TEFL (RPP)

TEACHING ACROSS PROFICIENCY LEVELS

By Group 5:

1. Annisa Triyulianita W. 2088203074

2. Camella Citra Fortuna 2088203093

3. Haura Wafa Qasthalani 2088203069

4. Tazqia Aulia Zakhra 2088203070

5. Nurqonitah Khansa K. 1888203066

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND ENGLISH EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH TANGERANG

2021/2022
 PREFACE

All praise to Allah SWT for giving us the opportunity to complete this
paper. Thanks to Allah SWT grace and guidance, we were able to complete a
paper entitled "Teaching Across Proficiency Levels". This paper was prepared to
fulfill the duties of a lecturer in the field of course of RPP (TEFL) in English
Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University
Muhammadiyah of Tangerang. In an addition we also hope this paper can make us
have more knowledge about teaching levels.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. M. Abduh Al-Manar,

M.Pd. as a lecturer in this subject. Hopefully this task can add our knowledge for
the writers and for readers. We would also like to thank all those who have helped
in process of making this paper.

We realize this paper is far from perfect, therefore, we as the author

apologize if there are errors of words that aren’t pleased and we also ask for
crictism and suggestions from readers for the imrpovement this paper.

Tangerang, October 2021

Writer
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE...............................................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................3
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION...........................................................................3
1.1. Background of Paper..............................................................................3
1.2. Identification of Problem........................................................................4
1.3. Purpose of paper......................................................................................4
CHAPTER II THEORY AND DISCUSSION.....................................................5
2.1 Definition of Proficiency Levels.............................................................5
2.2 Teaching Beginning Levels.....................................................................6
2.3 Teaching Intermediate Levels..............................................................10
2.4 Teaching Advanced Levels...................................................................13
CHAPTER III CLOSING...................................................................................17
3.1 Conclusion..............................................................................................17
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................18
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of Paper
Teaching day goes by in this profession without someone referring to
students’ proficiency levels with the terms “beginning”, “intermediate”, or
“advanced” (Brown, 2000). According to Brown (2000), University of San
Francisco, at the America Language Institute there’s “beginning” level
consist of students who already may know a couple of hundred English
words and common survival phrases. The “advanced” level, on the other
hand, is not as advanced as some of the ESL writing courses offered for
credit in the same university’s Department of English. Certainly, the
language-teaching profession does not lay unique claim to such subjectivity.

1.2. Identification of Problem

1. What is proficiency levels?
2. What is teaching beginning levels?
3. What is teaching intermediate levels?
4. What is teaching advanced levels?

1.3. Purpose of paper

1. Knowing the definition of a Proficiency Levels
2. Knowing the Teaching Beginning Levels
3. Knowing the Teaching Intermediate Levels
4. Knowing Teaching Advanced Levels
 CHAPTER II
THEORY AND DISCUSSION

2.1 Definition of Proficiency Levels

Proficiency levels can be known as what individual can do with
language in terms of speaking, writing, listening, and reading in real-world
situations in non-rehearsed context. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
(American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Language) (1986) was
referred current proficiency standard guidelines as “FSI Levels” (Foreign
Service Institute) of speaking proficiency. Then FSI levels now referred to
as “ILR Levels” (Interagency Language Roundtable) levels in more formal
research settings that determined by the FSI Oral Interview.

In the Oral Interview is a carefully designed set of structured tasks of

elicit pronunciation, fluency and integrative ability, sociolinguistic and
cultural knowledge, grammar, and vocabulary that falls into one of the
following eleven different levels such as:

LEVEL DESCRIPTION
0 Unable to function in the spoken language.

Able to satisfy immediate needs using rehearsed

0+ utterances.

Able to satisfy minimum courtesy requirements and

1 maintain very simple face-to-face conversations on

familiar topics.

Able to initiate and maintain predictable face-to-face

1+ conversations and satisfy limited social demands.

Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work

2
requirements.
Able to satisfy most work requirements with language
2+ usage that is often, but not always, acceptable and
effective.
3 Able to speak the language with structural accuracy and
 vocabulary in most formal and informal conversation.
Often able to use the language on professional needs in a
3+
wide range of demanding tasks.
Able to use language fluently and accurately on all levels
4
to professional needs.
4+ Speaking proficiency is superior in all respect.
Speaking proficiency is functionally equivalent of a highly
5 articulate, well-educated native speaker where the
language is spoken.

The eleven levels of proficiency levels by ACTFL Proficiency

Guidelines were also created to guide any test-maker, not only to expand
learner skills in learning language.

2.2 Teaching Beginning Levels

Many teachers consider that teaching beginners is the most
challenging level of language teaching. Because students in this level only
have a little or no prior knowledge of target language.
Teaching the early levels of teaching beginners is considered by
many to be the most challenging level of language instruction. Because
students at this level have little or no prior knowledge of the target
language, the teacher (and accompanying techniques and materials) is a
major determinant in whether students achieve their goals. It can also be the
most rewarding level for a teacher as the ability grows in a matter of a few
weeks. When you adopt the factors involved in designing classroom
techniques that are consistent with your approach students' cognitive
learning processes in the first few days and even weeks of language learning
involve a lot of repetition of a limited number of words, phrases, and
sentences.
And how many learning factors and explanations are there:

 Teacher's role
 Beginner students rely heavily on teachers for language models,
and teacher-centered or teacher-fronted classes are appropriate for
some of your class time. Students can ask some questions and
comments, so it's your responsibility to "keep the ball rolling."
However, your entry-level class shouldn't be without a bit of
student-centered work. Pair work and group work. Therefore, the
level of control of class time is also strongly skewed towards
teachers at the early level. In a second language context where
teaching takes place in the target language, most of your class time
will be controlled by the teacher. Because students have no means,
in a second language after all, to control the class period, the onus
is on you to plan topics, activities type, time-of-task, etc. As
students gain their proficiency, they will be able to take the
initiative tie their own questions and comments which can then
sometimes slide control focus. In foreign language situations,
where your students speak the same mother tongue (and you also
speak to him), some negotiation is possible in mother tongue.

 Teacher talk

Your input in the class is crucial. Every ear and eye are indeed
focused on you. Your own English needs to be clearly articulated.
It is appropriate to slow your speech somewhat for easier student
comprehension, but don't slow it so much that it loses its
naturalness. And remember, you don't need to talk any louder to
beginners than to advanced students if your articulation is clear.
Use simple vocabulary and structures that are at or just slightly
beyond their level. Is it appropriate to use the students' native
language? As noted above, in second language situations,
especially multilingual classes, your use of a student's native
language is seldom an issue. In foreign language situations,
however, it becomes an option. It is important not to let your
classes go to excess in the use of the students' nature language. The
rule of thumb here is usually to restrict classroom language to
 English unless some distinct advantage is gained by the use of their
native language and then only for very brief stretches of time.

 Authenticity of language

The language you present to your students must, according to

the principles of Greetings and simple introductions, for example,
be authentic and still manageable. Make sure speech is limited to
short, simple phrases. At times such a language may seem artificial
because all the repetition is required at this stage. Don't despair
your students will appreciate the opportunity to practice adapting
their new language.

 Fluency and accuracy

Fluency is the goal at this level but only in limited speech

length. Smoothness doesn't have to apply only to '"Flow" language
is important to build, from scratch, in fairly short segments.
Attention should be focused on certain grammatical, phonological,
or discourse elements that are being practiced. In teaching speaking
skills, it is very important at this stage that you are very sensitive to
the student's need to practice freely and openly without fear of
becoming corrected any minor errors. On the other hand, you need
to correct some selected grammatical and phonological errors so
that students do not fall into errors. traps the assumption that "no
news is good news" (no correction implies perfection).
Pronunciation work (conphonemes, phonemic patterns, intonation,
rhythm, and stress) is very important at this stage. Ignoring
phonological practice is now possible at the expense of later
smoothness, your job, of course, is to create the perfect balance.

 Student creativity

The ultimate goal of learning a language is to be able to

comprehend and produce it in unrebearsed situations, which
demands both receptive and productive creativity. But at the
beginning level, students can be creative only within the confines
 of a highly controlled repertoire of language. Innovation will come
later when students get more language under their control.

 Listening and speaking goals

The listening and speaking functions for the input giver are
helpful and authentic communication tasks. They are more limited
by grammar, vocabulary, and length of speech than by
communicative function. It's surprising how many language
functions can be achieved with such a simple language.
 Reading and Writing Goals
Ability difference between Level 1 and 4 in reading and writing
skills. at Level 1, reading and reading topics are limited to brief but
still written in real life ingredients. Advertisements, forms and
recipes are the essence of beginner reading factory, while written
work may involve simple forms, lists, and notes and letters. the
most important contextual factors you should keep in mind in
teaching reading and writing for beginners is their level of literacy
in their own mother tongue.
 Grammar
Whether curriculum or textbooks are billed as functional,
communicative, structural, or whatever, the order of grammar and
grammar matters. Like a graphic shows unclear starting level will
be deal at the beginning with very simple verb forms, personal
pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, singular and plural nouns,
and simple sentences, in the development of grammatical topics
from simple to complex. If you teach EFL (in a non-English
speaking country) and your students all speak the same mother
tongue, you benefit from occasionally using their mother tongue to
explain simple grammar automatic points. In an ESL situation,
where you have to rely solely on English in class. grammar of any
complexity at this Level will beat student. Therefore, an inductive
approach to grammar with suitable examples.
2.3 Teaching Intermediate Levels
Now turn your attention to that vague curricular territory that we call
intermediate, where students have progressed beyond novice stages to an
ability to sustain basic communicative tasks, to establish some minimal
fluency, to deal with a few unrehearsed situations, to self-correct on
occasion, to use a few compensatory strategies, and generally to “get along”
in the language beyond mere survival. Consider the same ten factors.

 Students cognitive learning processes

At the intermediate stage some automatic processing has taken

hold. Phrases, sentences, structures, and conversational rules have
been practiced and are increasing in number, forcing the mental
processes to automatize. One of your principal goals at this level is
to get students to continue to automatize, to continue to allow the
bits and pieces of language that might clutter the mind to be
relegated to automaticity. There, in their linguistic hard drives,
those bits and pieces are beneath the surface, as it were, yet readily
available for immediate (automatic) use whenever needed.

 The role of the teacher

Teacher are no longer the only initiator of language. Students
should be encouraged to ask questions, make comments, and
negotiate certain options in learning where appropriate. More
students-students interaction can now take place in pairs, small
groups, and whole-class activity.
Learner-centered work is now possible for more sustained
length of time as students are able to maintain topic of discussion
and focus. By its very nature, the intermediate level is richly
diverse; that diversity can work to your advantage with carefully
designed cooperative activities that capitalize on differences among
students. Don’t set equal expectations for all students, however,
since abilities, especially speaking abilities, can vary widely.
 Teacher talk
 Most of your oral production can be sustained at a natural pace,
as long as your articulations is clear. Teacher talk should not
occupy the major proportion of a class hour; otherwise, you are
probably not giving students enough opportunity to talk. Teacher
should be using less of the native language of the learners at this
level but some situations may still demand it.

 Authenticity of language

At this level students sometimes become overly concerned about

grammatical correctness and may want to wander into esoteric
discussions of grammatical details. This penchant for analysis
might get them too far afield from authentic, real language. Make
sure they stay on the track.

 Fluency and accuracy

The dichotomy between fluency and accuracy is a curcial
concern here, more so than at of the other ends of the proficiency
spectrum. Some students are likely to become overly concerned
about accuracy, possibly berating themselves for the mistakes they
make and demanding constant corrections for every slip-up. Others
may slide into a self-satisfied rut in which they actually become
quite fluent, in the technical sense of the term, but in which they
become very difficult to comprehend. Be on the lookout for both
types of student and be prepared to offer individualized attention to
each.

In general, fluency exercises (saying or writing a steady flow of

language for short period of time without any self or other-
correction at all) are a must at this level. They help to get students
over the hump of always having to say or write everything
absolutely correctly. A big part of your task with most students is
to maintain their flow with just enough attention or error to keep
them growing.
 Student creativity
The fact that some of this new language is now under control
gives rise to more opportunities for the student to be creative.
Interlanguage errors such as:
Does John can sing?
What means this?
I must to make a lot of money.

Are good indication of the creative application of a system

within the learner’s mind. Try to recognize this form of creativity
as a positive sign of language development and of the
internalization of a coherent system. Students are also becoming
more capable of applying their classroom language to unrehearsed
situations. In EFL setting those situations may be more difficult to
find, but through the various forms of media and the written word,
applications to the real world, heretofore unrehearsed in the
classroom, are available and should be encouraged.

 Techniques

Because of the increasing language capacities of your students

techniques can increase in complexity. Common interactive
techniques for intermediates include chain stories, surveys and
polls, paired interviews, group problem solving, role-plays, story
telling, and many others.

 Listening and speaking goals

The linguistic complexity of communicative listening-speaking

goals increases steadily. Along with the creation of novel
utterances, students can participate in short conversations, ask and
answer questions, find alternative ways to convey meaning, solicit
information from others, and more.

 Reading and writing goals

 Increasing complexity in terms of length, grammar, and
discourse, now characterizes reading material as students read
paragraphs and short, simple, stories, and are beginning to use
skimming and scanning skills. Writing is similarly more
sophisticated.

 Grammar
Grammar topics such as progressive verb tenses and clauses
typify intermediate level teaching. Students can benefit from small
doses of short, simple, explanations of points in English. Whether
through English or the native language medium, such overt
attention to “sore spots” in grammar can, in fact, be exceedingly
helpful at this stage. Students have been known to flounder in a sea
of inductivity until one cogent tip from a teacher sets them back on
a straight course.

Keep grammatical metalanguage to an ideal minimum at this

level; otherwise, your students will become English grammarians
instead of English speakers. Remember you are interested in
grammar because that is where some of your training has been, but
you don’t need to make budding Ph.D.s in linguistics out of your
students! Overt grammatical explanation has its place, in the wings,
if you will, as a prompter of sorts, but not as the dominant focus of
students attention.

2.4 Teaching Advanced Levels

As students move up the developmental ladder, getting closer and
closer to their goals, developing fluency along with a greater degree of
accuracy, able to handle virtually any situation in which target language use
is demanded, they become "advanced" students. At the very top of this
ladder is what the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines describe as the "superior"
level, comparable in most aspects to an educated native speaker level Few if
any ESL classes are designed for the superior level, so in order to be more
in keeping with reality, we will simply focus on what the Guidelines
describe as the "advanced" level.

 Students' cognitive learning processes

As competence in language continues to build, students can

realize the full spectrum of processing, assigning larger and larger
chunks to automatic modes and gaining the confidence to put the
formal structures of language on the periphery so that focal
attention may be given to the interpretation and negotiation of
meaning and to the conveying of thoughts and feelings in
interactive communication.

 The role of the teacher

On the surface, your job may appear easier with advanced

students; you can sit back and let their questions and self-generated
curiosity take over. In reality, the independence that students have
acquired must be cleverly channeled into class room routines that
benefit most of the students most of the time. No mean task! The
most common occurrence in advanced level teaching is that your
class runs away with itself and you are left with only a quarter or if
your plans fulfilled.

 Teacher talk

Natural language at natural speed is a must at this level. Make

sure your students are challenged by your choice of vocabulary,
structures, idioms, and other language features, But, after all, they
are still learning the language, so remember that they have not yet
turned into native speakers. The amount of teacher talk should be
commensurate with the type of activity Make sure your students
have ample opportunities to produce language so that your role as a
provider of feedback takes prominence.
 Authenticity of Language

Every from academic prose to literature to idiomatic

conversation becomes a legitimate resource for classroom.
Virtually no authentic language material should be summary
disqualified at this stage.

 Fluency and accuracy

At this level most, if not all of your students are “fluent” in that
have passed beyond the breakthrough stage and are no longer
thinking about every word or structure they are producing or
comprehending. A handful or two of problems still need attention.
If errors are relatively rare, an occasional treatment from you or
from peers may be quite helpful.

 Student creativity

The joy of teaching at this level is in those moments of student

performance when you know that they are now able to apply
classroom material to real contexts beyond. Make sure that students
keep their eyes fixed on those goals. Be ever wary of classroom
activity that simply ends right there in the classroom.

 Techniques

Techniques can now tap into a full range of sociolinguistic and

pragmatic competencies. Typical of this level are activities like
group debates and argumentation, complex role-plays, scanning
and skimming reading material, determining and questioning
author's intent, and writing essays and critiques. Often at this level
students have specific purposes for which they are planning to use
English. Focus on those purposes as much as possible.

 Listening and speaking goals

 At this level students can focus more carefully on all the
sociolinguistic nuances of language. Pragmatic constraints are
common areas needing work as students fine-tune their production
and comprehension in terms of register, style, the status i of the
interlocutor, the specific context of a conversational exchange,
tum-taking. topic nomination and termination, topic-changing, and
culturally conditioned language constraints.

 Reading and writing goals

Reading and writing skills similarly progress closer and closer to

native speaker competence as students learn more about such
things as critical reading, the role of schemata in interpreting
written texts, and writing a document related to one's profession
(laboratory reports records of experimental research findings, etc.)

 Grammar
Linguistic metalanguage may now serve a more useful role as
students perceive its relevance to refining their language. Your
classes need not become saturated with language about language,
but well-targeted deductive grammar has its place.
 CHAPTER III
CLOSING

3.1 Conclusion
Proficiency levels can be known as what individual can do with
language in terms of speaking, writing, listening, and reading in real-world
situations in non-rehearsed context. You have now had a chance to
contemplate quite a number of variables that change as you teach lower or
higher levels of proficiency. The age and proficiency variables are two
extremely important issues to incorporate into any attempt to plan and
conduct language lessons.
 REFERENCES

H.Douglas Brown. (2000).

[H._Douglas_Brown]_Teaching_by_Principles,_Second_(BookFi.org).pdf.
In Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy
(p. 491).