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Language proficiency comparison | ||
Tags: Placement Test | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| jradetzky Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom geocities.com/jradet Joined 7210 days ago 521 posts - 485 votes  1 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanB1 | Message 1 of 9 07 April 2005 at 11:08am | IP Logged | ||
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The European Union devised a common framework for measuring and comparing proficiency in their languages. It ranges from very basic knowledge (level A1) to full proficiency (C2). Here is a chart I developed for some of the major European languages:
Comparative chart What I did is I placed the different officially recognised language examinations in the levels where they belong. I think a major milestone for anyone learning one of these languages is passing these examinations. Edited by jradetzky on 07 April 2005 at 5:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7208 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 2 of 9 08 April 2005 at 3:08am | IP Logged | ||
Do the EU proficiency levels compare at all with the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) guidelines? The ACTFL levels are described at http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/OtherResourc es/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/contents.htm The US government also has levels of foreign language proficiency described at http://www.govtilr.org/ILRscale1.htm. Edited by luke on 08 April 2005 at 3:11am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jradetzky Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom geocities.com/jradet Joined 7210 days ago 521 posts - 485 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanB1 | Message 3 of 9 08 April 2005 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think both scales are comparable. You may have a look at the Common European Framework. Scroll down to "Making qualifications more meaningful".
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| M-Squared Senior Member United States Joined 7142 days ago 117 posts - 118 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 4 of 9 05 June 2005 at 11:27am | IP Logged | ||
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I was going to ask this question, until I found this thread. From reading
the descriptions in the links it seems to me that the US Government scale has less resolution at the lower end and more resolution at the upper end. The descriptions of the proficiency levels read (to me) like an ILR 4 or 5 rating is a good deal above the level of C2 on the European Framework. I think it is also notable that the Goethe Institute puts three exams into the upper level. Since those three exams presumably cover a lot of knowledge range the upper end scale of C2 must be pretty compressed. I have no direcct experience with this, it is based on my reading the various proficiency level descriptions, including the Goethe Institute's descriptions of the diplomas. For example, a Groses Deutsch Sprachdiplom is said to be near native speaker level, which corresponds to the ILR descriptions of a level 4+/5. Those are skill levels much higher than what is described for C2 in the link posted immediately above. Anybody with direct experience in the exam system and the ILR levels care to comment? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| gidler Senior Member Finland Joined 6626 days ago 109 posts - 118 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Finnish* | Message 5 of 9 25 October 2006 at 5:08am | IP Logged | ||
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The proficiency scale the Council of Europe uses is available here. The pdf files at the bottom of the page contain more detailed descriptions. The "Self Assessment Grid" is also useful.
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| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7208 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 6 of 9 25 October 2006 at 6:26am | IP Logged | ||
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Here's my stab at comparing the scales:
EU FSI A1 1 A2 1+ B1 2/2+ B2 2+/3 C1 3/3+ C2 4 Maybe someone else has a better idea. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Leibniz Groupie United States Joined 6533 days ago 40 posts - 41 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Danish | Message 7 of 9 07 June 2007 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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Has anyone seen an estimation of the approximate vocabulary size
corresponding to each level? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7014 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto | Message 8 of 9 07 June 2007 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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There's a table near the bottom of this paper that compares the vocabulary sizes of French speakers (in Britain) and English speakers (in Greece and Hungary) at similar CEFR levels. Edited by dmg on 07 June 2007 at 8:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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