Description of abilities of ESL students by English proficiency level
Beginning ESL Level
Listening: Students at the beginning level of ESL can comprehend simple statements and questions. They usually understand the main idea of extended but simple messages and conversations with some unfamiliar vocabulary and structures as well as cognates from their native language. Instructing beginning level ESL students often require repetition, rephrasing, and non-verbal cues for comprehension. Students can comprehend language consisting of simple vocabulary and structures in face-to-face conversations with peers and familiar adults.
Reading: Students at the beginning ESL level can understand simple material for informative or social purposes. They can understand the essential content of short, general, public statements and standardized messages. They can comprehend the main idea of simple informative materials written for native English speakers, especially when these materials contain simple language structures and syntax, and which rely on visual cues and some prior knowledge or experience with the topic. Understanding is limited to simple language containing mostly high frequency vocabulary items and grammatical patterns. Students can often guess the meaning of unfamiliar words through use of cognates and text context. They may have to read the material several times in order to fully capture meaning.
Writing: Students at the beginning level can express basic personal needs and compose short informal notes and messages on very familiar topics based on personal experience. Writing consists mostly of mastered vocabulary and structures in simple sentences and phrases. Errors in spelling and grammar are frequent.
Speaking: Students at this level can use appropriate strategies to initiate and respond to simple statements and engage in simple face-to-face conversations with more fluent or native speakers of the same age group within the vocabulary, structure, and phonology appropriate to the communicative situations for this beginning level. They can be understood, with some repetitions by native English speakers accustomed to interacting with second language learner.
Intermediate ESL Level
Listening: Students at the intermediate level of ESL can comprehend short conversations on simple topics in everyday situations, when listening to peers, familiar adults, and selected other adults (e.g., teachers, providers of public services) either in face-to-face interactions or on the phone. Limited vocabulary range necessitates repetition for understanding. Students can understand frequently used tense forms and word-order patterns in simple sentences. They frequently demonstrate a general and detailed understanding of short, discrete expressions but have only a general understanding of longer conversations and messages within familiar communicative situations. They can sustain comprehensions through contextual inferences in short communications on familiar topics.
Reading: Students can understand simple narrative and descriptive authentic materials and edited texts with a familiar context. They can use contextual and visual cues to derive meaning from texts that contain unfamiliar words, expressions, and structures. They comprehend selected passages written in familiar sentence patterns. They may read simple materials independently but frequently have to guess at meanings of longer or more complex materials. They can follow essential points and some details of expository writing when dealing with ares of special interest; they are able to guess meaning from context.
Writing: Students at the intermediate level of proficiency can write simple notes, uncomplicated personal and business letters, brief journal entries and short reports using elementary vocabulary and commonly encountered structures. They can write brief analyses or more complex content when given the opportunity for organization and advance preparation, though errors may occur frequently. They can produce written narratives and expressions of opinions about radio and television programs, newspaper and magazine articles, and selected stories, songs, and literature of the target language. They can express present, future, and past ideas comrehensibly. Major errors occur with expressing more complex thoughts. Students begin to develop sequential relationships in writing at the intermediate level as well.
Speaking: Students at this level of ESL proficiency can initiate and sustain conversations, face-to-face or on the phone with native speakers of English or more fluent individuals, but their limited vocabulary range often results in hesitation. They tend to use the more common verb tense forms (present, past, and future time frames) but still make many errors in formations and selection. They can use word order accurately in simple sentences but still make errors in more complex patterns. They can sustain coherent structures in short and familiar communicative situations, selectively employing basic cohesive features such as pronouns. Speech is often labored. Finally, they use repetition as well as gestures and other nonverbal cues to sustain conversations.
Advanced/Transitional ESL Level
Listening: Students can understand standard speech delivered in most authentic settings with some repetition and rewording by a native English speaker. They can understand the main ideas and significant relevant details of extended discussions or presentations on familiar topics and of recorded songs, feature programs on radio and television, movies and other media designed for a native speaking audience. They draw on a wide range of language forms, vocabulary, idioms, and structures learned in class as well as those acquired through independent exposure to the language. Students at the advanced and transitional stages can often detect affective undertones and understand inferences in spoken language.
Reading: Students at these levels can comprehend the content of most texts of interest to native speakers. They can understand most factual information in non-technical prose as well as some expository texts on topics related to areas of special interestThey can read excerpts from literature for pleasure. They are able to separate main ideas from lesser ones and thus begin to analyze material that is written for the general public. They are able to use linguistic context and prior knowledge to increase comprehension. They can detect the overall tone and intent of the text.
Writing: Students at the advanced and transitional levels of ESL can write multi-paragraphed essays, journals, personal and business letters, and creative texts in which their thoughts are unified and presented in an organized fashion. They can compose organized texts on everyday topic with sufficient vocabulary to express themselves. They are able to show good control of English morphology and of the most frequently used syntactic structures, but errors may still occur, particularly when the students are writing about complex themes or issues requiring the expression of opinion. Students begin to use culturally appropriate vocabulary and structures confidently.
Speaking: Students at the advanced and transitional stages can handle most communicative situations with confidence but may need help with any complication or difficulty they encounter in language production. They can engage in extended discussions with native or fluent speakers on a broad range of topics that extend beyond their daily lives and are general interest to the target cultures. Their vocabulary is sufficient to communicate at a high level. They demonstrate mastery of elementary constructions.
Beginning ESL Level
Listening: Students at the beginning level of ESL can comprehend simple statements and questions. They usually understand the main idea of extended but simple messages and conversations with some unfamiliar vocabulary and structures as well as cognates from their native language. Instructing beginning level ESL students often require repetition, rephrasing, and non-verbal cues for comprehension. Students can comprehend language consisting of simple vocabulary and structures in face-to-face conversations with peers and familiar adults.
Reading: Students at the beginning ESL level can understand simple material for informative or social purposes. They can understand the essential content of short, general, public statements and standardized messages. They can comprehend the main idea of simple informative materials written for native English speakers, especially when these materials contain simple language structures and syntax, and which rely on visual cues and some prior knowledge or experience with the topic. Understanding is limited to simple language containing mostly high frequency vocabulary items and grammatical patterns. Students can often guess the meaning of unfamiliar words through use of cognates and text context. They may have to read the material several times in order to fully capture meaning.
Writing: Students at the beginning level can express basic personal needs and compose short informal notes and messages on very familiar topics based on personal experience. Writing consists mostly of mastered vocabulary and structures in simple sentences and phrases. Errors in spelling and grammar are frequent.
Speaking: Students at this level can use appropriate strategies to initiate and respond to simple statements and engage in simple face-to-face conversations with more fluent or native speakers of the same age group within the vocabulary, structure, and phonology appropriate to the communicative situations for this beginning level. They can be understood, with some repetitions by native English speakers accustomed to interacting with second language learner.
Intermediate ESL Level
Listening: Students at the intermediate level of ESL can comprehend short conversations on simple topics in everyday situations, when listening to peers, familiar adults, and selected other adults (e.g., teachers, providers of public services) either in face-to-face interactions or on the phone. Limited vocabulary range necessitates repetition for understanding. Students can understand frequently used tense forms and word-order patterns in simple sentences. They frequently demonstrate a general and detailed understanding of short, discrete expressions but have only a general understanding of longer conversations and messages within familiar communicative situations. They can sustain comprehensions through contextual inferences in short communications on familiar topics.
Reading: Students can understand simple narrative and descriptive authentic materials and edited texts with a familiar context. They can use contextual and visual cues to derive meaning from texts that contain unfamiliar words, expressions, and structures. They comprehend selected passages written in familiar sentence patterns. They may read simple materials independently but frequently have to guess at meanings of longer or more complex materials. They can follow essential points and some details of expository writing when dealing with ares of special interest; they are able to guess meaning from context.
Writing: Students at the intermediate level of proficiency can write simple notes, uncomplicated personal and business letters, brief journal entries and short reports using elementary vocabulary and commonly encountered structures. They can write brief analyses or more complex content when given the opportunity for organization and advance preparation, though errors may occur frequently. They can produce written narratives and expressions of opinions about radio and television programs, newspaper and magazine articles, and selected stories, songs, and literature of the target language. They can express present, future, and past ideas comrehensibly. Major errors occur with expressing more complex thoughts. Students begin to develop sequential relationships in writing at the intermediate level as well.
Speaking: Students at this level of ESL proficiency can initiate and sustain conversations, face-to-face or on the phone with native speakers of English or more fluent individuals, but their limited vocabulary range often results in hesitation. They tend to use the more common verb tense forms (present, past, and future time frames) but still make many errors in formations and selection. They can use word order accurately in simple sentences but still make errors in more complex patterns. They can sustain coherent structures in short and familiar communicative situations, selectively employing basic cohesive features such as pronouns. Speech is often labored. Finally, they use repetition as well as gestures and other nonverbal cues to sustain conversations.
Advanced/Transitional ESL Level
Listening: Students can understand standard speech delivered in most authentic settings with some repetition and rewording by a native English speaker. They can understand the main ideas and significant relevant details of extended discussions or presentations on familiar topics and of recorded songs, feature programs on radio and television, movies and other media designed for a native speaking audience. They draw on a wide range of language forms, vocabulary, idioms, and structures learned in class as well as those acquired through independent exposure to the language. Students at the advanced and transitional stages can often detect affective undertones and understand inferences in spoken language.
Reading: Students at these levels can comprehend the content of most texts of interest to native speakers. They can understand most factual information in non-technical prose as well as some expository texts on topics related to areas of special interestThey can read excerpts from literature for pleasure. They are able to separate main ideas from lesser ones and thus begin to analyze material that is written for the general public. They are able to use linguistic context and prior knowledge to increase comprehension. They can detect the overall tone and intent of the text.
Writing: Students at the advanced and transitional levels of ESL can write multi-paragraphed essays, journals, personal and business letters, and creative texts in which their thoughts are unified and presented in an organized fashion. They can compose organized texts on everyday topic with sufficient vocabulary to express themselves. They are able to show good control of English morphology and of the most frequently used syntactic structures, but errors may still occur, particularly when the students are writing about complex themes or issues requiring the expression of opinion. Students begin to use culturally appropriate vocabulary and structures confidently.
Speaking: Students at the advanced and transitional stages can handle most communicative situations with confidence but may need help with any complication or difficulty they encounter in language production. They can engage in extended discussions with native or fluent speakers on a broad range of topics that extend beyond their daily lives and are general interest to the target cultures. Their vocabulary is sufficient to communicate at a high level. They demonstrate mastery of elementary constructions.