CLC Assessment
Skill Assessment
At the Critical Language Center (CLC), all students are assessed on the first day of training and on a monthly basis thereafter. Our instructors and administrative staff work together to monitor the students’ progress and guide them toward achieving their goal.
Proficiency is assessed using the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, which was developed to measure a person’s ability to communicate in a language. The ILR scale has five skill levels of language proficiency and is the standard language proficiency scale used by the Federal Government.
Memorized proficiency is rated 0+ on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 0+ individual:
▪ Able to satisfy immediate needs using rehearsed utterances
▪ Sufficient comprehension to understand memorized utterances in areas of immediate needs
▪ Unable to read connected prose but may be able to read numbers, isolated words and phrases, personal and place names, street signs, office and shop designations
▪ Writes using memorized material and set expressions such as numbers and dates, own name, nationality, address, etc.
Elementary proficiency is rated 1 on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 1 individual:
▪ Able to satisfy minimum courtesy requirements and maintain very simple face-to-face conversations on familiar topics
▪ Sufficient comprehension to understand utterances about basic survival needs and minimum courtesy and travel requirements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics; can understand simple questions and answers, simple statements and very simple face-to-face conversations in a standard dialect
▪ Sufficient comprehension to read very simple connected written material in a form equivalent to usual printing or typescript
▪ Has sufficient control of the writing system to meet limited practical needs such as writing statements and questions on topics very familiar to him/her within the scope of his/her very limited language experience
Limited working proficiency is rated 2 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:
▪ Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements
▪ Sufficient comprehension to understand conversations on routine social demands and limited job requirements
▪ Sufficient comprehension to read simple, authentic written material in a form equivalent to usual printing or typescript on subjects within a familiar context
▪ Able to write routine social correspondence and prepare documentary materials required for most limited work requirements
General professional proficiency is rated 3 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:
▪ Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social and professional topics
▪ Able to understand the essentials of all speech in a standard dialect including technical discussions within a special field; has effective understanding of face-to-face speech delivered with normal clarity and speed in a standard dialect on general topics and areas of special interest
▪ Able to read within a normal range of speed and with almost complete comprehension a variety of authentic prose material on unfamiliar subjects
▪ Able to use the language effectively in most formal and informal written exchanges on practical, social and professional topics; can write reports, summaries, and short library research papers on current events of particular areas of interest or special fields with reasonable ease
Advanced professional proficiency is rated 4 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:
▪ Able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs
▪ Able to understand all forms and styles of speech pertinent to professional needs
▪ Able to read fluently and accurately all styles and forms of the language pertinent to professional needs
▪ Able to write the language precisely and accurately in a variety of prose styles pertinent to professional/educational needs
Native or bilingual proficiency is rated 5 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:
▪ Has a speaking proficiency functionally equivalent to that of a highly articulate well-educated native speaker and reflects the cultural standards of the country where the language is spoken
▪ Able to understand fully all forms and styles of speech intelligible to the well-educated native listener, including a number of regional and illiterate dialects, highly colloquial speech and conversations and discourse distorted by marked interference from other noise
▪ Able to read extremely difficult and abstract prose, technical and highly colloquial writings, poetry and prose, all kinds of handwritten document, idioms, slang, and pertinent cultural references
▪ Able to write and edit both formal and informal correspondence, official reports and documents, and professional/educational articles including writing for special purposes which might include legal, technical, educational, literary and colloquial writing without non-native errors of structure, spelling, style or vocabulary