and

mes

sage

s on

co

ncre

te a

nd a

bstr

act

topi

cs s

poke

n in

sta

ndar

d di

alec

t at

nor

mal

spe

ed.

unde

rsta

nd m

ost

TV n

ews

and

curr

ent

affa

irs

prog

ram

mes

.

unde

rsta

nd d

ocum

enta

ries,

live

inte

rvie

ws,

tal

k sh

ows,

pl

ays

and

the

maj

ority

of f

ilms

in s

tand

ard

dial

ect.

Leve

l 3Th

e lis

tene

r ca

n ef

fect

ivel

y:

obta

in in

form

atio

n ab

out

varie

d w

ork

task

s.

extr

act

spec

ific

deta

ils fr

om a

var

iety

of s

ourc

es.

iden

tify

info

rmat

ion,

idea

s an

d op

inio

ns fr

om a

var

iety

of

sou

rces

.

unde

rsta

nd m

ost

ever

yday

spo

ken

lang

uage

cov

erin

g bo

th

fam

iliar

and

less

fam

iliar

mat

eria

l, in

clud

ing

spec

ific

deta

ils

from

, an

d th

e ge

nera

l mea

ning

of,

a ra

nge

of c

onve

rsat

ions

,an

noun

cem

ents

, m

essa

ges,

inst

ruct

ions

and

dire

ctio

ns,

incl

udin

g ex

tend

ed b

road

cast

and

rec

orde

d m

ater

ial

spok

en a

t a

norm

al s

peed

.

MAP 3: Listening scales


35

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Ent

ry 2

An

adul

t ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

poin

ts o

n th

e lo

cal

and

natio

nal n

ews

on t

elev

isio

n an

d ra

dio.

liste

n fo

r an

d fo

llow

the

gis

t of

exp

lana

tions

,in

stru

ctio

ns a

nd n

arra

tives

.

liste

n fo

r de

tail

in s

hort

exp

lana

tions

, in

stru

ctio

ns a

nd n

arra

tives

.

liste

n fo

r an

d id

entif

y th

e m

ain

poin

ts o

f sh

ort

expl

anat

ions

or

pres

enta

tions

.

liste

n to

and

follo

w s

hort

, st

raig

htfo

rwar

d ex

plan

atio

ns a

nd in

stru

ctio

ns.

liste

n to

and

iden

tify

sim

ply

expr

esse

d fe

elin

gs a

nd o

pini

ons.

follo

w t

he g

ist

of d

iscu

ssio

ns.

follo

w t

he m

ain

poin

ts o

f a d

iscu

ssio

n.

in s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d fo

rmal

exc

hang

esco

nnec

ted

with

edu

catio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

dso

cial

rol

es.

A2

Way

stag

eTh

e lis

tene

r ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd e

noug

h to

be

able

to

mee

t ne

eds

of a

co

ncre

te t

ype

prov

ided

spe

ech

is c

lear

ly a

nd s

low

ly

artic

ulat

ed.

unde

rsta

nd p

hras

es a

nd e

xpre

ssio

ns r

elat

ed t

o ar

eas

of m

ost

imm

edia

te p

riorit

y (e

.g.

very

bas

ic p

erso

nal

and

fam

ily in

form

atio

n, s

hopp

ing,

loca

l geo

grap

hy,

empl

oym

ent)

prov

ided

spe

ech

is c

lear

ly a

nd s

low

ly

artic

ulat

ed.

catc

h th

e m

ain

poin

t in

sho

rt,

clea

r, si

mpl

e m

essa

ges

and

anno

unce

men

ts.

unde

rsta

nd s

impl

e di

rect

ions

rel

atin

g to

how

to

get

from

X t

o Y,

by

foot

or

publ

ic t

rans

port

.

iden

tify

the

mai

n po

int

of T

V n

ews

item

s re

port

ing

even

ts,

acci

dent

s, e

tc.

whe

re t

he v

isua

l sup

port

s th

e co

mm

enta

ry.

follo

w c

hang

es o

f top

ic o

f fac

tual

TV

new

s ite

ms,

an

d fo

rm a

n id

ea o

f the

mai

n co

nten

t.

Leve

l 1Th

e lis

tene

r ca

n ef

fect

ivel

y:

obta

in in

form

atio

n ab

out

pred

icta

ble

and

sim

ple

lang

uage

ta

sks.

liste

n fo

r ea

sily

rec

ogni

sabl

e da

ta a

nd fa

cts.

liste

n fo

r ea

sily

rec

ogni

sabl

e in

form

atio

n fo

r ac

tion.

unde

rsta

nd s

impl

e ev

eryd

ay s

poke

n la

ngua

ge.

obta

in s

peci

fic d

etai

ls fr

om a

nnou

ncem

ents

and

mes

sage

s sp

oken

cle

arly

at

delib

erat

e sp

eed,

with

litt

le o

r no

sou

nd

inte

rfer

ence

.

follo

w s

impl

e in

stru

ctio

ns a

nd d

irect

ions

unde

rsta

nd t

he g

ist

of s

impl

e co

nver

satio

ns o

n fa

milia

r m

atte

rs.

follo

w b

rief a

nd fi

rst-

cont

act

enco

unte

rs,

eg r

ecep

tion

and

reta

il tr

ansa

ctio

ns.

Ent

ry 1

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n fo

r re

leva

nt in

form

atio

n in

a p

ublic

an

noun

cem

ent

at a

sta

tion,

eg

pla

tform

nu

mb

er.

follo

w a

n in

stru

ctio

n fro

m a

sup

ervi

sor.

follo

w v

erba

l ins

truc

tions

mad

e to

a g

roup

, eg

in a

kee

p-f

it cl

ass.

liste

n fo

r th

e gi

st o

f sho

rt e

xpla

natio

ns

liste

n fo

r de

tail

usin

g ke

y w

ords

to

extr

act

som

e sp

ecifi

c in

form

atio

n.

follo

w s

ingl

e-st

ep in

stru

ctio

ns in

a fa

milia

r co

ntex

t.

liste

n to

req

uest

s fo

r pe

rson

al in

form

atio

n.

liste

n w

hen

part

icip

atin

g in

sim

ple

exch

ange

s an

d ev

eryd

ay c

onte

xts.

A1

Bre

akth

roug

hTh

e lis

tene

r ca

n:

follo

w s

peec

h w

hich

is v

ery

slow

and

car

eful

ly

artic

ulat

ed,

with

long

pau

ses

for

him

/her

to

assi

mila

te

mea

ning

.

unde

rsta

nd in

stru

ctio

ns a

ddre

ssed

car

eful

ly a

nd s

low

ly

to h

im/h

er a

nd fo

llow

sho

rt,

sim

ple

dire

ctio

ns.

unde

rsta

nd e

very

day

expr

essi

ons

aim

ed a

t th

e sa

tisfa

ctio

n of

sim

ple

need

s of

a c

oncr

ete

type

, de

liver

ed d

irect

ly t

o hi

m/h

er in

cle

ar,

slow

and

rep

eate

d sp

eech

by

a sy

mpa

thet

ic s

peak

er.

unde

rsta

nd q

uest

ions

and

inst

ruct

ions

add

ress

ed

care

fully

and

slo

wly

to

him

/her

and

follo

w s

hort

, si

mpl

e di

rect

ions

.

So

urce

s:

QC

A,

Key

Ski

lls U

nits

3 a

nd 4

, 20

00

QC

A,

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

y an

d n

umer

acy,

200

0

Cou

ncil

of E

urop

e,

Com

mon

Eur

opea

n Fr

amew

ork,

200

1:

p.66

+ 6

7, 7

1, 7

5

Lang

uage

s N

atio

nal T

rain

ing

Org

anis

atio

n, T

he N

atio

nal

Lang

uage

Sta

ndar

ds,

200

0: p

.27,

31

& 3

2, 3

5, 3

9, 4

3

Ent

ry 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

liste

n to

and

follo

w t

he g

ist

of e

xpla

natio

ns,

inst

ruct

ions

and

nar

rativ

es in

diff

eren

t co

ntex

ts.

liste

n fo

r de

tail

in e

xpla

natio

ns,

inst

ruct

ions

an

d na

rrat

ives

in d

iffer

ent

cont

exts

.

liste

n fo

r an

d id

entif

y re

leva

nt in

form

atio

n an

d ne

w in

form

atio

n fro

m d

iscu

ssio

ns,

expl

anat

ions

and

pre

sent

atio

ns.

liste

n to

and

res

pond

app

ropr

iate

ly t

o ot

her

poin

ts o

f vie

w.

in fa

milia

r fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

educ

atio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

B1

The

sho

ldTh

e lis

tene

r ca

n:

unde

rsta

nd s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d fa

ctua

l inf

orm

atio

n ab

out

com

mon

eve

ryda

y or

job-

rela

ted

topi

cs,

iden

tifyi

ng b

oth

gene

ral m

essa

ges

and

spec

ific

deta

ils,

prov

ided

spe

ech

is c

lear

ly a

rtic

ulat

ed in

a g

ener

ally

fam

iliar

acce

nt.

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

poin

ts o

f cle

ar s

tand

ard

spee

ch

on fa

milia

r m

atte

rs r

egul

arly

enc

ount

ered

in w

ork,

sc

hool

, le

isur

e, e

tc.,

incl

udin

g sh

ort

narr

ativ

es.

follo

w a

lect

ure

or t

alk

with

in h

is/h

er o

wn

field

, pr

ovid

ed

the

subj

ect

mat

ter

is fa

milia

r an

d th

e pr

esen

tatio

n st

raig

htfo

rwar

d an

d cl

early

str

uctu

red.

unde

rsta

nd s

impl

e te

chni

cal i

nfor

mat

ion,

suc

h as

op

erat

ing

inst

ruct

ions

for

ever

yday

equ

ipm

ent.

follo

w d

etai

led

dire

ctio

ns.

Leve

l 2Th

e lis

tene

r ca

n ef

fect

ivel

y:

obta

in in

form

atio

n ab

out

rout

ine

and

daily

act

iviti

es.

liste

n fo

r sp

ecifi

c de

tails

from

fam

iliar

and

dire

ctly

ac

cess

ible

sou

rces

.

liste

n fo

r ge

nera

l inf

orm

atio

n fro

m fa

milia

r an

d di

rect

ly

acce

ssib

le s

ourc

es.

unde

rsta

nd s

impl

e ev

eryd

ay s

poke

n la

ngua

ge,

incl

udin

g m

anip

ulat

ed fo

rms

of s

et e

xpre

ssio

ns w

ith s

ome

less

fa

milia

r el

emen

ts.

obta

in b

oth

spec

ific

deta

ils fr

om,

and

the

gene

ral m

eani

ng

of,

a ra

nge

of c

onve

rsat

ions

, an

noun

cem

ents

, m

essa

ges,

in

stru

ctio

ns a

nd d

irect

ions

spo

ken

at n

orm

al s

peed

.

cope

with

com

mon

sur

viva

l situ

atio

ns in

volv

ing

trav

el,

acco

mm

odat

ion

and

obta

inin

g go

ods

and

serv

ices

.

obta

in c

omm

on n

umer

ical

, so

cial

fact

s an

d si

mpl

e da

ta

from

pub

lic a

nnou

ncem

ents

and

bro

adca

sts.

36

MAP 3: Listening scales (continued)


0

37

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 4

An

adul

t ca

n:

take

a le

ad r

ole

in g

roup

dis

cuss

ions

, cl

early

st

ruct

urin

g w

hat

he/s

he s

ays,

and

usi

ng a

ppro

pria

te

voca

bula

ry,

into

natio

n an

d em

phas

is t

o m

ake

his/

her

poin

ts.

mak

e an

ora

l pre

sent

atio

n ab

out

com

plex

poi

nts,

or

gani

sing

and

cle

arly

pre

sent

ing

info

rmat

ion

to s

uit

purp

ose,

sub

ject

and

aud

ienc

e.

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

cont

ribut

e to

a g

roup

dis

cuss

ion

abou

t a

com

plex

su

bjec

t, m

akin

g cl

ear

and

rele

vant

con

trib

utio

ns in

a

way

tha

t su

its p

urpo

se a

nd s

ituat

ion.

crea

te o

ppor

tuni

ties

in a

dis

cuss

ion

for

othe

rs t

o co

ntrib

ute

whe

n ap

prop

riate

.

mak

e a

pres

enta

tion

abou

t a

com

plex

sub

ject

, sp

eaki

ng c

lear

ly a

nd a

dapt

ing

the

styl

e to

sui

t th

e pu

rpos

e, s

ubje

ct,

audi

ence

and

situ

atio

n.

stru

ctur

e a

pres

enta

tion

so t

hat

the

sequ

ence

of

info

rmat

ion

and

idea

s m

ay b

e ea

sily

follo

wed

.

use

a ra

nge

of t

echn

ique

s to

eng

age

the

audi

ence

, in

clud

ing

effe

ctiv

e us

e of

imag

es.

C2

Mas

tery

The

spea

ker

can:

prod

uce

clea

r, sm

ooth

ly fl

owin

g w

ell-s

truc

ture

d sp

eech

with

an

effe

ctiv

e lo

gica

l str

uctu

re w

hich

he

lps

the

reci

pien

t to

not

ice

and

rem

embe

r si

gnifi

cant

poi

nts.

hold

his

/her

ow

n in

form

al d

iscu

ssio

n of

com

plex

is

sues

, pu

ttin

g an

art

icul

ate

and

pers

uasi

ve

argu

men

t, a

t no

dis

adva

ntag

e to

nat

ive

spea

kers

.

unde

rsta

nd a

ny n

ativ

e sp

eake

r in

terlo

cuto

r, ev

en

on a

bstr

act

and

com

plex

top

ics

of a

spe

cial

ist

natu

re b

eyon

d hi

s/he

r ow

n fie

ld,

give

n an

op

port

unity

to

adju

st t

o a

non-

stan

dard

acc

ent

or d

iale

ct.

Leve

l 5Th

e sp

eake

r ca

n sp

eak

effe

ctiv

ely:

with

flu

ency

ap

pro

achi

ng t

hat

of a

nat

ive

spea

ker.

to d

eal w

ith c

ompl

ex a

nd s

peci

alis

ed t

asks

.

to e

xcha

nge

high

ly-s

peci

alis

ed in

form

atio

n an

d ad

vice

.

to p

rese

nt a

rgum

ents

and

deb

ate

pros

and

con

s.

to c

ontr

ibut

e to

mee

tings

.

to c

ontr

ibut

e to

com

plex

gro

up d

iscu

ssio

ns.

to d

eliv

er u

nscr

ipte

d pr

esen

tatio

ns.

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Leve

l 2A

n ad

ult

can:

spea

k cl

early

and

con

fiden

tly in

a w

ay w

hich

sui

ts t

he

situ

atio

n.

resp

ond

to d

etai

led

or e

xten

ded

ques

tions

on

a ra

nge

of t

opic

s.

resp

ond

to c

ritic

ism

and

crit

icis

e co

nstr

uctiv

ely.

mak

e re

ques

ts a

nd a

sk q

uest

ions

to

obta

in d

etai

led

info

rmat

ion

in fa

milia

r an

d un

fam

iliar

cont

exts

.

expr

ess

clea

rly s

tate

men

ts o

f fac

t, e

xpla

natio

ns,

inst

ruct

ions

, ac

coun

ts,

desc

riptio

ns u

sing

app

ropr

iate

st

ruct

ure,

sty

le a

nd v

ocab

ular

y.

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion

and

idea

s in

a lo

gica

l seq

uenc

e an

d pr

ovid

e fu

rthe

r de

tail

and

deve

lopm

ent

to c

larif

y or

con

firm

und

erst

andi

ng.

adap

t co

ntrib

utio

ns t

o di

scus

sion

s to

sui

t au

dien

ce,

cont

ext,

pur

pose

and

situ

atio

n.

supp

ort

opin

ions

and

arg

umen

ts w

ith e

vide

nce.

use

stra

tegi

es in

tend

ed t

o re

assu

re,

eg b

ody

lang

uage

an

d a

pp

rop

riate

phr

aseo

logy

.

in a

wid

e ra

nge

of fo

rmal

and

soc

ial e

xcha

nges

.

C1

Op

erat

iona

l Pro

ficie

ncy

The

spea

ker

can:

give

cle

ar,

deta

iled

desc

riptio

ns a

nd p

rese

ntat

ions

on

com

plex

sub

ject

s, in

tegr

atin

g su

b-th

emes

, de

velo

ping

par

ticul

ar p

oint

s an

d ro

undi

ng o

ff w

ith

an a

ppro

pria

te c

oncl

usio

n.

easi

ly k

eep

up w

ith t

he d

ebat

e, e

ven

on a

bstr

act,

co

mpl

ex,

unfa

milia

r to

pics

.

argu

e a

form

al p

ositi

on c

onvi

ncin

gly,

res

pond

ing

to q

uest

ions

and

com

men

ts a

nd a

nsw

erin

g co

mpl

ex li

nes

of c

ount

er-a

rgum

ent

fluen

tly,

spon

tane

ousl

y an

d ap

prop

riate

ly.

Leve

l 4Th

e sp

eake

r ca

n sp

eak

effe

ctiv

ely

to:

deal

with

com

plex

wor

k ta

sks.

exch

ange

info

rmat

ion

to fu

lfil c

ompl

ex w

ork

task

s.

pres

ent

and

resp

ond

to d

iffer

ent

lines

of r

easo

ning

.

Leve

l 1A

n ad

ult

can:

mak

e co

ntrib

utio

ns r

elev

ant

to t

he s

ituat

ion

and

the

subj

ect.

spea

k cl

early

in a

way

whi

ch s

uits

the

situ

atio

n.

mak

e re

ques

ts a

nd a

sk q

uest

ions

to

obta

in in

form

atio

n in

fam

iliar

and

unfa

milia

r co

ntex

ts.

resp

ond

to q

uest

ions

on

a ra

nge

of t

opic

s.

expr

ess

clea

rly s

tate

men

ts o

f fac

t, e

xpla

natio

ns,

inst

ruct

ions

, ac

coun

ts a

nd d

escr

iptio

ns.

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion

and

idea

s in

a lo

gica

l seq

uenc

e an

d in

clud

e de

tail

and

deve

lop

idea

s w

here

app

ropr

iate

.

follo

w a

nd c

ontr

ibut

e to

dis

cuss

ions

on

a ra

nge

of

stra

ight

forw

ard

topi

cs.

resp

ect

the

turn

-tak

ing

right

s of

oth

ers

durin

g di

scus

sion

s.

use

appr

opria

te p

hras

es fo

r in

terr

uptio

n.

in fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

edu

catio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

B2

Vant

age

The

spea

ker

can:

give

cle

ar,

syst

emat

ical

ly d

evel

oped

des

crip

tions

an

d pr

esen

tatio

ns,

with

app

ropr

iate

hig

hlig

htin

g of

si

gnifi

cant

poi

nts,

and

rel

evan

t su

ppor

ting

deta

il.

give

cle

ar,

deta

iled

desc

riptio

ns a

nd p

rese

ntat

ions

on

a w

ide

rang

e of

sub

ject

s re

late

d to

his

/her

fiel

d of

inte

rest

, ex

pand

ing

and

supp

ortin

g id

eas

with

su

bsid

iary

poi

nts

and

rele

vant

exa

mpl

es.

part

icip

ate

activ

ely

in r

outin

e an

d no

n-ro

utin

e fo

rmal

dis

cuss

ion.

cont

ribut

e, a

ccou

nt fo

r an

d su

stai

n hi

s/he

r op

inio

n,

eval

uate

alte

rnat

ive

prop

osal

s an

d m

ake

and

resp

ond

to h

ypot

hese

s.

Leve

l 3Th

e sp

eake

r ca

n sp

eak

effe

ctiv

ely

to:

deal

with

var

ied

wor

k ta

sks.

ask

for

and

prov

ide

inst

ruct

ions

and

info

rmat

ion

rela

ting

to v

arie

d w

ork

task

s.

cont

ribut

e to

var

ied

wor

k-re

late

d di

scus

sion

s.

exch

ange

opi

nion

s on

var

ied

wor

k-re

late

d m

atte

rs.

give

spo

ken

pres

enta

tions

on

wor

k-re

late

d to

pics

.

sust

ain

a di

scus

sion

invo

lvin

g op

inio

ns a

nd id

eas

beyo

nd t

he m

ere

exch

ange

of f

acts

, an

d su

ppor

t hi

s/he

r vi

ews

as n

eces

sary

.

cont

ribut

e to

rou

tine

busi

ness

dis

cuss

ions

and

pr

esen

t in

form

atio

n in

form

ally

at

mee

tings

.



MAP 4: Speaking scales

40

Ent

ry 1

An

adul

t ca

n:

ask

for

inst

ruct

ions

to

be r

epea

ted

if ne

cess

ary.

resp

ond

to r

eque

sts

for

pers

onal

info

rmat

ion.

spea

k cl

early

to

be h

eard

and

und

erst

ood

in s

impl

e ex

chan

ges.

mak

e re

ques

ts u

sing

app

ropr

iate

ter

ms.

ask

ques

tions

to

obta

in s

peci

fic in

form

atio

n.

mak

e st

atem

ents

of f

act

clea

rly

spea

k in

sim

ple

exch

ange

s an

d ev

eryd

ay c

onte

xts.

in s

impl

e an

d fa

milia

r fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

educ

atio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

A1

Bre

akth

roug

hTh

e sp

eake

r ca

n:

prod

uce

sim

ple

mai

nly

isol

ated

phr

ases

abo

ut

peop

le a

nd p

lace

s.

unde

rsta

nd q

uest

ions

and

inst

ruct

ions

add

ress

ed

care

fully

and

slo

wly

to

him

/her

and

follo

w s

hort

, si

mpl

e di

rect

ions

.

ask

peop

le fo

r th

ings

, an

d gi

ve p

eopl

e th

ings

.

ask

and

answ

er q

uest

ions

abo

ut t

hem

selv

es a

nd

othe

r pe

ople

, w

here

the

y liv

e, p

eopl

e th

ey k

now

, th

ings

the

y ha

ve.

So

urce

s:

QC

A,

Key

Ski

lls U

nits

3 a

nd 4

, 20

00

QC

A,

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

y an

d

num

erac

y, 2

000

Cou

ncil

of E

urop

e,

Com

mon

Eur

opea

n Fr

amew

ork,

200

1:

p.58

+ 7

5, 7

8, 7

9, 8

1

Lang

uage

s N

atio

nal T

rain

ing

Org

anis

atio

n,

The

Nat

iona

l Lan

guag

e S

tand

ard

s, 2

000:

p.

51,

55,

60,

69,

73,

77

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Ent

ry 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

spea

k cl

early

to

be h

eard

and

und

erst

ood

usin

g ap

prop

riate

cla

rity,

spe

ed a

nd p

hras

ing.

use

form

al la

ngua

ge a

nd r

egis

ter

whe

n ap

prop

riate

.

resp

ond

to a

ran

ge o

f que

stio

ns a

bout

fam

iliar

topi

cs.

expr

ess

clea

rly s

tate

men

ts o

f fac

t an

d gi

ve s

hort

ex

plan

atio

ns,

acco

unts

and

des

crip

tions

.

mak

e re

ques

ts a

nd a

sk q

uest

ions

to

obta

in in

form

atio

n in

fam

iliar

and

unfa

milia

r co

ntex

ts.

mak

e co

ntrib

utio

ns t

o di

scus

sion

s th

at a

re r

elev

ant

to

the

subj

ect.

resp

ect

the

turn

-tak

ing

right

s of

oth

ers

durin

g di

scus

sion

s.

in fa

milia

r fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

edu

catio

n,tr

aini

ng,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

B1

Thr

esho

ld

The

spea

ker

can:

reas

onab

ly fl

uent

ly s

usta

in a

str

aigh

tforw

ard

desc

riptio

n of

one

of a

var

iety

of s

ubje

cts

with

in

his/

her

field

of i

nter

est,

pre

sent

ing

it as

a li

near

se

quen

ce o

f poi

nts.

take

par

t in

rou

tine

form

al d

iscu

ssio

n of

fam

iliar

subj

ects

whi

ch is

con

duct

ed in

cle

arly

art

icul

ated

sp

eech

in t

he s

tand

ard

dial

ect

and

whi

ch in

volv

es

the

exch

ange

of f

actu

al in

form

atio

n, r

ecei

ving

in

stru

ctio

ns o

r th

e di

scus

sion

of s

olut

ions

to

prac

tical

pro

blem

s.

Leve

l 2Th

e sp

eake

r ca

n sp

eak

effe

ctiv

ely

to:

deal

with

rou

tine

and

daily

act

iviti

es.

ask

for

info

rmat

ion

to c

arry

out

rou

tine

and

daily

re

quire

men

ts.

prov

ide

info

rmat

ion

to c

arry

out

rou

tine

and

daily

re

quire

men

ts.

esta

blis

h an

d m

aint

ain

spok

en c

onta

ct w

ith o

ther

s fo

r ro

utin

e pu

rpos

es.

expr

ess

spok

en o

pini

ons

on fa

milia

r an

d ro

utin

e w

ork

and

soci

al t

opic

s.

Ent

ry 2

An

adul

t ca

n:

spea

k cl

early

to

be h

eard

and

und

erst

ood

in

stra

ight

forw

ard

exch

ange

s.

mak

e re

ques

ts a

nd a

sk q

uest

ions

to

obta

in in

form

atio

n in

eve

ryda

y co

ntex

ts.

resp

ond

to s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d qu

estio

ns.

expr

ess

clea

rly s

tate

men

ts o

f fac

t an

d sh

ort

acco

unts

an

d de

scrip

tions

.

ask

ques

tions

to

clar

ify u

nder

stan

ding

.

mak

e ap

prop

riate

con

trib

utio

ns t

o th

e di

scus

sion

.

in s

trai

ghtfo

rwar

d fa

milia

r fo

rmal

exc

hang

es c

onne

cted

with

edu

catio

n, t

rain

ing,

wor

k an

d so

cial

rol

es.

A2

Way

stag

eTh

e sp

eake

r ca

n:

give

a s

impl

e de

scrip

tion

or p

rese

ntat

ion

of p

eopl

e,

livin

g or

wor

king

con

ditio

ns,

daily

rou

tines

, lik

es/d

islik

es,

etc

as a

sho

rt s

erie

s of

sim

ple

phra

ses

and

sent

ence

s lin

ked

into

a li

st.

gene

rally

follo

w c

hang

es o

f top

ic in

form

al

disc

ussi

on r

elat

ed t

o hi

s/he

r fie

ld w

hich

is

cond

ucte

d sl

owly

and

cle

arly.

exch

ange

rel

evan

t in

form

atio

n an

d gi

ve h

is/h

er

opin

ion

on p

ract

ical

pro

blem

s w

hen

aske

d di

rect

ly, p

rovi

ded

he/s

he r

ecei

ves

som

e he

lp w

ith

form

ulat

ion

and

can

ask

for

repe

titio

n of

key

poi

nts

if ne

cess

ary.

Leve

l 1Th

e sp

eake

r ca

n:

deal

with

pre

dict

able

day

-to-

day

activ

ities

.

ask

for

info

rmat

ion

to d

eal w

ith p

redi

ctab

le

day-

to-d

ay a

ctiv

ities

.

prov

ide

info

rmat

ion

to d

eal w

ith p

redi

ctab

le

day-

to-d

ay a

ctiv

ities

.

carr

y ou

t fa

milia

r an

d re

petit

ive

wor

k ta

sks,

in

clud

ing

sim

ple

soci

al e

xcha

nges

.

use

a w

ell-r

ehea

rsed

set

of e

xpre

ssio

ns a

nd

voca

bula

ry r

elev

ant

to t

he o

ccup

atio

nal c

onte

xt.

man

ipul

ate

the

gram

mar

of s

ome

recu

rrin

g se

nten

ce fo

rms.

39

MAP 4: Speaking scales (continued)

41

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 4

An

adul

t ca

n:

iden

tify

rele

vant

sou

rces

and

res

earc

h in

form

atio

n fo

r pl

anni

ng p

urpo

ses.

read

and

syn

thes

ise

info

rmat

ion

by id

entif

ying

the

va

rious

arg

umen

ts.

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

read

and

syn

thes

ise

exte

nded

doc

umen

ts a

bout

co

mpl

ex s

ubje

cts.

sele

ct a

nd r

ead

mat

eria

l tha

t co

ntai

ns t

he n

eede

d in

form

atio

n.

iden

tify

accu

rate

ly a

nd c

ompa

re t

he li

nes

of r

easo

ning

an

d m

ain

poin

ts fr

om t

he t

exts

and

imag

es.

C2

Mas

tery

The

read

er c

an:

unde

rsta

nd a

nd in

terp

ret

criti

cally

virt

ually

all

form

s of

the

writ

ten

lang

uage

incl

udin

g ab

stra

ct,

stru

ctur

ally

com

plex

, or

hig

hly

collo

quia

l lite

rary

an

d no

n-lit

erar

y w

ritin

gs.

unde

rsta

nd a

wid

e ra

nge

of lo

ng a

nd c

ompl

ex

text

s, a

ppre

ciat

ing

subt

le d

istin

ctio

ns o

f sty

le a

nd

impl

icit

as w

ell a

s ex

plic

it m

eani

ng.

Leve

l 5Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel c

an:

extr

act

accu

rate

ly in

form

atio

n of

a h

ighl

y sp

ecia

lised

nat

ure

from

a w

ide

rang

e of

writ

ten

sour

ces,

with

no

mor

e d

iffic

ulty

in u

nder

stan

din

g th

an a

nat

ive

spea

ker.

resp

ond

appr

opria

tely

to

all m

anne

r of

doc

umen

ts,

incl

udin

g th

ose

of a

com

plex

and

spe

cial

ised

or

sens

itive

nat

ure.

extr

act

info

rmat

ion

from

eith

er a

sin

gle

sour

ce o

r a

rang

e of

sou

rces

in o

rder

to

com

plet

e co

mpl

ex

occu

patio

nal t

asks

.

mak

e ex

pert

and

sop

hist

icat

ed u

se o

f dic

tiona

ries

and

othe

r re

fere

nce

sour

ces,

bei

ng q

uick

to

gras

p fin

e di

stin

ctio

ns.

in a

wid

e ra

nge

of m

ater

ial i

nclu

ding

spe

cial

ist,

tech

nica

l doc

umen

ts.

MAP 5: Reading scales



Leve

l 2A

n ad

ult

can:

trac

e an

d un

ders

tand

the

mai

n ev

ents

of c

ontin

uous

de

scrip

tive,

exp

lana

tory

and

per

suas

ive

text

s.

iden

tify

the

purp

ose

of a

tex

t an

d in

fer

mea

ning

whi

ch

is n

ot e

xplic

it.

iden

tify

the

mai

n po

ints

and

spe

cific

det

ail.

read

an

argu

men

t an

d id

entif

y th

e po

ints

of v

iew

.

read

crit

ical

ly t

o ev

alua

te a

nd c

ompa

re in

form

atio

n,

idea

s an

d op

inio

ns fr

om d

iffer

ent

sour

ces.

use

orga

nisa

tion

feat

ures

and

sys

tem

s to

loca

te t

exts

an

d in

form

atio

n.

use

diffe

rent

rea

ding

str

ateg

ies

to fi

nd a

nd o

btai

n in

form

atio

n, e

g sk

imm

ing,

sca

nnin

g, d

etai

led

rea

din

g.

sum

mar

ise

info

rmat

ion

from

long

er d

ocum

ents

.

read

and

und

erst

and

tech

nica

l voc

abul

ary.

use

refe

renc

e m

ater

ials

to

find

the

mea

ning

s of

un

fam

iliar

wor

ds.

in a

wid

e ra

nge

of t

ext

type

s.

C1

Op

erat

iona

l Pro

ficie

ncy

The

read

er c

an:

unde

rsta

nd in

det

ail l

engt

hy,

com

plex

tex

ts,

whe

ther

or

not

they

rel

ate

to h

is/h

er o

wn

area

of

spe

cial

ity,

prov

ided

s/h

e ca

n re

read

diff

icul

t se

ctio

ns.

unde

rsta

nd in

det

ail a

wid

e ra

nge

of le

ngth

y,

com

plex

tex

ts li

kely

to

be e

ncou

nter

ed in

soc

ial,

prof

essi

onal

or

acad

emic

life

, id

entif

ying

fine

r po

ints

of d

etai

l inc

ludi

ng a

ttitu

des

and

impl

ied

as w

ell a

s st

ated

opi

nion

s.

Leve

l 4Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

can

deal

with

mos

t te

xts,

bot

h ge

nera

l and

te

chni

cal,

rela

ting

to e

very

exp

ecte

d ty

pe o

f wor

k si

tuat

ion.

can

extr

act

deta

iled

info

rmat

ion

prom

ptly

from

te

xts

of a

rou

tine

natu

re.

can

relia

bly

deal

with

the

mos

t co

mpl

ex m

ater

ial

with

in h

is/h

er o

wn

field

.

can

scan

com

plex

tex

ts r

apid

ly in

ord

er fi

nd

rele

vant

info

rmat

ion.

can

‘rea

d be

twee

n th

e lin

es’

in o

rder

to

draw

in

fere

nces

and

con

clus

ions

from

tex

ts w

here

an

alys

es a

nd o

pini

ons

are

impl

icit

rath

er t

han

expl

icit.

may

nee

d to

be

sens

itive

to

the

cultu

ral c

onte

xt

or s

tylis

tic c

onve

ntio

ns o

f the

tex

t.

can

mak

e ex

pert

and

sop

hist

icat

ed u

se o

f di

ctio

narie

s an

d ot

her

refe

renc

e so

urce

s.

in a

ll m

anne

r of

doc

umen

ts,

incl

udin

g th

ose

of a

com

plex

or

sens

itive

nat

ure

enab

ling

him

/her

to

carr

you

t re

spon

sibl

e ta

sks.

Leve

l 1A

n ad

ult

can:

trac

e an

d un

ders

tand

the

mai

n ev

ents

of c

ontin

uous

de

scrip

tive,

exp

lana

tory

and

per

suas

ive

text

s.

reco

gnis

e ho

w la

ngua

ge a

nd o

ther

tex

tual

feat

ures

are

us

ed t

o ac

hiev

e di

ffere

nt p

urpo

ses,

eg

to in

stru

ct,

exp

lain

, d

escr

ibe,

per

suad

e.

iden

tify

the

mai

n po

ints

and

spe

cific

det

ail,

and

infe

r m

eani

ng fr

om im

ages

whi

ch is

not

exp

licit

in t

he t

ext.

use

orga

nisa

tion

and

stru

ctur

al fe

atur

es t

o lo

cate

in

form

atio

n, e

g co

nten

ts,

ind

ex,

men

us,

sub

head

ings

, p

arag

rap

hs.

use

diffe

rent

rea

ding

str

ateg

ies

to fi

nd a

nd o

btai

n in

form

atio

n.

use

refe

renc

e m

ater

ial t

o fin

d th

e m

eani

ng o

f unf

amilia

r w

ords

.

in r

epor

ts,

inst

ruct

iona

l, ex

plan

ator

y an

d pe

rsua

sive

tex

ts.

B2

Vant

age

The

read

er c

an:

read

with

a la

rge

degr

ee o

f ind

epen

denc

e, a

dapt

ing

styl

e an

d sp

eed

of r

eadi

ng t

o di

ffere

nt t

exts

and

pu

rpos

es,

and

usin

g ap

prop

riate

ref

eren

ce s

ourc

es

sele

ctiv

ely.

read

with

a b

road

rea

ding

voc

abul

ary,

but

may

ex

perie

nce

som

e di

fficu

lty w

ith lo

w fr

eque

ncy

idio

ms.

scan

qui

ckly

thr

ough

long

and

com

plex

tex

ts,

loca

ting

rele

vant

det

ails

.

obta

in in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

from

hig

hly

spec

ialis

ed s

ourc

es w

ithin

his

/her

fiel

d.

unde

rsta

nd s

peci

alis

ed a

rtic

les

outs

ide

his/

her

field

,pr

ovid

ed h

e/sh

e ca

n us

e a

dict

iona

ry o

ccas

iona

lly

to c

onfir

m h

is/h

er in

terp

reta

tion

of t

erm

inol

ogy.

Leve

l 3Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

can

deal

with

mos

t te

xts,

bot

h ge

nera

l and

te

chni

cal,

rela

ting

to r

outin

e w

ork

situ

atio

ns.

can

oper

ate

in a

wor

k si

tuat

ion

in w

hich

the

fore

ign

lang

uage

is t

he n

orm

al m

ediu

m o

f com

mun

icat

ion,

as

wel

l as

hand

ling

inco

min

g do

cum

ents

from

an

exte

rnal

fore

ign

lang

uage

sou

rce.

can

scan

tex

ts fo

r re

quire

d de

tails

and

brin

g to

geth

er in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

from

di

ffere

nt p

arts

of t

he t

ext

in o

rder

to

draw

ap

prop

riate

con

clus

ions

.

in d

ocum

ents

with

a v

arie

ty o

f for

mat

s an

d re

gist

ers,

deal

ing

with

top

ics

of a

mai

nly

fam

iliar

natu

re a

ndw

hose

con

tent

is m

ainl

y lit

eral

, th

ough

occ

asio

nal

impl

icit

mea

ning

mig

ht n

eed

to b

e ex

trac

ted.

4443

Ent

ry 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

trac

e an

d un

ders

tand

the

mai

n ev

ents

of c

hron

olog

ical

, co

ntin

uous

des

crip

tive

and

expl

anat

ory

text

s of

mor

e th

an o

ne p

arag

raph

.

reco

gnis

e th

e di

ffere

nt p

urpo

ses

of t

exts

at

this

leve

l.

reco

gnis

e an

d un

ders

tand

the

org

anis

atio

nal f

eatu

res

and

typi

cal l

angu

age

of in

stru

ctio

nal t

exts

, eg

use

of

imp

erat

ives

/sec

ond

per

son.

unde

rsta

nd t

he m

ain

poin

ts a

nd id

eas

and

pred

ict

wor

ds fr

om c

onte

xt.

unde

rsta

nd a

nd u

se o

rgan

isat

iona

l fea

ture

s to

loca

te

info

rmat

ion,

eg

cont

ents

, in

dex

, m

enus

.

skim

rea

d th

e tit

le,

head

ings

and

illu

stra

tions

to

deci

de

if m

ater

ial i

s of

inte

rest

.

scan

tex

ts t

o lo

cate

info

rmat

ion.

obta

in s

peci

fic in

form

atio

n th

roug

h de

taile

d re

adin

g.

rela

te a

n im

age

to p

rint

and

use

it to

obt

ain

mea

ning

.

reco

gnis

e an

d un

ders

tand

rel

evan

t sp

ecia

list

key

wor

ds.

read

and

und

erst

and

wor

ds a

nd p

hras

es c

omm

only

us

ed o

n fo

rms.

use

a di

ctio

nary

to

find

the

mea

ning

of u

nfam

iliar

wor

ds.

use

first

and

sec

ond

plac

e le

tter

to

find

and

sequ

ence

w

ords

in a

lpha

betic

al o

rder

.

in t

exts

suc

h as

form

s, n

otes

, re

cord

s, e

-mai

ls,

narr

ativ

es,

lett

ers,

dia

gram

s, s

impl

e in

stru

ctio

ns,

shor

t re

port

s.

B1

Thr

esho

ldTh

e re

ader

can

:

read

str

aigh

tforw

ard

fact

ual t

exts

on

subj

ects

re

late

d to

his

/her

fiel

d an

d in

tere

st w

ith a

sa

tisfa

ctor

y le

vel o

f com

preh

ensi

on.

scan

long

er t

exts

in o

rder

to

loca

te d

esire

d in

form

atio

n, a

nd g

athe

r in

form

atio

n fro

m d

iffer

ent

part

s of

a t

ext,

or

from

diff

eren

t te

xts

in o

rder

to

fulfi

l a s

peci

fic t

ask.

iden

tify

the

mai

n co

nclu

sion

s in

cle

arly

sig

nalle

d ar

gum

enta

tive

text

s.

reco

gnis

e th

e lin

e of

arg

umen

t in

the

tre

atm

ent

of t

he is

sue

pres

ente

d, t

houg

h no

t ne

cess

arily

in

det

ail.

Leve

l 2Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

can

unde

rsta

nd t

exts

on

fam

iliar,

rout

ine

mat

ters

, an

d ob

tain

bot

h sp

ecifi

c de

tails

and

the

gis

t of

w

ritte

n an

d pr

inte

d co

mm

unic

atio

ns o

f a m

ore

exte

nded

nat

ure

than

at

leve

l 1.

can

relia

bly

advi

se o

n th

e co

nten

t of

mes

sage

s an

d do

cum

ents

.

can

hand

le m

ater

ial c

onta

inin

g bo

th fa

cts

and

opin

ions

.

has

suffi

cien

t gr

asp

of s

ente

nce

stru

ctur

e to

un

ders

tand

mea

ning

bey

ond

that

sig

nalle

d by

fa

milia

r se

t ph

rase

s.

can

dem

onst

rate

the

abi

lity

to s

kim

and

sca

n lo

nger

tex

ts t

o pi

ck o

ut it

ems

rele

vant

to

his/

her

task

or

appr

ecia

te t

he o

vera

ll gi

st.

can

use

a di

ctio

nary

or

sim

ilar

refe

renc

e so

urce

, de

mon

stra

ting

enou

gh g

ram

mat

ical

kno

wle

dge

to s

ee t

he c

onne

ctio

n be

twee

n a

text

wor

d an

d its

dic

tiona

ry e

ntry

form

.

in p

ublic

and

wor

k-re

late

d si

gns

and

notic

es,

stra

ight

forw

ard

gene

ral a

nd w

ork-

rela

ted

artic

les,

repo

rts

and

corr

espo

nden

ce,

com

pres

sed

text

s on

rout

ine

fam

iliar

topi

cs,

and

sim

ple

jour

nalis

tic s

ourc

es.

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Ent

ry 2

An

adul

t ca

n:

trac

e an

d un

ders

tand

the

mai

n ev

ents

of c

hron

olog

ical

an

d in

stru

ctio

nal t

exts

.

reco

gnis

e th

e di

ffere

nt p

urpo

ses

of t

exts

at

this

leve

l.

iden

tify

com

mon

sou

rces

of i

nfor

mat

ion.

use

illust

ratio

ns a

nd c

aptio

ns t

o lo

cate

info

rmat

ion.

read

and

und

erst

and

wor

ds o

n fo

rms

rela

ted

to

pers

onal

info

rmat

ion,

eg

first

nam

e, s

urna

me,

ad

dre

ss,

pos

tcod

e, a

ge,

dat

e of

birt

h.

reco

gnis

e hi

gh fr

eque

ncy

wor

ds a

nd w

ords

with

co

mm

on s

pellin

g pa

tter

ns.

use

phon

ic a

nd g

raph

ic k

now

ledg

e to

dec

ode

wor

ds.

use

a si

mpl

ified

dic

tiona

ry t

o fin

d th

e m

eani

ng o

f un

fam

iliar

wor

ds.

use

initi

al le

tter

s to

find

and

seq

uenc

e w

ords

in

alph

abet

ical

ord

er.

in t

exts

suc

h as

pub

lic s

igns

and

not

ices

, lis

ts,

form

s,no

tes,

rec

ords

, e-

mai

ls,

sim

ple

narr

ativ

es,

lett

ers

and

diag

ram

s.

A2

Way

stag

e Th

e re

ader

can

und

erst

and:

shor

t, s

impl

e te

xts

on fa

milia

r m

atte

rs o

f a c

oncr

ete

type

whi

ch c

onsi

st o

f hig

h fre

quen

cy e

very

day

or

job-

rela

ted

lang

uage

.

shor

t, s

impl

e te

xts

cont

aini

ng t

he h

ighe

st fr

eque

ncy

voca

bula

ry,

incl

udin

g a

prop

ortio

n of

sha

red

inte

rnat

iona

l voc

abul

ary

item

s.

Leve

l 1Th

e us

er a

t th

is le

vel:

can

unde

rsta

nd s

impl

e te

xts

on fa

milia

r, ev

eryd

ay

mat

ters

, an

d ob

tain

spe

cific

det

ails

abo

ut s

uch

mat

ters

from

sig

ns,

notic

es a

nd o

ther

eve

ryda

y so

urce

s.

can

hand

le m

ater

ial c

onsi

stin

g m

ainl

y of

hig

h fre

quen

cy d

aily

or

job-

rela

ted

lang

uage

.

can

iden

tify

key

poin

ts fr

om a

ran

ge o

f sim

ple

writ

ten

or p

rinte

d m

ater

ial w

hose

ove

rall

cont

ext

was

cle

ar,

and

conv

ey t

o ot

hers

or

act

appr

opria

tely

on,

suc

h in

form

atio

n.

can

use

a di

ctio

nary

or

sim

ilar

refe

renc

e so

urce

, th

ough

not

nec

essa

rily

to lo

cate

var

iant

form

s (e

g ve

rb fo

rms

diffe

ring

mar

kedl

y fro

m t

he in

finiti

ve).

Ent

ry 1

An

adul

t ca

n:

follo

w a

sho

rt n

arra

tive

on a

fam

iliar

topi

c or

exp

erie

nce.

reco

gnis

e th

e di

ffere

nt p

urpo

ses

of t

exts

at

this

leve

l.

poss

ess

a lim

ited,

mea

ning

ful s

ight

voc

abul

ary

of

wor

ds,

sign

s an

d sy

mbo

ls.

deco

de s

impl

e, r

egul

ar w

ords

.

reco

gnis

e th

e le

tter

s of

the

alp

habe

t in

bot

h up

per

and

low

er c

ase.

in t

exts

suc

h as

pub

lic s

igns

and

not

ices

, lis

ts,

form

s,re

cord

s, s

impl

e na

rrat

ives

.

A1

Bre

akth

roug

hTh

e re

ader

can

und

erst

and:

very

sho

rt,

sim

ple

text

s a

sing

le p

hras

e at

a t

ime,

pi

ckin

g up

fam

iliar

nam

es,

wor

ds a

nd b

asic

ph

rase

s an

d re

read

ing

as r

equi

red.

So

urce

s:

QC

A,

Key

Ski

lls U

nits

3 a

nd 4

, 20

00

QC

A,

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

y an

d

num

erac

y, 2

000

Cou

ncil

of E

urop

e,

Com

mon

Eur

opea

n Fr

amew

ork,

200

1:

p.58

+ 7

5, 7

8, 7

9, 8

1

Lang

uage

s N

atio

nal T

rain

ing

Org

anis

atio

n,

The

Nat

iona

l Lan

guag

e S

tand

ard

s, 2

000:

p.

51,

55,

60,

69,

73,

77

MAP 5: Reading scales (continued)

45 46 SECTION 3 MAPS ILLUSTRATING THE ALIGNMENT OF SCALES AND LEVELS


Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 4

An

adul

t ca

n

esta

blis

h op

port

uniti

es fo

r w

ritin

g ov

er a

n ex

tend

ed

perio

d of

tim

e.

writ

e ex

tend

ed d

ocum

ents

, st

ruct

urin

g th

e m

ater

ial

and

pres

entin

g ar

gum

ents

and

info

rmat

ion

in a

logi

cal

sequ

ence

, en

surin

g th

at s

pellin

g, p

unct

uatio

n an

d gr

amm

ar a

re a

ccur

ate.

orga

nise

and

cle

arly

pre

sent

rel

evan

t in

form

atio

n,

illust

ratin

g by

dra

win

g co

mpa

rison

s, p

rovi

ding

ex

ampl

es t

hat

rela

te t

o th

e in

tere

sts

of t

he r

eade

r(s)

and

usin

g im

ages

to

illust

rate

com

plex

poi

nts.

Key

Ski

lls S

pec

ifica

tio

n Le

vel 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

writ

e di

ffere

nt t

ypes

of d

ocum

ents

abo

ut c

ompl

ex

subj

ects

.

sele

ct a

nd u

se a

sty

le o

f writ

ing

that

is a

ppro

pria

te t

o th

e pu

rpos

e an

d co

mpl

ex s

ubje

ct m

atte

r.

orga

nise

rel

evan

t in

form

atio

n cl

early

and

coh

eren

tly,

usin

g sp

ecia

list

voca

bula

ry w

hen

appr

opria

te.

ensu

re t

hat

his/

her

text

is le

gibl

e, a

nd t

he s

pellin

g,

gram

mar

and

pun

ctua

tion

accu

rate

, so

tha

t th

e m

eani

ng is

cle

ar.

synt

hesi

s th

e ke

y in

form

atio

n in

a fo

rm t

hat

is r

elva

nt

to t

he r

eade

r’s p

urpo

se.

C2

Mas

tery

The

writ

er c

an:

writ

e cl

ear,

smoo

thly

flow

ing,

com

plex

tex

ts in

an

app

ropr

iate

and

effe

ctiv

e st

yle

and

a lo

gica

l st

ruct

ure

whi

ch h

elps

the

rea

der

to fi

nd s

igni

fican

t po

ints

.

prod

uce

clea

r, sm

ooth

ly fl

owin

g, c

ompl

ex r

epor

ts,

artic

les

or e

ssay

s w

hich

pre

sent

a c

ase,

or

give

cr

itica

l app

reci

atio

n of

pro

posa

ls o

r lit

erar

y w

orks

.

prov

ide

an a

ppro

pria

te a

nd e

ffect

ive

logi

cal

stru

ctur

e w

hich

hel

ps t

he r

eade

r to

find

sig

nific

ant

poin

ts.

Leve

l 5Th

e w

riter

can

effe

ctiv

ely:

use

the

writ

ten

form

at

the

high

est

pro

fess

iona

l, co

mm

erci

al o

r ad

min

istr

ativ

e le

vels

.

writ

e hi

ghly

-spe

cial

ised

tex

ts.

com

pile

rep

orts

and

pro

duce

tec

hnic

al

spec

ifica

tions

and

pro

duct

lite

ratu

re t

o a

publ

isha

ble

stan

dard

.

exch

ange

hig

hly

spec

ialis

ed a

nd c

ompl

ex

corr

espo

nden

ce.

pres

ent

and

deba

te w

ritte

n ar

gum

ents

on

com

plex

m

atte

rs,

usin

g la

ngua

ge t

o pe

rsua

sive

effe

ct.

writ

e te

xts

inte

nded

for

publ

icat

ion.

writ

e w

ith fl

uenc

y an

d se

nsiti

vity

on

a w

ide

rang

e of

mat

ters

, us

ing

a nu

mbe

r of

diff

eren

t re

gist

ers.

Leve

l 2A

n ad

ult

can:

plan

and

dra

ft w

ritin

g.

judg

e ho

w m

uch

to w

rite

and

the

leve

l of d

etai

l to

incl

ude.

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion

and

idea

s in

a lo

gica

l or

pers

uasi

ve

sequ

ence

, us

ing

para

grap

hs w

here

app

ropr

iate

.

use

form

at a

nd s

truc

ture

to

orga

nise

writ

ing

for

diffe

rent

pur

pose

s.

use

form

al a

nd in

form

al la

ngua

ge a

ppro

pria

te t

o pu

rpos

e an

d au

dien

ce.

use

diffe

rent

sty

les

of w

ritin

g fo

r di

ffere

nt p

urpo

ses,

eg

per

suas

ive

tech

niq

ues,

sup

por

ting

evid

ence

, te

chni

cal v

ocab

ular

y.

cons

truc

t co

mpl

ex s

ente

nces

.

use

corr

ect

gram

mar

, eg

sub

ject

-ver

b a

gree

men

t,

corr

ect

and

con

sist

ent

use

of t

ense

.

use

pron

ouns

so

that

the

ir m

eani

ng is

cle

ar.

punc

tuat

e se

nten

ces

corr

ectly

and

use

pun

ctua

tion

accu

rate

ly, e

g co

mm

as,

apos

trop

hes,

inve

rted

co

mm

as.

spel

l cor

rect

ly w

ords

use

d m

ost

ofte

n in

wor

k, s

tudi

es

and

daily

life

, in

clud

ing

fam

iliar

tech

nica

l wor

ds.

proo

f-re

ad a

nd r

evis

e w

ritin

g fo

r ac

cura

cy a

nd m

eani

ng.

prod

uce

legi

ble

text

.

in a

wid

e ra

nge

of d

ocum

ents

.

C1

Op

erat

iona

l Pro

ficie

ncy

The

writ

er:

can

writ

e cl

ear,

wel

l-str

uctu

red

text

s on

com

plex

su

bjec

ts,

unde

rlini

ng t

he r

elev

ant

salie

nt is

sues

, ex

pand

ing

and

supp

ortin

g po

ints

of v

iew

at

som

e le

ngth

with

sub

sidi

ary

poin

ts,

reas

ons

and

rele

vant

ex

ampl

es,

and

roun

ding

off

with

an

appr

opria

te

conc

lusi

on.

can

expr

ess

him

/her

self

with

cla

rity

and

prec

isio

n,

rela

ting

to t

he a

ddre

ssee

flex

ibly

and

effe

ctiv

ely.

layo

ut,

para

grap

hing

and

pun

ctua

tion

are

cons

iste

nt a

nd h

elpf

ul.

spel

ling

is a

ccur

ate,

apa

rt fr

om o

ccas

iona

l slip

s of

th

e pe

n.

Leve

l 4Th

e w

riter

can

effe

ctiv

ely:

deal

with

com

plex

wor

k ta

sks.

exch

ange

cor

resp

onde

nce

usin

g la

ngua

ge o

f va

ried

com

plex

ity a

nd t

echn

ical

ity.

com

pile

rep

orts

, dr

aft

prod

uct

info

rmat

ion

and

writ

e w

ith s

ome

fluen

cy o

n a

varie

ty o

f mat

ters

.

conv

ey in

form

atio

n, id

eas

and

opin

ions

in w

ritin

g.

use

a w

ide

rang

e of

voc

abul

ary

and

a se

cure

gra

sp

of g

ram

mar

to

ensu

re t

hat

his/

her

writ

ten

prod

uctio

n is

bot

h ac

cura

te a

nd a

ppro

pria

te.

writ

e fo

r di

ffere

nt a

udie

nces

, sh

owin

g se

nsiti

vity

to

the

situ

atio

n as

nec

essa

ry.

Leve

l 1A

n ad

ult

can:

plan

and

dra

ft w

ritin

g.

judg

e ho

w m

uch

to w

rite

and

the

leve

l of d

etai

l to

incl

ude.

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion

in a

logi

cal s

eque

nce,

usi

ng

para

grap

hs w

here

app

ropr

iate

.

use

lang

uage

sui

tabl

e fo

r pu

rpos

e an

d au

dien

ce.

use

form

at a

nd s

truc

ture

for

diffe

rent

pur

pose

s.

writ

e in

com

plet

e se

nten

ces.

use

corr

ect

gram

mar

, eg

sub

ject

-ver

b a

gree

men

t,

corr

ect

use

of t

ense

.

punc

tuat

e se

nten

ces

corr

ectly

and

use

pun

ctua

tion

so t

hat

mea

ning

is c

lear

.

spel

l cor

rect

ly w

ords

use

d m

ost

ofte

n in

wor

k, s

tudi

es

and

daily

life

.

proo

f-re

ad a

nd r

evis

e w

ritin

g fo

r ac

cura

cy a

nd m

eani

ng.

in d

ocum

ents

suc

h as

form

s, r

ecor

ds,

e-m

ails

, le

tter

s,na

rrat

ives

, in

stru

ctio

ns,

repo

rts,

exp

lana

tions

.

B2

Vant

age

The

writ

er:

can

writ

e cl

ear,

deta

iled

text

s on

a v

arie

ty o

f su

bjec

ts r

elat

ed t

o hi

s/he

r fie

ld o

f int

eres

t,

synt

hesi

sing

and

eva

luat

ing

info

rmat

ion

and

argu

men

ts fr

om a

num

ber

of s

ourc

es.

can

expr

ess

new

s an

d vi

ews

effe

ctiv

ely

in w

ritin

g an

d re

late

to

thos

e of

oth

ers.

prod

uce

clea

rly in

tellig

ible

con

tinuo

us w

ritin

g w

hich

fo

llow

s st

anda

rd la

yout

and

par

agra

phin

g co

nven

tions

.

accu

rate

but

may

sho

w s

igns

of m

othe

r to

ngue

in

fluen

ce.

can

writ

e an

ess

ay o

r re

port

whi

ch d

evel

ops

an a

rgum

ent

syst

emat

ical

ly w

ith a

ppro

pria

te

high

light

ing

of s

igni

fican

t po

ints

and

rel

evan

t su

ppor

ting

deta

il.

eval

uate

diff

eren

t id

eas

or s

olut

ions

to

a pr

oble

m.

Leve

l 3Th

e w

riter

can

effe

ctiv

ely:

deal

with

var

ied

wor

k ta

sks.

writ

e co

rres

pond

ence

to

deal

with

a v

arie

ty o

f fa

ctua

l and

exp

ress

ive

requ

irem

ents

.

writ

e fa

ctua

l and

exp

ress

ive

sum

mar

ies

to fu

lfil

varie

d w

ork

requ

irem

ents

.

prod

uce

writ

ten

acco

unts

, co

ntai

ning

bot

h fa

ctua

l in

form

atio

n an

d op

inio

ns,

with

app

ropr

iate

con

tent

an

d or

gani

satio

n.

prod

uce

writ

ing

of v

aryi

ng le

ngth

s an

d fo

r va

ryin

g pu

rpos

es,

with

som

e de

gree

of f

acilit

y in

ada

ptin

g w

ritin

g w

ithin

a fa

milia

r ra

nge

of s

tyle

s an

d su

bjec

t m

atte

r to

diff

eren

t re

ader

ship

s.

writ

e w

ith a

hig

h de

gree

of a

ccur

acy

with

in t

his

text

ual r

ange

, al

thou

gh h

avin

g re

gula

r re

cour

se

to r

outin

e re

fere

nce

sour

ces

to d

o so

.

MAP 6: Writing scales

48

Nat

iona

l sta

ndar

ds

for

adul

t lit

erac

yC

om

mo

n E

uro

pea

n F

ram

ewo

rkN

atio

nal L

ang

uag

e S

tand

ard

s

Ent

ry 3

An

adul

t ca

n:

writ

e to

com

mun

icat

e in

form

atio

n an

d op

inio

ns w

ith

som

e ad

apta

tion

to t

he in

tend

ed a

udie

nce.

writ

e a

lett

er t

o a

loca

l new

spap

er,

mag

azin

e or

ne

wsl

ette

r.

writ

e a

shor

t m

emo

or le

tter

to

colle

ague

s.

writ

e do

wn

dire

ctio

ns.

plan

and

dra

ft w

ritin

g.

orga

nise

writ

ing

in s

hort

par

agra

phs.

sequ

ence

chr

onol

ogic

al w

ritin

g.

writ

e in

com

plet

e se

nten

ces.

use

corr

ect

basi

c gr

amm

ar,

eg a

pp

rop

riate

ver

b t

ense

, su

bje

ct-v

erb

agr

eem

ent.

use

punc

tuat

ion

corr

ectly

, eg

cap

ital l

ette

rs,

full

stop

s,

que

stio

n m

arks

, ex

clam

atio

n m

arks

.

spel

l cor

rect

ly c

omm

on w

ords

and

rel

evan

t ke

y w

ords

fo

r w

ork

and

spec

ial i

nter

est.

proo

f-re

ad a

nd c

orre

ct w

ritin

g fo

r gr

amm

ar a

nd

spel

ling.

prod

uce

legi

ble

text

.

use

a di

ctio

nary

to

find

wor

d m

eani

ngs

and

spel

lings

.

in d

ocum

ents

suc

h as

form

s, n

otes

, re

cord

s, e

-mai

ls,

lett

ers,

nar

rativ

es,

sim

ple

inst

ruct

ions

, sh

ort

repo

rts.

B1

Thr

esho

ldTh

e w

riter

:

can

writ

e st

raig

htfo

rwar

d co

nnec

ted

text

s on

a

rang

e of

fam

iliar

subj

ects

with

in h

is/h

er fi

eld

of

inte

rest

, by

link

ing

a se

ries

of s

hort

er d

iscr

ete

elem

ents

into

a li

near

seq

uenc

e.

can

conv

ey in

form

atio

n an

d id

eas

on a

bstr

act

as

wel

l as

conc

rete

top

ics,

che

ck in

form

atio

n an

d as

k ab

out

or e

xpla

in p

robl

ems

with

rea

sona

ble

prec

isio

n.

can

writ

e pe

rson

al le

tter

s an

d no

tes

aski

ng fo

r or

con

veyi

ng s

impl

e in

form

atio

n of

imm

edia

te

rele

vanc

e, g

ettin

g ac

ross

the

poi

nt h

e/sh

e fe

els

to b

e im

port

ant.

can

prod

uce

clea

rly in

tellig

ible

con

tinuo

us w

ritin

g w

hich

follo

ws

stan

dard

layo

ut a

nd p

arag

raph

ing

conv

entio

ns.

spel

ling,

pun

ctua

tion

and

layo

ut a

re a

ccur

ate

enou

gh t

o be

follo

wed

mos

t of

the

tim

e.

Leve

l 2Th

e w

riter

can

effe

ctiv

ely:

deal

with

rou

tine

and

daily

act

iviti

es.

com

pile

rou

tine

reco

rds

usin

g se

t ph

rase

s an

d st

ruct

ures

.

com

pose

not

es a

nd s

hort

mes

sage

s to

fulfi

l ro

utin

e an

d da

ily r

equi

rem

ents

.

com

pose

cor

resp

onde

nce

usin

g se

t ph

rase

s an

d st

ruct

ures

.

writ

e si

mpl

e le

tter

s, fa

xes

and

e-m

ails

on

fam

iliar

subj

ects

, us

ing

larg

ely

stan

dard

form

ats

and

lang

uage

.

prod

uce

sequ

ence

s of

sta

tem

ents

to

expl

ain

sim

ple

oper

atio

ns o

r co

nvey

inst

ruct

ions

.

prod

uce

cont

inuo

us s

hort

tex

ts w

ith li

nked

se

nten

ces

to r

epor

t ev

ents

and

set

out

sim

ple

idea

s.

prod

uce

corr

ect

text

inde

pend

ently

, co

mbi

ning

m

ainl

y se

t ph

rase

s an

d fa

milia

r la

ngua

ge w

hich

he

/she

can

ada

pt u

sing

sim

ple

gram

mat

ical

m

anip

ulat

ion.

Ent

ry 2

An

adul

t ca

n:

writ

e a

mes

sage

to

a co

lleag

ue o

n w

ork

issu

es.

writ

e a

brie

f let

ter

or p

ostc

ard.

use

writ

ten

wor

ds a

nd p

hras

es t

o re

cord

or

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion.

cons

truc

t si

mpl

e an

d co

mpo

und

sent

ence

s, u

sing

co

njun

ctio

ns t

o co

nnec

t tw

o cl

ause

s, e

g as

, an

d,

but

.

use

adje

ctiv

es.

use

punc

tuat

ion

corr

ectly

, eg

cap

ital l

ette

rs,

full

stop

s an

d q

uest

ion

mar

ks.

use

a ca

pita

l let

ter

for

prop

er n

ouns

.

spel

l cor

rect

ly t

he m

ajor

ity o

f per

sona

l det

ails

and

fa

milia

r co

mm

on w

ords

.

prod

uce

legi

ble

text

.

use

a si

mpl

ified

dic

tiona

ry t

o fin

d m

eani

ngs

and

spel

l w

ords

.

in d

ocum

ents

suc

h as

form

s, li

sts,

mes

sage

s, n

otes

,re

cord

s, e

-mai

ls,

sim

ple

narr

ativ

es.

A2

Way

stag

eTh

e w

riter

can

:

writ

e a

serie

s of

sim

ple

phra

ses

and

sent

ence

s lin

ked

with

sim

ple

conn

ecto

rs li

ke a

nd,

but

and

bec

ause

.

writ

e sh

ort,

sim

ple

form

ulai

c no

tes

rela

ting

to

mat

ters

in a

reas

of i

mm

edia

te n

eed.

copy

sho

rt s

ente

nces

on

ever

yday

sub

ject

s,

eg d

irect

ions

how

to

get

som

ewhe

re.

writ

e w

ith r

easo

nabl

e ph

onet

ic a

ccur

acy

(but

not

ne

cess

arily

fully

sta

ndar

d sp

ellin

g) s

hort

wor

ds t

hat

are

in h

is/h

er o

ral v

ocab

ular

y.

writ

e sh

ort,

sim

ple

form

ulai

c no

tes

rela

ting

to

mat

ters

in a

reas

of i

mm

edia

te n

eed.

writ

e ve

ry s

impl

e pe

rson

al le

tter

s ex

pres

sing

tha

nks

and

apol

ogy.

take

a s

hort

, si

mpl

e m

essa

ge p

rovi

ded

he/s

he c

an

ask

for

repe

titio

n an

d re

form

ulat

ion.

Leve

l 1Th

e w

riter

can

effe

ctiv

ely:

deal

with

pre

dict

able

day

-to-

day

activ

ities

.

writ

e do

wn

rout

ine

fact

s an

d da

ta r

elat

ed t

o pr

edic

tabl

e da

y-to

-day

act

iviti

es.

writ

e si

mpl

e m

essa

ges.

use

the

writ

ten

form

of t

he la

ngua

ge in

a li

mite

d ra

nge

of s

tand

ard

form

ats,

eg

fillin

g in

sta

ndar

d fo

rms

or c

ompo

sing

sta

ndar

d le

tter

s us

ing

stoc

k ph

rase

s an

d fo

rmat

s.

use

a sm

all n

umbe

r of

mem

oris

ed s

ente

nces

and

in

divi

dual

wor

ds a

nd s

et p

hras

es,

whi

ch h

e/sh

e ca

n su

bstit

ute

to a

dapt

exi

stin

g si

mpl

e te

xts.

Ent

ry 1

An

adul

t ca

n:

writ

e hi

s/he

r ow

n na

me

and

addr

ess

on a

n of

ficia

l fo

rm/f

or a

n em

ploy

er.

writ

e a

shor

t m

essa

ge t

o a

fam

ily m

embe

r, pa

rtne

r, fla

tmat

e or

frie

nd.

writ

e gr

eetin

gs c

ards

acc

urat

ely.

use

writ

ten

wor

ds a

nd p

hras

es t

o re

cord

or

pres

ent

info

rmat

ion.

cons

truc

t a

sim

ple

sent

ence

punc

tuat

e a

sim

ple

sent

ence

with

a c

apita

l let

ter

and

full

stop

.

use

a ca

pita

l let

ter

for

pers

onal

pro

noun

‘I’.

spel

l cor

rect

ly s

ome

pers

onal

key

wor

ds a

nd fa

milia

r w

ords

.

writ

e th

e le

tter

s of

the

alp

habe

t us

ing

uppe

r an

d lo

wer

ca

se.

in d

ocum

ents

suc

h as

form

s, li

sts,

mes

sage

s, n

otes

,re

cord

s

A1

Bre

akth

roug

hTh

e w

riter

can

:

writ

e si

mpl

e is

olat

ed p

hras

es a

nd s

ente

nces

.

ask

for

or p

ass

on p

erso

nal d

etai

ls in

writ

ten

form

.

copy

fam

iliar

wor

ds a

nd s

hort

phr

ases

, eg

sim

ple

sign

s or

inst

ruct

ions

, na

mes

of e

very

day

obje

cts,

na

mes

of s

hops

and

set

phr

ases

use

d re

gula

rly.

spel

l his

/her

add

ress

, na

tiona

lity

and

othe

r pe

rson

al d

etai

ls.

writ

e nu

mbe

rs a

nd d

ates

, ow

n na

me,

nat

iona

lity,

ad

dres

s, a

ge,

date

of b

irth

or a

rriv

al in

the

cou

ntry

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MAP 6: Writing scales (continued)


4.1Uses of the mapsTo date most use has been made of Map 1, the overall alignment of thedifferent scales to the NQF. Map 1 hasenabled QCA to cross refer the levels to which awarding bodies said their ESOL qualifications were mapped, usuallyfrom the Common European Frameworkand/or the National Language Standards,to the NQF.

In order to do this with some confidence it was necessary to have the underpinningdetailed mapping which is provided by Maps 2 to 6. These maps havedemonstrated that the skills alignmentsacross the scales are robust. Responsesto the consultation on the draft reportshowed that people welcomed the preciseand detailed nature of the mapping oflanguage skills, and the fact that it ispossible to track back the exact source of the descriptors through the referencesat the bottom of Maps 2 to 6.

A further outcome of the mapping hasbeen that it is now possible to indicatesome broad equivalence betweenaccredited ESOL qualifications and otherqualifications in English which are aimedprimarily at native speakers. Qualificationsin English language placed at the samelevel in the NQF by application of Map 1 can be regarded as being broadlyequivalent in terms of level of languageskills, irrespective of their client groups.

It is anticipated that this will assist inmaking progression in English languagemuch clearer to a wider group of usersthan in the past.

Some other applications of the maps fordifferent users are suggested below.

Teachers can refer to the levels anddescriptors of language proficiency as a guide when placing students on programmes, planning theirachievement targets, and advisingthem on the choice of qualifications at appropriate levels. They can also use the level descriptors for the internalevaluation of students’ progression andfor planning courses in conjunction withthe Adult ESOL Core Curriculum.

Learners and language users canrefer to the scales to assess their own language progress and targets in conjunction with the Adult ESOLCore Curriculum. Working with a tutor,learners can define the language levelsof their targets, goals and activities. An example of this can be found in the European Language Portfolio(CILT/LNTO 2002), in which learnerscan use excerpts from the NationalLanguage Standards and the CommonEuropean Framework to record theirown language-learning progress,experience and targets, aligning theirachievement against national andinternational standards, as a steptowards managing their own learning.

Section 4Next steps

50 SECTION 4 NEXT STEPS


Course planners can use the scales to define levels of difficulty, to identifysuitable texts, tasks and exercises, andto provide guidance for the coverage ofskills and content.

Admissions tutors can define thelanguage requirement of educationalcourses by reference to the standardsidentified by the levels. In particular,English-language entry requirements for Further and Higher Education canbe set by determining qualifications at the appropriate NQF level. Tutors will also be able to locate national andinternational qualifications on the mapsand so decide whether any qualificationthat claims alignment to any of thescales fulfils their requirements.

Employers will find the competency or‘can-do’ statements valuable in forminga view of what recruits and employeesshould be able to do in the Englishlanguage, given their formal languagequalifications. So, for example, anemployer can define the targetlanguage level for any job theircompany, and applicants’ languagequalifications can be matched againstthese levels as part of the short-listingprocedure. An important consideration,however, will be the ‘currency’ of thequalification: if it were awarded morethan a year or so previously, theemployer would normally expectevidence of language maintenance in the workplace or through refreshercourses.

Awarding bodies can use the maps to help them identify the levels of theirexisting qualifications, and as a startingpoint when designing new ones. Thescales can also be used to inform the setting of papers at appropriatelevels of challenge and to help defineappropriate tasks for testing thechosen skills at a particular NQF level.

Publishers commissioning materials tosupport teaching and learning will alsofind the maps helpful to refer writers tofor targeting texts, tasks and activitiesto particular levels and skills.

4.2Future plans andpossibilities The uses above are merely illustrativeapplications. Different users are likely to find other applications over time.Possible spin-off developments in thefuture could include:

illustrating the skills described in themaps with exemplars of expectedinputs (texts that learners at each levelmight be expected to handle) andoutputs (samples of learners’ spokenand written performance at each level). A follow-up project looking atexemplars for writing from Entry 1 toLevel 2 is currently underway;

extending the work from adult learningto the learning of English by secondaryand primary school age groups, whichwould require consideration of issues

51

of maturity and cognitive development.Each year there are many younglearners who enter the UK schoolsystem at different points, with little or no English, suggesting an on-goingneed for appropriate levels, descriptorsand possibly qualifications for theseage groups;

building on the cross-boundary natureof this work, which links differentsectors of education and language use: adult native-speaker literacy and communication, English as asecond/additional language, English as a foreign language, and ModernForeign Languages. It is anticipatedthat in the second round ofaccreditation of adult literacy and ESOL qualifications, the mapping will extend common ground and helpto establish more secure equivalence of qualifications in English;

bringing English and MFL specialiststogether to consider whetherapplication of the descriptions in themaps could help develop a system of equivalence between qualifications in English in England and qualificationsin other modern languages;

investigating whether the alignment of levels described in this report couldbe applied to some of the othercommunity languages spoken inEngland, to facilitate the developmentof a wider spectrum of qualificationsand enable those speakers to gaincredit for their first language skills.

At the start of this investigation severalresearch questions were posed (page 7),each of which has been addressed in thecourse of the report.

i) Is it possible to align the variouscommonly-used scales for describinglanguage proficiency and so enablesome cross reference between them?

Yes: the maps included in this reportenable users to see the alignment oflevels across all of the scales that arecommonly used in the UK and inEurope.

ii) Is it possible to align other scales withthe adult literacy standards and the KeySkills Communication Specificationsand hence to the NQF?

Yes: the user can now align the levelsof all the commonly used scales to theNational qualifications framework viathe maps.

iii) Is it possible to align language scalesspecifically designed to describeperformance in second or otherlanguages to, the Standards andSpecifications designed for all speakers living, studying and working in this country, thus identifying someequivalence between different scaleswith different purposes and fromdifferent sectors?

Section 5Summary andconclusions


52 SECTION 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS


Yes: although the scales investigatedwere originally designed for differentpurposes and different languagesectors, it has been possible to aligntheir levels through the can-dostatements, which were found to shareunderlying principles of constructionand description.

iv) Given that these alignments could bemade, would it be possible to use themto assign qualifications in English fromvarious sectors to levels in the nationalqualifications framework, thus relatingthem more closely to the mainstreamqualifications system of the UK whetherwere designed for first languagespeakers or speakers of otherlanguages?

Yes: the alignments illustrated in thisreport have enabled QCA and themajor awarding bodies to assign NQFlevels to a range of qualifications in the EFL/ESOL/EAL sectors, and theseawards are now being offered withassigned NQF levels. In the secondround of accreditation in 2004, theexistence of the maps alongside theESOL curriculum will enable awardingbodies to develop direct linkagesbetween the content and coverage inqualifications for ESOL candidates, thecurriculum and the NQF assigned level.

In addition:

the maps offer greater detail about thelanguage skills associated with eachlevel than has been available in thepast for those designing qualificationsin English language, literacy orcommunication primarily for nativespeakers;

the effect should be that in future thesequalifications will reflect this increasedshared knowledge of what constitutesperformance in English at differentlevels;

this should encourage confidence thatthere is genuine equivalence betweenadult literacy and ESOL qualifications in terms of level of demand, althoughthey may be oriented to the needs ofdifferent client groups.

Finally, it is hoped that, longer term, this work will underpin widespreadunderstanding and acceptance of thevalue of accredited qualifications for alllearners of English and that possession of these qualifications will help all nativespeakers and speakers of English as asecond language to progress, and take full advantage of the opportunities foreducation and employment in this country.

53

1 The national qualifications frameworkQCA, CCEA, ACCAC, 2000

2 The national standards for adult literacyQCA, 2000

3 Key Skills SpecificationsQCA, CCEA, ACCAC, 1999 and 2000

4 A language in common: assessing English as an additional languageQCA, 2000

5 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessmentCouncil of Europe/Cambridge University Press, 2001

and

The European Language PortfolioCouncil of Europe/Languages National Training Organisation/Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 2002

6 The National Language Standards 2000Languages National Training Organisation, 2000

and

The National Language Standards in Action,Languages National Training Organisation, 2001

7 The ALTE FrameworkThe Association of Language Testers in Europe, 2001

8 The English-Speaking Union FrameworkLongman/English-Speaking Union, 1989

9 Adult ESOL Core CurriculumThe Basic Skills Agency/Department for Education and Skills, 2002

10 Adult Literacy Core Curriculum: including spoken communicationThe Basic Skills Agency/Department for Education and Skills, 2001

AppendixList of standards, scales and associated literature


54 APPENDIX LIST OF STANDARDS, SCALES AND ASSOCIATED LITERATURE


ABEEB Association of British ESOL Examining Boards

ACCAC Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales

ALTE Association of Language Testers in Europe

BSA Basic Skills Agency

CCEA(now CEA) Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

CEF Common European Framework

CILT Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research

DfEE Department for Education and Employment

DfES Department for Education and Skills

EAL English as an Additional Language

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ESL English as a Second Language

ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages

ESU English-Speaking Union

GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education

GNVQ General National Vocational Qualification

LNTO Languages National Training Organisation

MFL Modern Foreign Languages

NQF National qualifications framework

NVQ National Vocational Qualification

QCA Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

55

Key to abbreviations

pull-out-and-keep posterPathways to Proficiency:Mapping different language assessment scalesThe alignment of language proficiency scales

Notes:

1 In the national qualifications framework, levels 4 and 5 represent higher-level qualifications, A levels areat level 3, GCSE grades A-C at level 2 and GCSE grades D-G at level 1.

2 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, national standards for adult literacy and numeracy, 2000: Britishnational standards published as part of the adult basic skills strategy in order to specify the full range ofskills required for an adult to communicate confidently, effectively and efficiently.

3 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Key Skills Units, 2000: These specify a range of key skills,including communication, required to operate effectively at the respective levels.

4 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, A language in common, 2000: National guidance relating toperformance of speakers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) within the school-based UKnational curriculum.

5 Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, Cambridge UniversityPress, 2001: Descriptions of six levels of foreign language proficiency offered as international standards.

6 Languages National Training Organisation, The National Language Standards, 2000: British nationalstandards for the vocational use of foreign languages (including English as a Foreign Language).

7 There are no qualifications at pre-entry level; however the Pre-entry Curriculum Framework for literacy and numeracy provides clear milestones to enable learners to progress towards Entry 1, accreditation at pre-entry level is available if appropriate to the learner.

PurposeThe map shows the alignment of the principal scales used to describe adult literacy and Englishlanguage proficiency. All the scales are aligned to the levels of the UK national qualificationsframework (NQF). The levels of the NQF apply to all qualifications in the United Kingdom and are not restricted to languages.

OriginThe map, and the research which underpinned it, was originally commissioned by the Qualificationsand Curriculum Authority in 2001 as a tool to enable ESOL qualifications to be accredited throughalignment to the national qualifications framework. The accreditation took place from January toAugust 2002. The majority of English language qualifications offered by British awarding bodies are aligned to one or more of the scales on Map 1. In this way, qualifications in English as asecond, additional or foreign language can be aligned to the national qualifications framework.

ScalesThe map aligns five scales of adult literacy, communication and English to the national qualifications framework. Brief details of all of these scales are given beneath the map.

UsesThe map is relevant to a range of groups concerned with English language proficiency:

Teachers will find the maps useful when placing students on programmes and planning their achievement targets, and in advising them on appropriate qualifications.

Learners can refer to the scales to assess their own language progress and targets.

Awarding bodies can use the maps to identify the levels of their existing qualifications, and as a starting point when designing new ones, and examiners can use the scales to inform the setting of papers at appropriate levels of challenge.

Admissions tutors can define the English language requirement of educational courses by reference to the standards identified by the levels.

Employers will find the competency or ‘can-do’ statements valuable in forming a view of what recruits and employees should be able to do in English, given their formal languagequalifications.

Education materials writers and course planners can use the scales to define levels of difficulty, to identify suitable texts, tasks and exercises, and to provide guidance for the coverage of skills and content.

Further information A copy of the report from which the map is taken can be obtained from: QCA Publications, PO Box 99, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 25N, order line 01787 88 4444. Details of all publications can be found at: http://www.qca.org.uk/cgi-bin/qcashop.

The Alignment of Language Proficiency Scales for assessing competence in English languagePATHWAYS TO PROFICIENCY

The alignment of languageproficiency scales

Mapping different languageassessment scales

Nationalqualificationsframework 1

National standards for adult literacy 2

Key Skills 3 National curriculum 4

Level 5 (Level 5)

8

Nationalcurriculum levels

2

(C2.2)

Level 5

Level 4 Level 4

Level 3 Level 3 C2 Mastery

Level 4Level 2Level 2 Level 2 C1 OperationalProficiency

Level 3Level 1Level 1 Level 1 B2 Vantage

Level 2Entry level 3

Entry level 2

Entry level 1

Entry level

Level 1Secure/Threshold

B1 Threshold

Level 1A2 Waystage

(Entry)A1 Breakthrough

Pre-entry 7

EAL Step 2

EAL Step 1

Council of Europe

Framework 5

National Language

Standards 6

QCA

Copies of this publication can be obtained from:

DfES Publications

PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park

Annesley, Nottingham

NG15 0DJ

Tel: 0845 6022260

Fax: 0845 6033360

Textphone: 0845 6055560

Email: [email protected]

Please quote ref: PTP

ISBN number: 1 84185 8471

© Crown Copyright 2003

Produced by the Department for Education and Skills

Extracts from this document may be produced for non-commercial

or training purposes on condition that the source is acknowledged.

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