Home Language Proficiency Scale Language Proficiency Scale Language Proficiency Scale, Finnish as a second language. Language Proficiens Scale PDF by OPH (non-accessible PDF) A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 Level of proficiency A1 : Limited communication in the most familiar situations. A1 Evolving elementary language proficiency Listening comprehension Understands words, phrases, short expressions, questions and commands and instructions that are directly related to the student’s own life, familiar themes or the immediate situation. Recognises familiar words and expressions from longer stretches of speech. Understands emotions, for example, physical and visual expression. Needs help from an interlocutor to understand; support that is plurilingual and in his or her language, repetition, slower speech, pointing. Is able to use pictures, situational hints, non-verbal messages to assist with reasoning. Recognises individual familiar words from the flow of teaching language at school but it is impossible to learn content from the speech. Speaking Can use short expressions and phrases associated with everyday interaction situations. Is able to briefly describe him/herself and family. Is able to respond to questions that are significant to him or her, related to familiar situations and necessary with regard to the situations. Can ask questions related to these situations. Can name familiar items and phenomena. Is able to use plurilingual, physical and visual resources, such as borrowed words, gestures, pointing and drawing. Expresses a lack of understanding non-verbally or via actions. Needs a lot of help from interlocutors. Obtaining and keeping a turn to speak is not possible without support from interlocutors. Speech may contain a lot of long breaks, repetition and interruptions. Pronunciation and inconsistent language structures can cause comprehension difficulties. Is able to present a short speech or opinion that has been practised in advance. Reading comprehension Can read and understand words, phrases, short sentences and texts related to familiar topics and familiar contexts, such as headings, texts on the board (for example, homework, p. 34), signs, messages. Recognises familiar words and phrases, borrowed words, names, numbers, symbols in a longer text. Is able to find information in pictures and use visual hints. Is able to use knowledge of the world visual hints, dictionaries, translators and interaction partners to determine the meaning of headings, for example, in a textbook. The ability to understand an unfamiliar word is limited even in a very predictable connection. Reading and comprehension of even a short text summary is very slow. Writing Is able to write the letters of the language and the numbers using letters. Is able to describe him or herself and family in a few short sentences. Is able to name items and phenomena in writing, for example, in pictures. Writes mainly familiar phrases and expressions that are learned as a whole. Production at the A1 level is generally broader than the word level. The student can already combine short expressions using, for example, the most common linking methods. The product is often limited but provides an accurate summary in learned phrases. However, the product can contain a lot of inconsistencies of different types. Is able to build content for short texts related to everyday life and school but needs to be provided with suitable vocabulary and a lot of support when forming the message. Is able to produce illustrated stories, for example, comic strip, videos, animations, simple illustrated instructions, etc. Level of proficiency A2: Basic needs for direct social interaction and brief narrative A2 Developing basic language proficiency Listening comprehension Understands contextual speech about topics that are familiar or important personally. Recognises the topic of conversation and notices when the topic changes. Recognises the theme and some information in instructive discourse. Needs guidance concerning what he or she should focus on. The familiarity of the topic affects comprehension. Understands some information in a short and clear story and can name the key persons. Understands the dialogue of a comic strip or film with the support of pictures. Understands emotions expressed by an interlocutor. Needs help from an interlocutor: calm and clear speech, repetition. Speaking Can talk about him or herself, family and the living environment and everyday events and reacts to what interlocutors say in an interaction situation. Is able to communicate about broader topics if the theme is familiar, the story has been practised and the interaction situation supports expression. Can express basic emotions, feelings, ideas and opinions. Is able to clarify a message with gestures. Can cope with recurring everyday one-on-one interaction situations. Is able to discuss familiar topics. Needs help from the interlocutor in order to maintain conversation. Is able to ask questions about familiar topics, answer questions and ask for an explanation and repetition. Speech is fluent at times, but various interruptions are very common. Pronunciation and inconsistent language structures occasionally cause comprehension difficulties. Reading comprehension Understands some information in texts about familiar topics. Needs guidance regarding what he or she should focus on in the text. Is able to find information in pictures and use visual hints in a multimedia text environment. Is able to locate and compare pieces of information and can easily obtain predictable new information about familiar topics from a clearly organised text of a few paragraphs. Can deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words based on their linguistic form and context. Reading and understanding even a short text excerpt can be slow. Writing Is able to write short messages related to everyday, familiar and important situations. Is able to write texts on familiar topics, although the content may not necessarily be very diverse. Needs a lot of support, models and language input to assist with writing. The language of texts written about familiar topics can be quite idiomatic. Is able to produce illustrated stories, for example, comic strips, videos, animations, instructions. Level of proficiency B1: Coping in everyday life B1 Fluent basic language proficiency Listening comprehension Understands the main ideas and details of speech that deals with regularly recurring themes in school and free time. There may be gaps in comprehension. Understands media texts about familiar topics. Needs support with new and difficult topics and texts. Understands the main ideas and details of instructive discourse to a varying degree. Needs help recognising the key elements because entities can remain unnoticed. Familiarity with the subject facilitates comprehension. Understands the main points and details of a wider formal or informal discussion around him or her. Fast conversation between natives and unknown details of unfamiliar topics cause difficulties. Is able to overcome comprehension difficulties by deducing and relying on interlocutors, context and knowledge of the world. Comprehension can require clear speech and a familiar style of speech as well as occasional repetition and rephrasing. Speaking Is able to talk about events in free time and at school and explain, for example, the plot of a book or film. Is also able to tell an imaginary story. Is able to describe emotions, dreams, hopes, experiences, the environment, events, people’s plans, customs, etc. The descriptions may be linguistically simple and limited and list-like or broad and unclear in terms of content. The perspective can remain narrow or the topic can be dealt with superficially with regard to the situational content and assignment. Is able to express and justify an opinion. Is able to complete an assignment with other people, listen to others and express personal views and proposals. May need help and guidance with regard to participating in a conversation in group situations. Is able to give a short, prepared oral presentation. Can express him or herself relatively independently. Although breaks and interruptions occur, speech continues and the message is communicated. Can compensate by using euphemisms, saying things in other words and asking an interlocutor for clarification when his or her own expressions are insufficient. Linguistic expression may not be very accurate but this seldom interferes with interaction Reading comprehension Is able to read texts about many different topics and overcome comprehension barriers by relying on deduction and knowledge of the world. Is able to scan fairly long texts and find information in order to complete an assignment. Is able to retrieve information from several sources, combine information and report on it. Understands the differences between fact and fiction. With regard to simple texts, recognises when the purpose of the text is to inform, communicate information, provide examples, specify and argue. Can overcome comprehension difficulties using pictures and visual hints, deducing and relying on context and knowledge of the world. Needs systematic reading guidance and diverse experiences of reading different text genres. Writing Can write personal texts, fiction and non-fiction texts and express his or her thoughts concerning familiar and the most common topics. Can write a text of several paragraphs in length, divide the content into paragraphs, and use other texts to support and assist with writing. With guidance, can take notes and write summaries of something that he or she has heard or read. Can use other texts as a source for models of situational styles and sayings typically used in a certain text genre. Is able to write understandable text although the language, text structure and style can contain a lot of inconsistencies. Level of proficiency B2: Coping in diverse interaction situations B2 Independent language proficiency Listening comprehension Understands the main ideas of speech that is complicated in terms of content and language when it deals with concrete or relative familiar abstract topics. Understands the language of private life, social life and school and general topics. Understands content in media texts that is quite familiar to him or herself and detailed narrative that is of general interest. Is able to independently follow instructive discourse and understand the main points and important details of it. Understands the speaker’s purpose, attitudes, level of formality and style. Is able to follow a clearly structured, long speech and complicated statements and the justification for them. Can use different strategies to support comprehension: for example, can check comprehension on the basis of content hints. Understands normal tempo face-to-face speech and discussion on general topics. Understands the majority of discussion taking place around him or her, but can find it difficult to follow discussion between several people if the speech is fast or the language style or dialect is unfamiliar. Speaking Can express many things related to his or her sphere of experience clearly and accurately. Is able to describe his or her feelings and highlight the personal significance of events and experiences. Can participate actively in most practical and social situations at school and during free time. Also copes quite well in unfamiliar situations and formal discussions. Is capable of effective social interaction in prepared speech situations and in those requiring quick reactions. Is able to vary language when trying to express his or her message. Can discuss and negotiate about many things. Is able to present his or her thoughts as a coherent entity, comment on and justify his or her views. Is able to start and maintain a conversation. Is able to request and keep a turn to speak and link his or her message to what has been said by others. Is able to adapt and react to changes in the direction, style and emphases of ordinary speech during a discussion. Is generally able to express him or herself fluently and without difficulty and mostly in the manner required by the interaction situation. Longer breaks in speech are rare. Has a diverse command of linguistic methods for expressing concrete and conceptual, familiar and unfamiliar topics clearly and using the degree of formality required by the situation. Reading comprehension Can independently read many types of social interaction texts, non-fiction texts and literary texts about topics that are relatively familiar and general topics. Can interpret and observe the differences between various texts expressing facts, attitudes and opinions. Is able to retrieve information diversely from different sources and, with guidance, assess the reliability of the information. Is able to identify the purpose of the author and text. Recognises the typical characteristics of texts for different age groups. Some nuances and differences of tone conveyed in the text may not be clear. Is able to read long texts by anticipating and scanning and utilise different reading strategies according to the purpose of each reading session. Can locate several different details in a long text. Unfamiliar text genres that contain idiomatic expressions and cultural references can cause difficulties. Writing Can write clear and detailed texts about many topics of personal interest and familiar abstract topics. Can easily produce quick everyday messages under time pressure and routine informational messages and social media messages requiring a more formal register. Can write typical fictional texts and more formal non-fictional texts typical to a certain age group or grade level. Can use other texts as a model and support for writing. Is able to write a structured text that observes the structure and characteristics of a familiar text genre. When writing, can express information and views effectively and comment on the views of other people. Is able to justify his or her opinion and develop arguments. Can combine and summarise information retrieved from different sources into his or her own text. Has a command of diverse linguistic resources needed to compile a coherent, clear and succinct text. Is able to differentiate between official and unofficial language according to the text genre and assignment. Level of proficiency C1: Coping in many demanding language use situations C1 First stage of fluent language proficiency Listening comprehension Understands longer passages of speech or a presentation on an unfamiliar topic relatively easily even when the speech is not clearly structured and contains idiomatic expressions and changes in register. Is able to follow teaching language independently and understands its content quite easily. Can use context, grammar and vocabulary hints diversely when anticipating and drawing conclusions from what is heard. Also recognises attitudes and views that are expressed indirectly. An unfamiliar accent or strong dialect can cause difficulties. Speaking Can give a fairly long, prepared, formal presentation and provide detailed descriptions of complicated things. Is able to actively participate in situations containing complicated concepts and details. Can take part in group discussion and contribute to the discussion and link his or her contributions to what other speakers say. Can communicate fluently, spontaneously and with little difficulty in school and during free time. Also copes well in more unfamiliar and formal situations. Can express his or her thoughts and opinions confidently, clearly and politely in the manner required by the situation without limiting his or her contribution. Reading comprehension Understands in detail all types of texts encountered in social interaction, school, free time and also in formal situations. Also understands texts about unfamiliar topics when there is sufficient time to deal with the text. Can retrieve information diversely from different sources and is also able to assess the reliability of the information. (as in B2) Is able to locate and combine several items of conceptual information from complicated texts, summarise the information and draw conclusions from it. Is able to vary his or her reading style as needed. Is able to read by anticipating and scanning and utilise different reading strategies according to the purpose of each reading session. Can skilfully utilise context, grammatical and vocabulary hints, among others. Finds important details in a long text. Can ready critically while assessing style nuances. Recognises the author’s attitude and hidden meaning in the text. Writing Copes with all types of written interaction situations in a manner that is mostly natural and effortless. Is able to write clear, well-structured and detailed texts on many topics. Is able to deal with topics with complicated content and emphasise important points. Can use additional points and justification and illustrative examples to expand on and support his or her opinions and ideas. Can use other texts independently as a model and support for writing. Is able to use sources on the basis of instructions and in the manner required by the assignment. Is able to follow the style and other established practices of each text genre. Can take the intended target audience into account according to the situation and assignment. Linguistic resources allow for varied and even personal written expression and interaction.
