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SUPERIOR
Writers at the Superior level
are able to write most kinds of correspondence, such as memos and letters,
as well as summaries, reports, and research papers on a variety of practical,
social, academic or professional topics treated both abstractly and
concretely. They demonstrate the ability to explain complex matters
in detail, provide lengthy narrations in all time frames and aspects,
present opinion, develop persuasive arguments based on logic, and construct
extended hypotheses and conjectures. They can organize ideas clearly,
the relationship of ideas is consistently clear, showing chronological
ordering, logical ordering, cause and effect, comparison, and thematic
development, but their writing may not totally reflect target language
cultural, syntactic, and structural patterns. They demonstrate full
control of structures, both general and specialized/professional vocabulary,
spelling or symbol production, cohesive devices, and punctuation except
for occasional errors that may occur, particularly in low-frequency
structures, but that do not interfere with comprehension and rarely
disturb the native reader. Their vocabulary is precise and varied with
frequent use of synonyms. The length of writing at this level extends
from a number of paragraphs to a number of pages. To supplement specialized
vocabulary or to improve content and style, superior-level writers use
dictionaries and other resources with a high degree of accuracy. They
are aware of formal and informal styles of writing in which format,
salutations, and style conform to cultural standards and writing etiquette.
They use a variety of sentence structures, syntax, and vocabulary to
tailor their writing to various purposes or readers.
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ADVANCED
ADVANCED
HIGH
ADVANCED
MID
ADVANCED
LOW
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ADVANCED
HIGH
ADVANCED HIGH - Writers
at the Advanced-High level are able to write about a variety
of topics with significant precision and detail. They can handle
most social and informal business correspondence using conventional
greetings, openings, and closings. They can write extensively
about topics relating to particular interests and special areas
of competence, but tend to emphasize the concrete aspects of
such topics. Advanced-High level writers can describe and narrate
in all major time frames, with good control of aspect, and show
the ability to develop arguments and construct hypotheses, but
have some difficulty dealing with topics in abstract, global,
and/or impersonal terms. Advanced-High level writers incorporate
many of the features of the Superior level, but cannot sustain
them. They often show remarkable ease of expression, but under
the demands of Superior-level writing tasks, time constraints,
and pressure, patterns of error appear. They have good control
of a full range of grammatical structures and a fairly wide
general vocabulary but cannot yet use them comfortably and accurately
all the time. Weaknesses in grammar, vocabulary, or in spelling
or character writing formation may occasionally distract the
native reader from the message. Writers do not consistently
demonstrate flexibility to vary their style according to different
tasks and readers. Their writing production will often read
rather successfully on the surface but will fail to convey adequately
the subtlety, nuance, and/or required details of writing.
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ADVANCED
MID
ADVANCED MID - Writers
at the Advanced-Mid level are able to meet a range of work and/or
academic writing needs with fullness and cohesiveness; to write
cohesive summaries; to write about familiar topics relating
to interests and events of current, public, and personal relevance
by means of narratives and descriptions of a factual nature.
Advanced-Mid level writers demonstrate the ability to narrate
and describe with some detail in all major time frames. Written
expression is characterized by a range of general vocabulary
that expresses thoughts clearly, at times supported by some
paraphrasing or elaboration. Writing at the Advanced-Mid level
may exhibit a number of cohesive devices, in producing texts
of several paragraphs in length. There is good control of the
most frequently used syntactic structures, e.g., common word
order patterns, coordination, subordination. There may be frequent
errors in complex sentences, as well as in punctuation, spelling,
or the formation of nonalphabetic symbols and character production
due to graphic or sound confusion. While features of the written
style of the target language may be present, Advanced-Mid level
writing may at times resemble transcriptions of oral discourse.
Where appropriate, Advance-Mid writing incorporates organizational
elements such as introduction, topic sentences, supporting facts,
comparing and contrasting, chronological sequencing, summary,
and conclusion. When called on to perform functions or to handle
topics associated with the Superior level, the Advanced-Mid
writers will generally manifest a decline in the quality and/or
quantity of their writing, often lacking the rhetorical structure,
the accuracy, and the fullness of elaboration and detail that
would characteristic of the Superior level. Writing at the Advanced-Mid
level is understood readily by natives not used to the writing
of non-natives.
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ADVANCED
LOW
Writers at the Advanced-Low
level are able to meet basic work and/or academic writing needs,
produce routine social correspondence, write about familiar
topics by means of narratives and descriptions of a factual
nature, and write cohesive summaries. Advanced-Low writing reflects
the ability to combine and link sentences into texts of paragraph
length and structure. Their accounts, while adequate, may not
be substantive. Writers at the Advanced-Low level demonstrate
an ability to write with a limited number of cohesive devices,
and may resort to much redundancy, and awkward repetition. Use
of dependent clauses is present and structurally coherent, while
it often reflects the writer’s native language or patterns.
Writing at the Advanced-Low level may resemble native language
patterns of oral discourse. More often than not, the vocabulary,
grammar, and style are essentially reflective of informal writing.
Writers demonstrate sustained control of simple target-language
sentence structures and partial control of more complex structures.
While attempting to perform functions at the Superior level,
their writing will deteriorate significantly. Writing at the
Advanced-Low level is understood by natives not used to the
writing of non-natives.
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INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
HIGH
INTERMEDIATE
MID
INTERMEDIATE
LOW
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INTERMEDIATE
HIGH
INTERMEDIATE HIGH
- Writers at the Intermediate-High level are able to meet
all practical writing needs such as taking rather detailed
notes on familiar topics, writing uncomplicated letters, summaries,
and essays related to work, school experiences, and topics
of current, general interest. They can also write simple descriptions
and narrations of paragraph length on everyday events and
situations in different time frames, although with some inaccuracies
and inconsistencies. Intermediate-High writers connect sentences
into paragraphs using basic cohesive elements, but with some
breakdown in one or more features of the Advanced level. They
are often successful in their use of paraphrase and elaboration.
In those languages that use verbal markers to indicate tense
and aspect, forms are not consistently accurate. The vocabulary,
grammar, and style of Intermediate-High writers are essentially
reflective of the spoken language. Their writing, even with
numerous but not significant errors, is generally comprehensible
to natives not used to the writing of non-natives.
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INTERMEDIATE
MID
Writers at the
Intermediate-Mid level are able to meet a number of practical
writing needs. They can write short, simple letters, essays,
and descriptions in loosely connected text that are based
on personal preferences, daily routines, common events, and
other topics related to personal experiences and immediate
surroundings. Most writing is framed in present time, with
inconsistent references to other time frames. There is some
evidence (although minimal) of the use of grammatical and
stylistic cohesive elements — object pronouns, relative pronouns,
adverbs of time, coordinating conjunctions, and subordinate
clauses. The writing style is reflective of the grammar and
lexicon of spoken language. Writers at the Intermediate-Mid
level show evidence of the control of the syntax in non-complex
sentences and in basic verb forms, such as declensions or
conjugations. Writing is best defined as a collection of discrete
sentences, since there is little evidence of deliberate organization.
Intermediate-mid writers can be readily understood by natives
used to the writing of non-natives.
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INTERMEDIATE
LOW
INTERMEDIATE LOW
- Writers at the Intermediate-Low level are able to meet some
limited practical writing needs. They can create statements
and formulate questions based on familiar material. Most sentences
are recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures. These
are short and simple conversational-style sentences with basic
subject-verb-object word order. They are written mostly in
present time with occasional and often incorrect uses of past
or future time. Writing tends to be a collection of simple
sentences loosely strung together, often with repetitive structure.
Vocabulary is limited to common objects and routine activities,
adequate to express elementary needs. Writing is somewhat
mechanistic and topics are limited to highly predictable content
areas and personal information tied to limited language experience.
There may be basic errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation,
spelling, and in the formation and use of nonalphabetic symbols.
Their writing is understood by natives used to the writing
of non-natives.
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NOVICE
NOVICE
HIGH
NOVICE
MID
NOVICE
LOW
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NOVICE
HIGH
NOVICE HIGH - Writers
at the Novice-high level are able to meet limited un-complicated
practical writing needs, such as lists, short messages, postcards,
and simple notes, and to express familiar meanings by relying
mainly on memorized material, limited by the context in which
the language was learned. They are able to recombine learned
vocabulary and structures to create simple sentences on very
familiar topics, but the language they produce may only partially
communicate what is intended. Due to a lack of adequate vocabulary
and/or control of the language features of the Intermediate
level, the writing is generally writer-centered and focuses
on common, discrete elements of daily life. Their writing
is generally comprehensible to natives used to the writing
of non-natives.
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NOVICE
MID
NOVICE MID - Writers
at the Novice-Mid level are able to copy or transcribe familiar
words or phrases, and reproduce from memory a modest number
of isolated words and phrases. Novice-Mid writers exhibit
a high degree of accuracy when writing using prompts based
on a well-practiced, familiar topic and a linguistic repertoire
focused at this level. With less familiar topics, there is
a marked decrease in accuracy. There is little evidence of
functional writing skills. They can supply limited information
on simple forms and documents, and other simple biographical
information, such as names, numbers, and nationality. Errors
in spelling or in the representation of symbols may be frequent.
Their writing may be difficult to understand even by those
accustomed to reading the writing of non-natives.
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NOVICE LOW
NOVICE LOW - Writers
at the Novice-Low level are able to form letters in an alphabetic
system and can copy and produce isolated, basic strokes in
languages that use syllabaries or characters. Given adequate
time and familiar cues, they can reproduce from memory a very
limited number of isolated words or familiar phrases, but
errors are to be expected.
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© 2004 Language Testing International. All rights reserved.
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