Assessment criteria

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

This refers to the student’s ability to show a good degree of control of a wide range of
simple and some complex grammatical forms, as well as a wide range of appropriate
vocabulary to give and exchange views on familiar and unfamiliar topics.

PRONUNCIATION

This refers to the intelligibility of the student’s speech. First language interference is
expected and not penalised if it does not have a negative effect on communication. Students
are expected to be intelligible and have control of phonological features, i.e. use intonation
appropriately, place word stress accurately, and articulate individual sounds clearly. What is
assessed, is the overall impact of the pronunciation and how easy it is to understand the
student.

DISCOURSE MANAGEMENT

This refers to the extent, relevance, coherence and cohesion of the student’s individual
contributions.
Extent: The stretch of language used by the student should be appropriate to the task, e.g.
long stretches of language or shorter responses (as in the discussion).
Relevance: What the student says should be relevant to the task, with a clear organisation of
ideas.
Coherence and cohesion: The student’s contributions should be organised in such a way as
to make it easy for the listener to follow the progression of ideas, e.g. by using cohesive
devices,
sequences of semantically related words, and other reference markers.
Students are expected to produce extended stretches of language despite some hesitation,
using a range of cohesive devices and discourse markers.

INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION

This refers to the student’s ability to use language to achieve meaningful communication
through initiating, responding, and keeping the interaction going. Students are expected to
initiate and respond appropriately, linking contributions to those of other speakers, and to
maintain and develop the interaction and negotiate towards an outcome.

MESSAGE AND DELIVERY

This refers to the overall effect of the project outcome on the audience, its content,
communication, the quality of student’s participation, body language, enthusiasm, and
professionalism.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY 4

PRONUNCIATION 4
DISCOURSE MANAGEMENT 4
INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION 4
MESSAGE AND DELIVERY 4