INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Teaching Across Proficiency Levels

 DEFINING PROFICIENCY LEVELS

The ACTL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages)

• Proficiency Levels range from 0 (unable to function in the

spoken language) to 5 (speaking proficiency is functionally
equivalent to that of a highly articulate, well-educated
native speaker).
0, 0+, 1, 1+, 2, 2+, 3, 3+, 4, 4+, 5

*Detailed descriptions of each level can be found on page 97 of our book.

TEACHING INTERMEDIATE LEVELS
 1. STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE LEARNING
PROCESS

• Automatic processing has taken hold

• Phrases, structures, and conversational rules have
been practiced and are increasing in numbers.
• The mental processes of communication are
starting to automatize.
• “hard drive”
 2. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

• Class is more student centered and controlled.

• Teacher is no longer the initiator of language.
• Students are encouraged to ask questions, make
comments, and negotiate options when appropriate.
• Increased level of student-students interaction.
• Learner-centered work is now possible.
• Students are able to complete tasks independently or with
a group/partners.
• Don’t set equal expectations for all students since abilities at this level
can vary widely.
 3. TEACHER TALK

• Teacher talk should not occupy the major proportion of

class time.
• Give students the opportunity to talk and practice
speaking.
 4. AUTHENTICITY OF LANGUAGE

• Don’t allow students to become overly concerned with

grammatical correctness.
• Keep students on track!
 5. FLUENCY AND ACCURACY

• Some students are critical of mistakes.

• Others may slide into a “self-satisfied rut” in which they
become quite fluent but difficult to comprehend.
• Fluency exercises (saying or writing a steady flow of
language for a short period of time without any self or
other-correction at all) are a must at this level.

• Your task as a teacher is to maintain students’ “flow” with just

enough attention to error to keep them growing.
 6. STUDENT CREATIVITY

• Interlanguage errors:
• “Does John can sing?”
• “What means this?”
• “I must to make a lot of money.”

• These errors are a good indication of the creative

application of a system within the learner’s mind.
• Try to recognize these as a positive sign of language
development and internalization of a coherent system.
• Students are becoming more capable of applying their
classroom language to unrehearsed situations.
 7. TECHNIQUES

• Increase in complexity.
• Chain stories, surveys, polls, paired interviews, group
problem solving, role plays, storytelling, and many more.
 8. LISTENING AND SPEAKING GOALS

• Students can participate in short conversations, ask and

answer questions, find alternative ways to convey meaning,
and solicit information from others.
 9. READING AND WRITING GOALS

• Skills increase in complexity in terms of length, grammar,

and discourse.
• Reading: paragraphs and short, simple stories.
• Start to use scanning and skimming skills.
• Writing: more sophisticated (short paragraphs and short
stories)
 10. GRAMMAR

• Students benefit from small dose of short, simple

explanations of points in English, similar to beginner level
students.
• Overt attention to “sore spots” in grammar can in fact be
exceedingly helpful at this stage.