Government Academic Definition

(FSI) Scale (ACTFL/ETS) Scale

4+ Superior Able to speak the language with sufficient

4 structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate

3+ effectively in most formal and informal

3 conversations

5 Native Able to speak like an educated native speaker

2+ Advanced Plus Able to satisfy most work requirements and showsome ability to communicate on concrete topics

2 Advanced Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements

1+ Intermediate-High Able to satisfy most survival needs and limitedsocial demands

1 Intermediate-Mid Able to satisfy some survival needs and some limitedsocial demands

Intermediate-Low Able to satisfy basic survival needs and minimum

courtesy requirements

0+ Novice-High Able to satisfy needs with learned utterances

0 Novice-Mid Able to operate in only a very limited capacity

Novice-Low Unable to function in the spoken language No ability whatsoever in the language

Source: Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro. ETS Oral Proficiency Testing Manual. Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1982.

Group I Languages: Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish

Aptitude for Language Learning Length of Training Minimal Aptitude Average Aptitude Superior Aptitude 8 weeks (240 hours) Intermediate Low Intermediate Mid Intermediate High 16 weeks (480 hours) Intermediate High Advanced Low Advanced Mid 24 weeks (720 hours) Advanced Mid Advanced High Superior Group II Languages: Bulgarian, Dari, Farsi, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Urdu

Aptitude for Language Learning Length of Training Minimal Aptitude Average Aptitude Superior Aptitude 16 weeks (480 hours) Intermediate Low Intermediate Mid/High Intermediate High 24 weeks (720 hours) Intermediate High Advanced Low/Mid Advanced Mid/High 44 weeks(1320 hours) Advanced Mid/High Advanced High/Superior Superior Group III Languages: Amharic, Bengali, Burmese, Czech, Finnish, Hebrew,Hungarian, Khmer, Lao,

Nepali, Pipilino, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Sinhala, Thai, Tamil, Turkish, Vietnamese

Aptitude for Language Learning Length of Training Minimal Aptitude Average Aptitude Superior Aptitude 16 weeks (480 hours) Novice High Intermediate Low/Mid Intermediate Mid/High 24 weeks (720 hours) Intermediate High Advanced Low Advanced Mid/High 44 weeks(1320 hours) Advanced Mid Advanced High Superior Group IV Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean Aptitude for Language Learning Length of Training Minimal Aptitude Average Aptitude Superior Aptitude 16 weeks (480 hours) Novice High Intermediate Low Intermediate Low/Mid 24 weeks (720 hours) Intermediate Low/Mid Intermediate Mid/High Intermediate High 44 weeks(1320 hours) Intermediate High Advanced Low Advanced Mid/High 80-92 weeks (2400-2760 Hours)

Advanced High

Superior

Superior

Source: Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro. ETS Oral Proficiency Testing Manual. Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing

Service, 1982. ILR ratings have been converted to reflect the equivalent ACTFL ratings.

Proficiency Levels by Years (Spanish - High School - 7500 students)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Novice-Low

Novice-Mid

Novice-High

Intermediate-Low

Intermediate-Mid

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Novice-Low

Novice-Mid

Novice-High

Intermediate-Low

Intermediate-Mid

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Novice-Low

Novice-Mid

Novice-High

Intermediate-Low

Intermediate-Mid

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Novice-Low

Novice-Mid

Novice-High

Intermediate-Low

Intermediate-Mid

1 year of study 2 years of study

3 years of study 4 years of study

Novice Speakers• Respond to simple questions on the

most common features of daily life

• Convey minimal meaning to interlocutors experienced at dealing with foreigners by using -isolated words -lists of words -memorized phrases -some personalized recombinations

of words or phrases

• Satisfy only a very limited number of immediate needs

How accurate are Novice Speakers?

• Intelligibility (pronunciation and stress, e.g., feesh vs. feess)

• Contextually appropriate responses;

Intermediate Speakers• Participate in simple, direct

conversations on generally predictable topics related to daily activities and personal environment

• Obtain and give information by describing and asking and answering questions

• Initiate, sustain and bring to a close a number of basic, uncomplicated communicative exchanges, often in a reactive mode

• Create with the language and communicate personal meaning to sympathetic interlocutors by combining language elements in discrete sentences and strings of sentences

• Satisfy simple personal needs and social demands to survive in the target language culture

How accurate are Intermediate Speakers?

• Require interlocutors who are accustomed to non-native speakers of the language (more patient);

• Speak mostly in present tense but can use some past and future;

• Pronunciation, stress patterns, and grammar may all be flawed but there is sufficient accuracy for communication at the sentence level.

words

sentences

paragraphs

words

sentences

paragraphs