Ch 7.

Teaching
Across Proficiency
Levels
Questions for Reflection
1. What is language ability? What does it mean to be proficient in a language?

2. What are the characteristics of what are commonly thought to be “beginning,” “intermediate,” and
“advanced” levels?

3. How do the types and complexity of tasks and activities differ across classes of beginning, intermediate,
and advanced students?

4. How can you determine your students’ level of language development and language proficiency?

5. How do the concepts of accuracy, fluency, comprehensibility, grammaticality, and sociolinguistic

appropriateness apply to teaching different levels of ability?

6. What to do after determining your students’ language level?

Thinking about students‘ ability

The terms “beginning,” “intermediate,” and “advanced” are among the first
descriptors we use for our students, but ironically, they are slippery terms.

Q1: is there a standard set of guidelines by which levels of ability may be

uniformly understood?

Q2: what do terms like “standards”, “competencies”, “ability”, “proficiency”

mean in different contexts?
#1 Language
Proficiency Level
Language Proficiency

● English Language Proficiency is the ability of students to use

the English language to make and communicate meaning in
spoken and written contexts while completing their program
of study.

● English language proficiency means the full command of

language skills, including proficiency in listening, speaking,
reading, and writing of the English language. English
language proficiency is defined operationally as the passing
score on an English language proficiency test. To attain
proficiency in [a] the English language requires more time
than to attain fluency.
 The Threshold Hypothesis establishes a threshold, or
benchmark, at which English language learner students
have attained a level of language proficiency in the
target language at which they can successfully perform
academic tasks using the target language.

–Cummins’ (1979)
The Language Threshold is a hypothesis about L1 reading and L2 reading
relationships that has been a major research topic for the past 40 years.

It focuses on the extent to which L2 language proficiency is needed as a support

for L2 reading before L1 strategies and higher-level skills can be used effectively
in an L2 context.

The language threshold was first discussed in reading research contexts in which
top-down models of reading were still popular, including the belief that if
someone is reading in their L1, they have easily transferable skills to be used in
L2 reading (the linguistic interdependence hypothesis.

In contrast, the Language Threshold Hypothesis stated that L1 reading skills are
not going to be useful for L2 reading comprehension until L2 language skills
were sufficiently developed to some threshold.
FSL + ILR
The United States Foreign Service Institute (FSI),
in cooperation with the Interagency Language
Roundtable (ILR), released descriptions of levels
of proficiency for its newly adopted FSI Oral
Interview (Lowe, 1988).
–Cummins’ (1979)
#2 International
Language Proficiency
Tests
 ILPTs
IELTS (the International English Language
Testing System) is the world’s most popular
English language test for work, study, and
migration. More than 10,000 organizations
trust IELTS as a reliable indicator of true-to-
life ability to communicate in English. IELTS
assesses a test taker’s English language
proficiency across four skills: listening,
reading, writing, and speaking.
The Test of English as a Foreign
Language measures your ability to
read, write, and speak in English. It's
known as the TOEFL for short. A
nonprofit organization called the
Educational Testing Service, or ETS,
creates the test.
Duolingo is the most popular language-
learning platform and the most downloaded
education app in the world, with more than
500 million users. The company’s mission is
to make education free, fun, and available to
all. Duolingo is designed to feel like a game
and scientifically proven to be effective. In
addition to its core platform, the company
created the Duolingo English Test, an
affordable and convenient language
certification option that is accepted by
thousands of institutions.
–Cummins’ (1979)
The ACTFL and CEFR
The American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL)

The American Council on Teaching

Foreign Languages, one of the leading
national organizations of foreign
language pedagogy in the United
States publishes a multipage, detailed
description of proficiency levels in each
of the four skills of listening, speaking,
reading, and writing.
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

The CEFR has been endorsed by most

European countries along with other
countries such as China, Korea, and the
United States. It specifies competencies
for listening, speaking, reading, and
writing.

The CEFR is an international standard for

describing language ability. It describes
language ability on a six-point scale, from
A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who
have mastered a language.
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
 THANKS
Read from p. 139 - TEACHING BEGINNING
LEVELS – till the end of the chapter