Band

Fluency and coherence

Lexical resource

Grammatical range and accuracy

Pronunciation (now changed)

9

·   speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words or grammar

·   speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features 

·    develops topics fully and appropriately

·   uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics

·    uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately

·    uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately

·    produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ characteristic of native speaker speech

8

·    speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language

·    develops topics coherently and appropriately

·    uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning

·    uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skillfully with occasional inaccuracies

·   uses paraphrase effectively as required

·     uses a wide range of structures flexibly

·      produces a majority of error free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors

·      is easy to understand throughout, with L1 accent having minimal effect on intelligibility

·     uses a wide range of phonological features to convey meaning effectively

7

·   speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of      coherence 

·   uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility 

·   may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction.

·   uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics

·   uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation with some  inappropriate choices 

·   uses paraphrase effectively 

·     uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility

·     frequently produces error free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist

6

·    is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self correction or hesitation 

·   uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately

·    has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies

·    generally paraphrases 
successfully

·     uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility

·     may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems

·      can be understood throughout, though mispronunciation may occasionally cause momentary strain for the listener

5

·    usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self-correction and/or slow speech to keep going  

·    may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers 

·   produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems

·    manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility

·    attempts to paraphrase but with mixed success

·      produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy 

·     uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems

4

·    cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction

·    links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple connectives and some breakdowns in coherence

·  is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice

·   rarely attempts paraphrase

·      produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare 

·    errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding

·     produces some acceptable features of English pronunciation but overall control is limited and there can be severe strain for the listener

3

·   speaks with long pauses  

·   has limited ability to link simple sentences

·    gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message

·    uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information 

·    has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics

·      attempts basic sentence forms but with limited succ ess, or relies on apparently memorized utterances 

·      makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions

2

·  pauses lengthily before most words

·    little communication possible

·    only produces isolated words or memorised utterances

·     cannot produce basic sentence forms 

·      speech is often unintelligible

1

·   no communication possible

·    no rateable language

0

·   does not attend