Question #1: Will my student be able to speak Spanish?
In language teaching, the ability to “speak” a language is measured by the
student’s proficiency. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
(ACTFL) defines proficiency as “ the measure of one’s ability to use the language.”
ACTFL also divides abilities of proficiency into four main categories: Novice,
Intermediate, Advanced and Superior. These are further divided into: Low, Mid and
High. So, the lowest level that a student can be at would be Novice-Low, while the
highest a student can obtain would be Superior-High.
A student’s proficiency depends on a variety of aspects. Students who obtain
a high level on the ACTFL scale are usually those students who immerse themselves
in the language being learned. These students will often-times listen to music in the
language they are studying, watch tutorial videos on aspects of the language that
they do not fully comprehend, befriend native speakers of the language that they are
trying to speak and any other variety of methods that they can find to enhance their
learning experience. Therefore, in order to reach high proficiency levels, the time
allotted to classroom study of the language simply isn’t enough. A student who truly
wishes to speak and be able to communicate in the language must apply themselves
and take advantage of every opportunity for learning and practicing.
ACTFL’s Four Major Proficiency Levels
Novice
Speakers can communicate only in common, highly predictable daily
situations using memorized and formulaic speech. They may be
difficult to understand, even by those accustomed to interacting with
non-native speakers.
Intermediate Speakers can ask and answer questions and can maintain simple
conversations on familiar topics using sentences and strings of
sentences. They can usually be understood by those accustomed to
non-native speakers, although some repetition may be needed.
Speakers can converse fluently and discuss topics of personal
Advanced
interest. They can describe and narrate events in the past,
present, and future using paragraph-like discourse. They can be
understood without difficulty, even by those unaccustomed to
nonnative speakers
Superior
Speakers can participate effectively in most formal and informal
conversations on practical, social, professional, and abstract
topics. They can explain in detail, hypothesize, and support their
opinions. At this level, errors never interfere with communication
ACTFL’s Oral Proficiency Expectations
The following chart outlines on which level an average student should be able to
obtain after completing a certain number of year(s) of studying a foreign language in
a high school setting without any additional studying or immersion into the
language “outside” of the classroom.
First Year
Second Year
Third Year
Fourth Year
Fifth Year
Novice-Mid
Intermediate-Low
Intermediate
Intermediate- High
Advanced
As one can decipher from the above chart, if a student fails to do any studying,
practicing or immersion into the language outside of class/school, after three years
of classes, that student will be able to only speak in simple, piecemeal sentences and
require much repetition from native speakers when attempting to understand what
a native speaker is saying to them.