Manual of Standards for Licensing/Rating of ATC Personnel

APPENDIX - CICAO LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY RATING SCALE1.1 Expert, extended and operational levelsLEVELExpert6Extended5Operational4PRONUNCIATIONAssumes a dialect and/oraccent intelligible to theaeronautical community.Pronunciation, stress,rhythm, and intonation,though possibly influencedby the first language orregional variation, almostnever interfere with ease ofunderstanding.Pronunciation, stress,rhythm, and intonation,though influenced by thefirst language or regionalvariation, rarely interferewith ease of understanding.Pronunciation, stress,rhythm, and intonation areinfluenced by the firstlanguage or regionalvariation but onlysometimes interfere withease of understanding.STRUCTURERelevant grammaticalstructures and sentencepatterns are determined bylanguage functionsappropriate to the task. VOCABULARY FLUENCY COMPREHENSION INTERACTIONSBoth basic and complexgrammatical structures andsentence patterns areconsistently well controlled.Basic grammaticalstructures and sentencepatterns are consistentlywell controlled. Complexstructures are attempted butwith errors whichsometimes interfere withmeaning.Basic grammaticalstructures and sentencepatterns are used creativelyand are usually wellcontrolled. Errors mayoccur, particularly inunusual or unexpectedcircumstances, but rarelyinterfere with meaning.Vocabulary range andaccuracy are sufficient tocommunicate effectively ona wide variety of familiarand unfamiliar topics.Vocabulary is idiomatic,nuanced, and sensitive toregister.Vocabulary range andaccuracy are sufficient tocommunicate effectively oncommon, concrete, andwork-related topics.Paraphrases consistentlyand successfully.Vocabulary is sometimesidiomatic.Vocabulary range andaccuracy are usuallysufficient to communicateeffectively on common,concrete, and work-relatedtopics. Can often paraphrasesuccessfully when lackingvocabulary in unusual orunexpected circumstances.Levels 1, 2 and 3 are on subsequent pageAble to speak at length witha natural, effortless flow.Varies speech flow forstylistic effect, e.g. toemphasize a point. Usesappropriate discoursemarkers and connectorsspontaneously.Able to speak at length withrelative ease on familiartopics but may not varyspeech flow as a stylisticdevice. Can make use ofappropriate discoursemarkers or connectors.Produces stretches oflanguage at an appropriatetempo. There may beoccasional loss of fluencyon transition from rehearsedor formulaic speech tospontaneous interaction, butthis does not preventeffective communication.Can make limited use ofdiscourse markers orconnectors. Fillers are notdistracting.Comprehension isconsistently accurate innearly all contexts andincludes comprehension oflinguistic and culturalsubtleties.Comprehension is accurateon common, concrete, andwork-related topics andmostly accurate when thespeaker is confronted with alinguistic or situationalcomplication or anunexpected turn of events.Is able to comprehend arange of speech varieties(dialect and/or accent) orregisters.Comprehension is mostlyaccurate on common,concrete, and work- relatedtopics when the accent orvariety used is sufficientlyintelligible for aninternational community ofusers. When the speaker isconfronted with a linguisticor situational complicationor an unexpected turn ofevents, comprehension maybe slower or requireclarification strategies.Interacts with ease in nearlyall situations. Is sensitive toverbal and non-verbal cuesand responds to themappropriately.Responses are immediate,appropriate, andinformative. Manages thespeaker/listener relationshipeffectively.Responses are usuallyimmediate, appropriate, andinformative. Initiates andmaintains exchanges evenwhen dealing with anunexpected turn of events.Deals adequately withapparent misunderstandingsby checking, confirming, orclarifying.