Student Guide to Completing Levels at the IEI
Level 600
At the end of Level 600, you can:
Academic Listening and Speaking
Demonstrate understanding of main
ideas and important supporting
information in lectures of 20-35
minutes and synthesize information
from the lectures with information
from other sources. Demonstrate
critical thinking by developing advanced
research- and source-based
presentations. Collect data and explain
and display it in chart form. Lead and
participate in class discussions.
Respond appropriately to others’
arguments from sources.
Academic Reading and Writing
Read, comprehend, and analyze the structure
of texts ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 words.
Write a 5- to 9- paragraph argumentative essay
following an organizational pattern appropriate
for academic writing. Quote, paraphrase, and
summarize information from 4 to 6 sources
using APA format. Use accurate punctuation
and spelling as well as the vocabulary and
grammar of academic writing.
Level 500
At the end of Level 500, you can:
Academic Listening and Speaking
Identify main ideas and important
details in authentic lectures of 15-20
minutes. Give basic group and
individual academic presentations
based on multiple sources. Use
appropriate language and strategies for
participating in class discussions.
Present a well-developed argument and
respond to arguments from others.
Academic Reading and Writing
Read, comprehend, and analyze the structure
of texts ranging from 800 to 3,000 words. Write
a 5-paragraph essay following an organizational
pattern appropriate for academic writing.
Quote, paraphrase, and summarize information
from 2 to 3 sources using APA format. Use
accurate punctuation and spelling as well as the
vocabulary and grammar of academic writing.
Everyday Listening and Speaking
(500-600)
Demonstrate understanding of
main ideas and important details
in 10-20 minute listening
segments from popular media.
Develop conversation skills,
including making small talk,
expressing ideas and opinions,
giving peer feedback, telling
stories, and recounting a report
from a news source.
Everyday Reading and Writing
(500-600)
Read and comprehend a
moderately complex book of
fiction or nonfiction, 250 to 450
pages in length, with scaffolding
as needed. Write polite and
appropriate formal and informal
texts to fulfill personal and
professional needs.
Level 400
At the end of Level 400, you can:
Listening and Speaking
Demonstrate understanding of main ideas,
details and purpose of three to eight-minute
unadapted texts. Make individual
presentations or participate in conversations
lasting four to seven minutes, speaking with
sufficiently accurate grammar and
pronunciation that meaning is not impaired.
Reading and Writing
Read expository and fiction texts ranging from 1000word expository articles to 200-page books;
summarize and analyze development of central ideas
and themes, story elements, audience, and structure.
Cite textual evidence orally to support opinions.
Write and revise multiple-paragraph texts to examine
a topic or support a point of view.
Version: Fall 2014
Grammar
Develop complexity in writing through the incorporation of
a variety of time frames, multiple dependent clause types,
subordinating conjunctions, and accurate punctuation and
capitalization. Express meaning through the use of correct
grammatical forms, including: appropriate noun forms,
articles, quantifiers, modal verbs, and gerunds and
infinitives as subject and object.
Student Guide to Completing Levels at the IEI
Level 300
At the end of Level 300, you can:
Listening and Speaking / Pronunciation
Demonstrate an understanding of a
speaker’s attitude and position in spoken
language with fairly complex relationships
between facts, people, and ideas.
Maintain a two-to-three minute
conversation about familiar or unfamiliar
situations and make a six- to eight-minute
presentation about a personal experience
or social situation. Produce accurate
stress, intonation, and rhythm in
controlled practice tasks.
Reading
Identify topics, main ideas, and supporting
details in texts of eight to ten paragraphs
(700 to 1000 words) with indirectly stated
main ideas, “buried” topic sentences, and
qualified points of view. Understand and
recognize vocabulary on common topics.
Use vocabulary strategies such as
recognizing various types of context and
word part clues. Demonstrate the ability to
process more abstract pronoun references.
Writing
Write and revise single
paragraphs to examine a topic or
support a point of view using
personal experience. Use simple,
compound, and basic complex
sentences. Capitalize,
punctuate, and spell accurately.
Grammar
Write sentences with increasingly
complex grammatical structures in
less structured tasks. Demonstrate
the ability to use parallel
structures, common transitions,
direct and indirect speech in
written work with increasing
accuracy.
Reading
Identify topics, main ideas, and supporting
details in straightforward, single-topic texts
of five to seven paragraphs and 600 to 800
words. Recognize and use vocabulary
relating to texts studied in class.
Make reasonable guesses about the
meanings of clearly contextualized words.
Demonstrate the ability to process concrete
pronoun references (it, she, he, they).
Grammar
Write basic compound and
complex sentences using simple
verbs in past, present, and
future tenses as well as
progressive verbs in past and
present tenses. Write with an
increasing number of modals for
everyday functions. Improve
accuracy in use of noun forms,
quantifiers, and comparative
and superlative forms.
Pronunciation
Perceive and produce English
vowel, consonant, and ending
sounds in controlled and semicontrolled tasks. Explain how and
why to produce English with
natural rhythm, stress, and
intonation. Predict and produce
rhythm, stress placement, and
intonation patterns in controlled
tasks. Perceive and produce stress
patterns in familiar words and
compound nouns.
Reading
Identify topics and supporting details in
simple texts of four to six paragraphs and
500 to 700 words. Recognize and use
vocabulary of everyday life. Recognize
simple pronoun references for concrete
noun phrases.
Grammar
Write simple sentences in the
correct order using simple past
and present verbs, present
progressive verbs, and some
modal verbs. Use correct
pronouns as well as the simplest
and most frequent determiners
in writing.
Pronunciation
Perceive and produce English
vowel, consonant, -s, and -ed
ending sounds in controlled
speaking/listening tasks. Identify
and produce stressed and reduced
syllables in familiar words and
numbers. Predict and produce
English rhythm, including trimming
and blending.
Level 200
At the end of Level 200, you can:
Listening and Speaking
Demonstrate an understanding of the
speaker’s attitude and basic relationships
between facts, people, and ideas.
Understand and use conversational
English in many everyday situations.
Explain personal and routine experiences
in planned speaking tasks. Use some
compound and complex sentences
appropriate for the situation.
Level 100
At the end of Level 100, you can:
Listening and Speaking
Demonstrate understanding of main ideas
and details in adapted texts on familiar
everyday topics. Participate in simple
conversations; give short presentations
about yourself, family and everyday life.
Use simple grammatical patterns and
basic everyday vocabulary.
Version: Fall 2014