A Checklist for Speaking Proficiency

The questions below are derived from the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. They indicate the essential skills and functions for the Novice and Intermediate levels of proficiency. If you can answer all questions at any one level with yes, including the questions for all of the levels preceding it, you will have an idea of your level of proficiency in the spoken language. Levels of proficiency tell you what you can do with the language you have learned, not what you were taught. You might want to check this list of questions at the end of each quarter or semester of study to measure your progress in developing a speaking ability in the foreign language.


 

YES

NO
Novice-Mid [  ] [  ]
    1.  Can you greet someone, introduce yourself, and answer questions about how you feel? [  ] [  ]
    2.  Can you carry out at least three of the activities at the Novice-High level? [  ] [  ]
Novice-High
    1.  Can you describe a rainbow? [  ] [  ]
    2.  Can you ask and answer questions about the day of the week, the date, the month? [  ] [  ]
    3.  Can you identify and describe the members of your immediate family? [  ] [  ]
    4.  Can you tell time? [  ] [  ]
    5.  Can you "make small talk," i.e., the weather? [  ] [  ]
    6.  Can you describe what you are wearing today? [  ] [  ]
Intermediate-Low
    1.  Can you ask and answer questions inquiring about age, date and place of birth, nationality, marital status, 
         occupation, etc.?		 [  ] [  ]
    2.  Can you describe your home, school, or workplace? [  ] [  ]
    3.  Can you order a simple meal? [  ] [  ]
    4.  Can you get a hotel room? [  ] [  ]
    5.  Can you ask for and give directions? [  ] [  ]
    6.  Can you purchase an item of clothing or a bus, train, plane, or subway ticket? [  ] [  ]
    7.  Can you carry out the appropriate social conventions in meeting and greeting someone, carrying on a basic
         conversation with questions and answers, and say good-bye?		 [  ] [  ]
    8.  Can you use the language well enough to help someone who does not know the language to cope with any
         of the situations mentioned above?		 [  ] [  ]
Intermediate-Mid
    1.  Can you carry out all of the situations described for the Intermediate-Low level? [  ] [  ]
    2.  Can you sustain a conversation consisting of questions and answers concerning
         a.  autobiographical details? [  ] [  ]
         b.  leisure-time activities? [  ] [  ]
         c.  your daily schedule? [  ] [  ]
         d.  some future plans? [  ] [  ]
3. Can you perform satisfactorily in ordering a meal, making purchases, or requesting a hotel room, including 
    giving specific information (a table for two in a quiet corner, buying an article of clothing of a particular
color, getting a private room with a bath for a given length of time)?		 [  ] [  ]
    4.  Can you handle simple transactions at the post office, bank, drugstore, etc.? [  ] [  ]
Intermediate-High
    1.  Can you carry out all of the situations described for the Intermediate-Mid level with relative ease? [  ] [  ]
    2.  Can you talk about some past activities? [  ] [  ]
    3.  Can you talk about future plans? [  ] [  ]
    4.  Can you talk about non-personal topics, such as activities of organizations, descriptions of events? [  ] [  ]
    5.  Can you narrate and describe your daily routine ...
         a.  today? [  ] [  ]
         b.  yesterday? [  ] [  ]
         c.  tomorrow? [  ] [  ]
    6.  Can you describe the weather accurately and in detail? [  ] [  ]
    7.  Can you narrate and describe a recent trip you took? [  ] [  ]
    8.  Can you describe the geography of the U.S. or of a familiar location? [  ] [  ]
    9.  Can you describe the basic system of U.S. education, using your own schooling as a model? [  ] [  ]
    10. Can you use the language well enough to help someone who does not speak the language in the situations 
          covered at the Intermediate-Mid level?		 [  ] [  ]

 

from Susan S. St. Onge and Robert M. Terry (1986), Vous y êtes:
French for Proficiency. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, pp. v-vii.