Level 1 Can Do Statements
Level 1 communicative functions and notions (Speaking Skills)
I can……
Use register to help identify the spoken genre, situation and relationship
between speakers during verbal communication, e.g. formal language such as
‘I disagree’ compared to an informal expression such as ‘no way!’ when
taking part in a debate.
Take part in more formal interactions e.g an apology
Give factual accounts, e.g describe a process
Understand and follow the predictable pattern of a narrative
Ask different types of questions appropriate to the purpose and situation,
e.g. open, closed, embedded
respond to detail when following instructions
Use stress and intonation use to focus on the main point(s) of the
instructions.
Extract information of varying lengths
Use pitch, pausing and intonation in context in more formal situations, e.g.
for politeness, to increase the impact of a verbal warning about a job by
speaking slowly and deeply; or softly and gently when offering an apology; or
excited and raised pitch to introduce a new idea.
Describe and compare people, places and things, e.g. narrative, personal
information, discussion, indicating what is fact and what is opinion.
Narrate events in the past, e.g. using narrative tenses, including past perfect,
to give precise information about past time.
Use techniques to interrupt according to the formality of situation, e.g.
signalling by raising your hand
Give views and opinions and justify an opinion
Use features of formal language use during social conversation, such as
ellipsis, vague language, informal idiomatic expressions, e.g. during a
discussion at work or in the community.
Give advice and respond to advice by giving an appropriate reason or
explanation, e.g. accepting willingly, accepting reluctantly, rejecting politely,
expressing doubt or surprise.
Extract information on the telephone or face to face and respond
Understand and use conventions for turn taking
Articulate the sounds of English in connected speech
Register adaptation depending on the situation and relationship between
speakers, when asking about feelings, opinions, interests, wishes, hopes.
Understand spoken instructions
Use strategies to confirm and clarify understanding in formal and informal
interactions
Provide feedback and conformation when listening to others
Respond to a range of questions on a range of topics
Listen for gist in a conversation
Follow and participate in a discussion
Recognise features of spoken language
ESOL
Tick (P)
Curriculum when you
can do this.
Sc/L1.1c
Sd/L1.1b
Sc/L1.3b
Lr/L1.2
Sc/L1.2b
Sc/L1.3d
Sc/L1.1a
Lr/L1.1a
Sc/L1.1c
Sc/L1.3e
Sc/L1.3c
Sd/L1.4a
Sd/L1.2a
Sc/L1.1c
Sd/L1.2b
Lr/L1.1b
Sd/L1.3a
Sc/L1.1c
Sd/L1.1d
Lr/L1.2c
Lr/L1.3
LR/l1.4a
Lr/L1.5a
Lr/L1.6a
Lr/L1.6c
Lr/L1.6d
Level 1 Grammar/Language
I can……
Understand and use common prefixes and suffixes to aid understanding, e.g. bi,
tri, anti-, pro-, -ology.
Apply strategies to work out unfamiliar words, e.g. context, word structure,
meanings of adjacent words
Understand how grammatical features affect meaning, e.g. use of active and
passive sentences.
Use Zero, First and second and third conditional
Use and am aware of synonyms and antonyms
Use future tenses such as -Future going to, future will, future (dream) I would
like, present continuous with future meaning
Use some Idioms and homophones and their relation to meaning, e.g.
whole/hole, would/wood.
Use Pronouns (possessive and reflexive)
Use the past tenses, past continuous, past perfect
Use used to
Use defining and non-defining relative clauses
Use Language for suggestions, plans, agreement and disagreement
Use comparative and superlative structures
Use articles correctly
Use reported speech with a range of tenses
Prepositional, adjectival, adverbial phrases to show time, manner, degree,
extent, frequency, probability, e.g. ‘quite’, ‘almost’, ‘before’, ‘often’, ‘after’,
‘since’.
Use fewer and less intensifiers elg. Extremely, entirely, completely
Use complex sentences consisting of main clause and one or more subordinate
clauses.
Use of substitutions such as ‘one’, e.g. ‘I wanted a bar of chocolate so I bought
one’
Use spelling patterns, e.g. –ible, -able, -el, -le
Tick (P) when
you can do this.
1 Reading skills
I can……
Understand the main points of a text and the main focus
e.g development of a plot
Understand the purposes of text, e.g. persuasive,
explanatory, informative
Use organisational features and structural features to
locate information
Understand how punctuation aids meaning e.g colons,
speech marks, brackets, apostrophes
Use skimming, scanning and detailed reading in different
ways for different purposes
Understand how words can belong to different word
classes depending on text and meaning e.g verb (to
record), noun (a record), adjective (a record amount)
Understand language used to create different effects, e.g
descriptive language, slang, positive and negative terms,
jargon, or formal register
Use reference material to find information e.g a dictionary
Understand language used creatively e.g poetry
Understand vocabulary associated with text types. E.g
specialist terms in a technical booklet Words associated
with different text types, e.g. work-related vocabulary in
workplace reports.
Understand discourse markers to signal the direction of
text and link other sentences and paragraphs e.g
however, in addition, finally
Understand textual features, e.g. layout, format,
headings, genre conventions to support meaning, e.g.
warning signs.
Use grammatical knowledge to predict meaning, try out
plausible meanings and check for sense
ESOL
curriculum
Rt/L1.1a
Rt/L1.1a
Rt/L1.4a
Rs/L1.2a
Rt/L1.5a
Rw/L1.3a
RW/l1.2
Rt/L1.5b
Rw/L1.2a
Rs/L1.2a
Rt/L1.5a
Rt/L1.3a
Rs/L1/1a
Tick (P) when you
can do this.
Level 1 Writing skills
I can……
Use a range of punctuation correctly (e.g. full stops, question
marks, exclamation marks, commas, dashes, bullet points)
Spell words used most often in work, study and daily life,
including specialist words
Proof reading for meaning, accuracy of grammar, spelling and
punctuation
Use format, structure and language appropriate for audience
and purpose
Examples of format are letters, articles, emails, reports,
information sheets and leaflets.
Write text of an appropriate level of detail and of
appropriate length
(including where this is specified) to meet the needs of purpose
and audience
Write consistently and accurately in complex sentences, using
paragraphs where appropriate in a logical sequence
Plan for purpose, context, audience, and outcome, e.g.
email to friend, accident report at work.
Planning techniques, e.g. mind map, notes (including
abbreviations), lists, diagrams, flow charts.
Choose vocabulary and collocation for purpose, e.g.
formal letter openings and closing.
Use appropriate grammar (see grammar and language
above)
Level of detail in relation to content, purpose, and
audience, e.g. personal statement for job application.
Key features of texts, e.g. openings which signal subject
matter, concluding statements
Use conventions when filling out forms, e.g. block capitals
when required, a job application form with the section
‘previous education’ requires insertion of secondary
education achievements onwards.
Produce legible text and have a critical awareness of
handwriting
ESOL
Curriculum
Ws/L1.3a
Ww/L1.1
Wt/L1.7
Wt/L1.4
Wt/L1.2
Ws/L1/1a
Wt/L1.3
Wt/L1.1a
Wt/L1/4a
Ws/L1.2
Wt/L1.2
Ws/L1.1a
Wt/L1.6
Ww/L1.2a
Tick (P) when
you can do this.
Strategies for independent learning.
Try to do these things. They will help you to learn English.
 Look at the work you have done in class. Check your understanding.
 Do your homework.
 Keep a vocabulary list and revise it regularly.
 Read and practise dialogues. Try to memorise them.
 Record yourself speaking.
 Try to watch TV in English and understand the general meaning. Use subtitles
if you like.
 Listen to the radio and pick out key
words.
 Read the news headlines.
 Read books in English – if only for
a short time.
 Ask English-speaking friends and
family to explain words in English.
 Look up words in a bilingual dictionary e.g.: English-Arabic/EnglishRussian/English Bengali.
 Try to use your English when you are out and about.
 Join a local library. If you have children, read with them.