Old Score Level

Level

Performance is…

Response Characteristics 

6

60

Excellent and consistent.  All items are, or almost all are 60s –displays of elegance and sophistication. No listener effort required.

·   Effortless delivery, excellent prosody – at ease w/ all tasks

·   Wide range of vocabulary with idiomatic expressions

·   Syntax, tense varied – appropriate use of modality

·   Arguments that express audience awareness (framing, contextualization) and display individual perspective

6

55

Very good -- strong skills across items and some item-level 60s.  No listener effort required.

·   Good delivery w/ acceptable prosody, some stress errors

·   May have marked L1 characteristics, however, no difficulty with intelligibility or comprehensibility

·   Variety and range of vocabulary with idiomatic expressions

·   Clearly expressed argument that goes beyond prompt

·   Errors minor, infrequent, barely noticeable

5

5

50

 
Adequate. 

May be a mix of 55s and 50s – few if any 45s. Listener effort seldom required.

·   Adequate delivery, noticeable but acceptable pausing

·   Phrasal & syllable stress occasionally lost but regained

·   Adequate vocabulary w/ occasional idiomatic expressions

·   Clearly expressed argument some elaboration beyond prompt

·   Few false starts accompanied by successful restarts

·   Fewer systematic errors usually limited to a limited set or type (omission of -3^rd per. Sing, articles), not disruptive to listener

4.5

45

Borderline.  50s and 45s, systematic strengths & weaknesses across aspects of performance or item types. Effort required, but tolerable.

·   Some noticeable and unexpected hesitation and pausing

·   Phrase-level stress assignment missing or inconsistent (e.g., flat)

·   Basic vocabulary

·   Arguments ok, but limited and bound to prompt, may digress

·   Few false starts but may seem risk averse, conservative

·   Less intrusive systematic errors

4

40

Not ready for the classroom.  Limited across most aspects of performance.  Disruptions require consistent listener effort.

·   Marked unexpected hesitations –difficulties w/ pronunciation, prosody, or stress that create listener effort and impatience

·   Limited, basic vocabulary

·   Argument dependent on repetition, sometimes digressions

·   False starts, some successful restarts

·    A variety of noticeable systematic errors

3

35

Restricted.  Lack of resources confound and confuse; listening requires considerable effort, and attempts to understand may be abandoned.

·   Problematic delivery w/ respect to fluency and/or pronunciation

·   Often unintelligible and/or incoherent

·   Argument difficult to identify or recognize

·   Restricted range of vocabulary and grammar

·   False starts with unsuccessful restarts, topics abandoned

·   Errors diffuse, unsystematic, difficult to classify