Professional learning paper:
Assessing progress and achievement in Modern Languages
Introduction
This document builds on the Principles and Practice paper which provides the educational rationale
which underpins the right of all children and young people to enjoy and benefit from the experience
of learning a modern language until the end of their Broad General Education. This rationale can be
summarised under three headings:
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communicative competence
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develop their ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings and respond to those of
other people
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develop a high level of skills in listening, talking, reading and writing which are essential
skills for learning, life and work
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use different media effectively for learning and communication.
the interconnected nature of languages:
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develop a secure understanding of how language works, and use language well to
communicate ideas and information in English and other languages
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exercise their intellectual curiosity by questioning and developing their understanding,
and use creative and critical thinking to synthesise ideas and arguments.
active citizenship
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enhance their enjoyment and their understanding of their own and other cultures
through literature and other forms of language
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develop competence in different languages so that they can understand and
communicate including, for some, in work settings.
To underpin the development of these high level attributes and capabilities, teachers and learners
will focus on developing the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities in
listening and talking, reading and writing in a modern language which are detailed in the Experiences
and Outcomes.
Learners will develop and extend their understanding of how language works and of the similarities
and differences between languages; they will draw on this knowledge as they use the modern
language to communicate effectively and reflect on their learning. They will enhance their
understanding and enjoyment of their own and other cultures and societies through listening and
talking with other young people and through reading, listening to, and responding to a wide range of
texts. As they do so, they will be afforded opportunities to develop skills for learning, life and work
such as working with others, creativity, problem solving and presenting information.
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This resource supplements the Principles and Practice papers and the Experiences and Outcomes.
The purpose of this document is to support professional learning and reflection on assessing
progress and achievement in Modern Languages by providing:
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further information on the significant aspects of learning
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an outline of what breadth, challenge and application look like.
It is designed to support quality assurance and moderation activities in planning for progression and
approaches to managing assessment.
Significant aspects of learning in modern languages
Teachers and learners will focus on developing the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes
and capabilities detailed in the Experiences and Outcomes. The Experiences and Outcomes in
Modern languages are organised within the same three components as Literacy and English, Literacy
and Gàidhlig and Gaelic (learners). The three components in each of these areas are:

listening and talking
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reading

writing.
Each of these components is itself a significant aspect of learning within Modern Languages. Thus,
assessment in Modern Languages will focus on learners’ knowledge, understanding, skills, attributes
and capabilities in the following significant aspects of learning:

listening and talking

reading

writing.
These significant aspects of learning in Modern Languages relate directly to the structure which is
described in the Principles and Practice paper and which underpins the organisation of the
Experiences and Outcomes.
Progression in the significant aspects of learning of Modern Languages will be evidenced as
practitioners and children and young people gather, observe and reflect on evidence of learners’
progression in knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities in:
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understanding and using a range of vocabulary
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understanding and using more complex sentences
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understanding and using a variety of spoken language
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producing oral responses and talks of greater length, complexity and accuracy
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understanding and using a range of texts
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deploying a range of reading strategies
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producing language for a variety of purposes
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producing written language with increasing complexity and accuracy.
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What do breadth, challenge and application look like in modern languages?
Well‐planned learning, teaching and assessment of a modern language provide opportunities across
the significant aspects of learning for learners to enjoy breadth, challenge and the application in new
and unfamiliar contexts of what they have learned.
Breadth
Breadth in modern languages relates to:
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new areas of language content and language use
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increasing awareness of language rules, including knowledge about language.
Learners will be able in the modern languages classroom to draw on their own experience and
interests; practitioners will provide opportunities to extend the number and range of meaningful
contexts beyond those of immediate interest to learners. Learners can extend their knowledge and
skills through producing and responding to a wide range of types of texts such as, for example,
anecdotes, fairy tales, ‘easy readers’, games, rhymes, instructions, recipes, poems, text messages, e‐
mails, interviews, plays, simulations, jokes, tongue twisters, riddles, posters and graphic novels. As
they do so, they will extend the range of language they can understand and use and develop their
knowledge of language structures. Opportunities for breadth, both in language and in understanding
culture and issues of world citizenship, can also be provided through drawing on stories and other
texts from a range of countries where the language is spoken as well as those of the ‘home’ country.
Challenge
Challenge in modern languages relates to:

increasing independence and reduced level of support, including peer or teacher support,
and support through wordlists and dictionaries
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increasing length and complexity of text and task in listening and reading

increasing length, complexity and accuracy of response in talking and writing

increasing confidence in taking the initiative (including asking for help) and sustaining
communication.
Opportunities for challenge in listening and talking, reading and writing are provided as learners
meet and use a wider range of language, some of which will be unfamiliar or in contexts unfamiliar
to them. Learners can, for example, be challenged by the use of some unfamiliar vocabulary and
structures, by unpredictability, or by the use of a range of speakers with different accents. Openended questioning, by practitioners and peers, is in itself challenging and provides opportunities for
learners to present evidence of having successfully met challenges in their learning.
Interacting with children and young people from other countries for whom the relevant modern
language is their first language will afford opportunities to use texts, oral and written, which are
longer, more complex in structure and more complex grammatically, and which use new and
unfamiliar vocabulary. ICT offers wide and readily available authentic resources suitable for
supporting classroom activities. At all times until the end of the Broad General Education,
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practitioners should make clear their consistently high expectations in terms of appropriateness to
context and audience and of the technical accuracy of the language produced by learners.
Application
As learners develop understanding and skills in modern languages, they can apply these in a wide
range of situations which are new and unfamiliar and so extend the purposes for which they
produce language. Application develops communicative competence and knowledge of language as
well as international citizenship and understanding. These situations may include, for example:
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presentations, debates, role-plays and performances within the classroom
events in the life of the school
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major international sporting and cultural events
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interdisciplinary learning involving for example, social studies, religious and moral education
or religious education in Roman Catholic schools, health and wellbeing, food and nutrition,
citizenship, conservation, the rights of the child

the use of authentic modern language material, usually supported by the use of ICT, from
relevant countries.
Such a range of contexts will provide motivating opportunities for learners to apply and develop
their language skills in responding to authentic material and contexts. Learners may further apply
and extend their knowledge and language skills through partnership with other schools.
Planning for progression through breadth, challenge and application in modern languages
Language skills should be developed in an integrated manner, reflecting their use in real life
situations, including those of the learners themselves and those of children and young people in
other countries. In this way, learners will be afforded opportunities to develop their knowledge of
the structure of the modern language, understand how it relates to their own language and use this
knowledge and understanding to support progress in the significant aspects of learning. As they do
so, they will be afforded opportunities to develop grammatical language which will enable them to
discuss language structures.
1. Listening and talking
Learners, as they progress through school to the end of their broad general education, will listen to
spoken texts which contain an increasing range of vocabulary. The vocabulary they hear, understand
and use will extend from that needed to understand simple structures and to share basic personal
information to that required by a range of themes. These themes will extend from their own life and
life in their own locality to encompass life and the culture of other societies; from day-to-day
practical interactions to discussion of global social or environmental issues. Within any one theme
learners will progress from basic more familiar vocabulary to that required by more challenging
aspects of the theme. By the end of their Broad General Education they will have developed
knowledge of a range of vocabulary and the capability to use this such as to allow them to
communicate their thoughts and feelings and respond to those of other people.
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As learners progress, they will develop their capacity to understand complex sentences with
connectors, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs and to understand sentences with a range of tenses
and structures. On occasion, structures which they hear will be unfamiliar to them and require them
to draw on their knowledge of language to help them understand and respond appropriately.
Learners will develop the ability to understand spoken language used in a variety of ways. They will
access spoken language used for a growing range of purposes (from nursery rhymes and simple
stories through to brief news reports to discussions of social and cultural matters). The intended
audiences of the texts to which they listen will extend over. On occasion the intended audiences will
include people for whom the modern language is their first language. As they progress they will
listen to and respond in a variety of ways to more formal presentations by one or more speakers, to
informal conversations with several participants and to spoken language provided through a range
of media. Their knowledge of language will support them in understanding and in determining an
appropriate response. Learners will develop an understanding of more complex references to
cultural aspects of the countries where the language is spoken.
As the length and complexity of texts increase and as the variety of sources from which they are
drawn increases, so also will the length, complexity and accuracy of learners’ oral responses. Their
responses will demonstrate greater levels of interaction and a broader knowledge of structure. In
conversations, learners will move from predictable, prepared exchanges to those with a degree of
unpredictability. Learners will be able to adapt language to suit the occasion and context. Learners’
interactions in conversations will use increasingly well‐structured sentences. They will cope with
questions which use some unexpected vocabulary or structures. Learners will develop their capacity
to ask questions and ask for help where appropriate. They will be able to lead a conversation as well
as respond to others. Learners will be able to talk for long enough periods to demonstrate the level
of language outlined here.
Learners will extend the variety of purposes and themes of interest for which they produce language,
including giving opinions and straightforward reasons. As they do so, they will speak at increasing
length, making use of structures appropriate to the task and audience. They will use an increasing
range of interesting vocabulary in different contexts. As they do so, learners will make use of
reference materials to support the production of more extended talks and presentations.
2. Reading
As learners progress through school to the end of their Broad General Education, the texts which
they read will make use of an increasing range of vocabulary. The vocabulary they read and
understand will extend from that needed to express basic personal information to that required by a
growing range of themes. These themes will extend from their own life and life in their own locality
to encompass life and the culture of other societies; from understanding written instructions in daily
life to accounts of global, social or environmental issues. Within any one theme learners will
progress beyond acquiring a basic vocabulary to that required by more challenging aspects of the
theme. By the end of their Broad General Education they will have developed a secure knowledge of
the range of vocabulary essential for their further learning.
As learners progress, they will develop their capacity to understand texts which make use of complex
sentences with connectors, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs and sentences with a range of tenses
and structures. On occasion, structures which they read will be unfamiliar to them and require them
to draw on their knowledge of language to help them understand and respond appropriately.
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Increasingly, learners will understand texts which they read independently, using a bilingual
dictionary with confidence; they will require less support from word banks or the teacher. Working
with others allows learners to share the development of their understanding of longer and more
complex texts and of texts in a range of formats.
At the same time, learners will develop and use a range of reading strategies to work out meaning,
such as scanning for information, recognising cognates or using contextual clues. They will develop
these strategies as they read a growing variety of texts – illustrated rhymes and stories, simple
fictional and non-fictional accounts, timetables, menus and bills, notices, instructions and recipes,
news items, reference materials and discussions. They will develop their skills and capabilities in
applying these strategies to texts provided in a variety of formats and through different media,
including on-line texts. They will be supported to select and use the reading strategies appropriate to
different types of texts and purposes for reading.
3. Writing
Learners will extend the range of vocabulary which they use. As they hear and read a growing range
of types of texts and as the texts of any one type become more complex, they will have
opportunities to acquire knowledge and understanding of an extended vocabulary. They will be
afforded opportunities to respond and to write appropriate texts making use of this vocabulary.
They will be able to use their knowledge of language to build up their understanding of the ways in
which words can be formed.
Learners will produce language which is increasingly complex and accurate in terms of grammatical
forms and sentence structure. They will develop their capacity to make use in their writing of a
growing range of tenses and sentence structures, including complex sentences. As they move from
second to third level they will develop their capabilities in using tense to convey the notion of past,
present and future time and to use connectors, adjectives and adverbs consistently. They will
develop their capabilities through drawing on their knowledge of language to help them create
sentences of a complexity appropriate to the intended purpose and content of their writing.
The development of this knowledge and understanding will enhance learners’ capabilities to write
for a variety of purposes and to refer to a variety of themes of interest; they will progress from
simple brief statements of fact related to themselves and their own immediate contexts through
longer factual accounts of a variety of incidents to giving opinions and straightforward reasons. They
will make use of an increasing range of text genres and structures appropriate to the task and
audience. As they do so, they will develop their capabilities to write at increasing length. They will
use an increasing range of appropriate vocabulary in different contexts. As they develop their skills
in writing, learners will use reference materials and other texts to plan more complex writing and
check the accuracy of their own and others’ work, but will make less use of support from dictionaries
or word lists to produce writing of an appropriate standard.
Additional specific advice related to assessment in Modern Languages
In listening and talking, practitioners may use class activities as powerful evidence of the learner’s
ability to understand and respond appropriately in a conversation or role‐play. Learners may also be
asked to listen for information such as key facts from a news bulletin or story. Practitioners can plan
to use the learner’s performance in paired or group talking activities to build up an ongoing picture
of the learner’s ability to respond in conversations or role‐plays; some of these may be recorded for
evidence purposes. Learners may also be assessed on presentations given to their peers or other
audiences.
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In reading, learners will demonstrate developing skills through planned activities such as searching
the internet for information in the modern language on a project, reading from a range of texts for
information on events or reading an extract from a novel which fits in with their topic. They may
demonstrate their understanding and progress in a range of ways, such as summarising key points or
following instructions.
In writing practitioners may use learners’ performance in a range of writing activities in class as
ongoing indicators of progress. These could include writing instructions for a game, entering news
on a class blog, composing slides for a presentation, or writing their opinions on a theme.
Evidence derived from classroom activities may be supported by evidence drawn from
interdisciplinary learning, learners’ participation in school activities and, where appropriate, from
personal achievements in and out of school. Learners will provide evidence not only of their skills in
understanding and using the language but also of their knowledge of language structures and of the
cultures and societies of the language they are studying.
Learners may progress at different rates in different components and can achieve a level in one
component of Modern Languages before doing so in others.
Next steps
Practitioners are encouraged to use this document to support professional dialogue through quality
assurance and moderation activities. It may be used by individuals to inform reflection on practice
and plan for improvement in approaches to supporting learners in their progress and achievement.
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