BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONALLANGUAGE CO-ORDINATION

STANAG 6001STANAG 6001

PLUS LEVELPLUS LEVEL WORKSHOP WORKSHOP

ROME, 2009ROME, 2009ROME, 2009ROME, 2009

Participants:Marc Issele – BelgiumMaria Watton - ItalyDonald Fischer - USAHollie West- ACTFL/USABranka Petek - SloveniaMaryjo DiBiase - ItalyGeshe Sutter - GermanyDavid Moore - USAJaroslaw Grabowski - PolandElvira Swender - ACTFL/USAJana Vasily-BegovicJames Dirgin - USA

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE:

Creating awareness and common understanding of plus level descriptions of STANAG 6001

DEFINITION...

• ….SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDS BASE

LEVEL BUT UNABLE TO SUSTAIN AT

THE NEXT LEVEL….STANAG 6001

Questions and Issues surrounding “plus level”

performance…

Few Principles to remember...

The Threshold Principle

The Range Principle

The “Mastery” Principle

The Relative Contributions Principle

Where does the plus level performance appear in the

range?

...more than halfway!

How much does a plus level have to exceed the threshold base

level? Substantially...

-

How does a plus level user perform at the next level?

...does not fully or consistently meet all of the criteria for the next level!

OK...Maybe not “meet all”... But does a plus level user have to meet any of the criteria at the next level?

-All of the time?All of the time?-Most of the time? -Some of the time?

- None of the time?

“Mostly” usually means more than “some” and less than “all”…

• A person performing with a certain degree

(mostly?) of “core” accuracy requirements for that

level is usually considered to have the “mastery” at

that level, meeting the sustainment requirements for

the level… • %100 accuracy expectation at a level, including for

plus level performance, is too high. • User operating at %100 accuracy is most likely at

the next level--or more...

Accuracy & Sustainment

What are we really looking for in plus levels?

Certain factors may have “relatively” more significant and important contributions at different levels…

These features are more prevalent at plus levels, through the presence salient core features of the next level.

Ex.: Organization and abstract linguistic formulations are hallmark of L3, therefore must be observed at L2+ as well...

PLUS LEVELS

1) Can be very useful and efficient to “better understand” the base levels surrounding a plus level.

For instance: Level 2 and Level 3 become more clearly defined when one understands, uses and applies 2+ definitions and constructs.

2) facilitate better understanding of the core principles of the STANAG system, leading to better understanding of...• the range of performances• the degree of deficiency• critical factor(s) that are not sustained

3) help diagnosing user deficiencies in the critical linguistic elements and factors - washback to the classroom and curriculum

PLUS LEVELS

4) allow finer granulation - more precision

help program managers save time and resources in placement, advancement, and more realistic expectations.

Ex.: A program manager may be willing to send L2+ user to a L3 program versus a threshold L2, who will clearly not benefit from the program or fail the task clearly and miserably (-$$$).Without plus rating, both will appear as “L2” users without distinction.

5) It is essential to understand, appreciate, and focus on the differences among:

plus level testingplus level ratingplus level performance

6) Language proficiency appears in a

continuum...

Plus levels are the zones where transition

and overlapping between base levels are

not only most apparent, but also the most

volatile, unstable, and confusing.

7) There is still a long way to go before we

can fully explore and standardize plus

level concepts and approaches to testing,

teaching, and working with plus levels.

Plus……..

•

THANK YOU!