High-Intermediate I

General Descriptors

  • Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction, and sustained relationships with native speakers quite possible without imposing much strain on either party.
  • Can highlight the personal significance of events and experiences, and account for views fairly clearly by providing relevant explanations and arguments.

Specific Area Descriptors

  • Grammar: Shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control, but errors and flaws periodically still occur. Mistakes are seldom made which lead to misunderstanding.
  • Vocabulary: Has a sufficient vocabulary to give brief and relatively clear explanations and viewpoints, and develop arguments without too much conspicuous searching for words.
  • Pronunciation: Has acquired fairly clear and natural pronunciation, though minor problems still occur from time to time and clarification is occasionally asked for. Sentence level stress, rhythm, and intonation are used more appropriately though at times the native language still influences these.
  • Spoken fluency: Can produce stretches of language with a fairly even tempo; although he/she can be hesitant while searching for patterns and expressions, there are few noticeably long pauses.
  • Listening: Can understand the main ideas of linguistically complex speech on concrete topics delivered in a standard dialect, provided the topics are reasonably familiar. With audiocassette material, the student can understand most dialogues and other recorded audio material delivered in standard dialect and can identify the speaker’s mood, tone, etc. Reading: Can understand the main ideas and some details in a variety of familiar texts.
  • Writing: Can write fairly clear, and somewhat detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest.