LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Language proficiency can be defined as the ability to use language accurately and appropriately in its oral
and written forms in a variety of settings (Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan, 2000). Kern (2000) developed a
broad conceptual framework for understanding language proficiency that includes three dimensions of
academic literacy: linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural. To be proficient in a language requires knowledge
and skills using the linguistic components. It also requires background knowledge, critical thinking and
metacognitive skills, as well as understanding and applying cultural nuances, beliefs, and practices in
context. Finally, being proficient in a language requires skill in using appropriately the four language
domains listening, speaking, reading, and writing-for a variety of purposes, in a variety of situations, with a
variety of audiences.

Language Domains
There are four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Although these four domains
are interrelated, they can develop at different rates and independently of one another. These four domains
can be classified as receptive or productive skills and as oral or written. The matrix in Figure 2.1 depicts the
four language domains:

Oral = Listening. Speaking

Written= Reading Writing

Figure 2.1 Language domains.

Receptive language refers to the information someone receives through listening or reading activities.

Listening. English learners process, understand, and respond to spoken language from a variety of speakers
for a range of purposes in a variety of situations. Listening, however, is not a passive skill; it requires the
active pursuit of meaning.

Reading English learners process, interpret, and evaluate written words, symbols, and other visual cues
used in texts to convey meaning, Learning to read in a second language may be hindered or enhanced by
students' levels of literacy in their native languages. Students who have strong reading foundations in their
first languages bring with them literacy skills that can typically be transferred to the process of learning to
read in English.

Productive language refers to the information produced to convey meaning. The very nature of productive
language implies an audience, although not always an immediate audience, as in the case of writing a book
or an e-mail.

Speaking English learners engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety

of purposes and audiences in a wide array of social, cultural, and academic contexts. Contextual
 roles for getting and keeping the floor, turn taking, and the way in which children converse with adults are
only a few examples.

Writing. English learners engage in written communication in a variety of forms for a variety of purposes
and audiences. These forms include expressing meaning through drawing, symbols, and/or text. ELLs may
come with writing styles and usages that are influenced by their home cultures.

English Language Proficiency Levels

Students progress through the stages of language proficiency at different rates: some acquire native like
competency in 7 years, some may take 10 years, while others may never reach that level. Most students
learning a second language follow a similar route; that is, certain linguistic forms and rules are acquired
early, whereas others tend to be acquired late, as illustrated in Figure 2.3. In other words, while most
students follow the same path in learning English, their pace and rate are different depending on a variety
of factors, such as native language, familiarity with the Latin alphabet, competence in the native language,
age, previous schooling experiences, aptitude, motivation, personality, and other social and psychological
factors.

The English language proficiency (ELP) standards developed by TESOL provide a model of the process of
language acquisition that can be adapted by districts and states within the context of their own language
leveling system (see Figure 2.4 for these standards)

Level 1: Starting

 At this level, students Initially have limited or no understanding of English.

 Rarely use English for communication. • Respond nonverbally to simple commands, statements, and
questions.
 Begin to imitate the verbalizations of others by using single words or simple phrases.
 Often pass through a silent period, during which time the student may not speak
English.
 Begin to use English spontaneously. At the earliest stage, learners Construct meaning from text primarily
through nonprint features (e.g., illustrations, graphs, maps, tables).
 Gradually construct meaning from the words themselves.
 Are able to generate simple texts that reflect their knowledge level of syntax.
 Student-produced texts may include unconventional features such as...
 Invented spelling
 Grammatical inaccuracies
 Pictorial representations
 Words in the first language (L1)
 Surface features and rhetorical patterns of the native language (such as replication of ways of
structuring text from native culture and language)
Level 2: Emerging
At this level, students...

 Understand phrases and short sentences using familiar vocabulary.

 Communicate limited information in everyday and routine situations by using memorized

phrases, groups of words, and formulas.

 Use selected simple structures correctly but still systematically make basic errors.

 Begin to use general academic vocabulary and familiar everyday expressions.

 Reading/Writing Reading and writing proficiency may vary depending on students'…

 Literacy development in their native language.

 Familiarity with the Latin alphabet.

 At this level, students

 Read words and phrases.

 Locate specific, predictable information in simple everyday or environmental print.

 Approximate the spelling of words.

 Write for themselves to express their own personality and personal thoughts.

 Errors in writing are present and often hinder communication.

Level 3: Developing
o At this level, students...

 Understand more complex speech.

 Still may require some repetition or a slower rate of speech.

 Acquire a vocabulary of stock words and phrases covering many daily situations.

 Use English spontaneously.

 May have difficulty expressing all their thoughts due to a restricted vocabulary and a limited
command of language structure.

 Speak in simple sentences that are comprehensible and appropriate but are frequently marked
by grammatical errors.

 May understand and use some specialized academic vocabulary.

  Still have some trouble comprehending and producing complex structures and academic
language.

 Reading/Writing Proficiency in reading may vary considerably depending on learners' familiarity

and prior experience with...

 Themes, concepts, genre, characters, and so on.

 Students are most successful constructing meaning from texts for which they have background
knowledge on which to build.

 In writing, they are able to generate Increasingly complex texts.

Level 4: Expanding
 At this level, students...

 Possess language skills that are generally adequate for most day-to-day communication
needs….

 Occasionally make structural and lexical errors.

 May have difficulty understanding and using some idioms, figures of speech, and words with
multiple meanings.

 Communicate in English in new or unfamiliar settings.

 Have occasional difficulty with complex structures and abstract academic concepts.

 Reading/Writing Students at this level...

 May read with considerable fluency. Are able to locate and identify specific facts within the
text. · May not understand texts in which the concepts are presented in isolation and without
contextualized support, the sentence structure is complex, or the vocabulary is abstract or has
multiple meanings.

 Encounter more difficulty with grade-level literacy than with oral language.

 May read independently but may have occasional comprehension problems, especially when
processing grade-level information.

 May produce texts independently for personal and academic purposes.

 Produce texts that approximate the writing the structures, vocabulary, and overall
organization of native speakers of English.

 Make errors in one or more domains that generally do not interfere with communication.
Level 5: Bridging
 Students are able to work with grade-level material with some modification.

 Have a good command of technical and academic vocabulary as well of idiomatic

expressions and colloquialisms.

 Can produce clear, smoothly flowing, well-structured texts of differing lengths and
degrees of linguistic complexity

 Make minimal errors that are difficult to spot.