Speaking Rubric
How well do you complete the task?
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Completes task vs. performance expectation
o Completes the task: Student accomplishes all aspects of the task, explicitly given
in the directions of the student page
o Performance expectation: the time the student is required to speak (usually 2
minutes)
Responses vs. Details vs. Elaboration:
o Responses: is the language students use to accomplish the task. Responses are
the ‘simple facts’ for example:
 Tell where you went yesterday….(response) I went to the grocery store.
o Details: is additional information to specify the response.
 Tell where you went yesterday...(response) I went to the grocery store
named Kroger.
o Elaboration: is the embellishment of the detail
 Tell where you went yesterday…(response) I went to the grocery store
named Kroger. Kroger is near my house on Independence.
How well are you understood?
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L1 interference: When the students apply 1st language (usually English) rules to target
language performance. The following are examples of L1 interference:
 Word order: bonita chica rather than chica bonita OR yo soy no rather than
yo no soy
 Word-for-word translation: Yo soy juego videojuegos rather than yo juego
videojuegos OR es hace frío rather than hace frío OR yo soy hambre rather
than yo tengo hambre
 Article usage: Yo tengo un el lápiz OR Yo uso el computadora
 Syntax errors: Mi mama es simpática
 Made up words: stampas rather than sellos
 Applying L1 phoneme rules to L2: mi amigas casa shows the student
wanting to use the ‘s phoneme from L1 to apply for possession in L2
Pauses – unexpectedly placed: pauses are expected at this level; the placement of the
pauses, however, may hinder the listener from ‘following’ the intended message.
Detract from message: To the degree that L1 interference impedes the listener from
understanding the intended message
*Note: at the Novice Level, verbs may or may not be conjugated. Conjugation issues are
reflected in the student’s accuracy rather than the vocabulary score.
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How extensive and applicable is your vocabulary?
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Pertinent group of vocabulary vs. multiple vocabulary groups
o Pertinent group of vocabulary: Is the relevant vocabulary needed for the
students to accomplish the task (i.e. on a task asking students to describe their
favorite class, a students would use class names, time, description, other schoolrelated vocabulary)
o Multiple vocabulary groups: Is the relevant vocabulary students may use from
past vocabulary sets (i.e. on a task asking students to describe their favorite class,
a students say: Biology is my favorite class because I want to be a doctor like my
dad. My dad is a doctor at a hospital…This student incorporated past vocabulary
about professions and family as relevant to the topic of the task: favorite class),
current/pertinent vocabulary, and self-selected vocabulary
o Non-relevant vocabulary: Is the vocabulary that does not relate to the task in any
way, such as: off-topic vocabulary, non-school appropriate vocab, English as a
replacement for a needed word.
Lists of words: refers to relevant vocabulary expressed at the word level. The following
bolded/underlined portions are examples of lists of words:
o Yo bien. Yo deportista, fútbol, básquetbol, monopatín y videojuegos.
o ¿Dónde panaderia? Calle Independence. Pan. Bueno.
Learned phrases vs. simple sentences vs. (strings) complex sentences
o Learned phrases: refers to the memorized grammatical phrases and/or common
questions that were taught lexically, such as: me gusta…, yo necesito…, yo soy…,
¿Cuántos años tienes?, ¿Adónde fuiste?, ¿y tú?, etc.
o Simple sentences*: refers to sentences only expressed with subject and verb,
such as:
 Yo fui al supermercado OR Yo ir al supermercado
 Yo juego fútbol OR Yo jugar fútbol
 Yo como helado. OR Yo comer helado
o Complex sentences: refers to sentences that extend the predicate, such as
 Yo fui al supermercado a las diez
 Yo juego fútbol después de la escuela
 Yo como helado con mi papá.
o Strings of complex sentences: refers to connected sentences, such as
 Yo fui al supermercado a las diez. Yo necesitaba papel para mi proyecto de
ingles. El supermercado compré el papel y unos marcadores también
 Me gusta el fútbol. Yo juego fútbol después de la escuela. Estoy muy
cansado después. Camino a mi casa para dormir.
 Yo como helado con mi papá. Nosotros comemos helado cada noche. Me
gusta chocolate y mi papá come vainilla.
Flavoring words: refers to words, phrases, expressions the student may use to “extend”
to task to make it personal. Examples includes, but are not limited to: adding appropriate
introduction that ‘sets up’ their topic (i.e. Hi friends! I’m here to help you know how to
travel and have fun….)
Sequencing vs. transition words
o Sequencing words: words/phrases such as, but not limited to: primero,
segundo, tercero, luego, entonces, antes de, después de, finalmente
o Transition words: words/phrases such as, but not limited to: y, pero, porque,
cuando, también, tampoco
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How Accurate is your language?
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Level appropriate: ACTFL has established a the guidelines by which we determine what
a level 1 or level 2 student can do:
Novice (Level 1 & 2): * Novice Level control of structures: most accurate when context is
very familiar; accuracy decreases when attempting to create original language; often relies
on words/memorized phrases and tends to use them as lexical items without awareness of
grammatical structure; may use invented spelling when writing individually; exhibits
frequent errors in capitalization & punctuation when L2 differs from L1
Intermediate (Level 3 & 4): ** Intermediate Level control of structures: most accurate when
creating with the language about very familiar topics in present time using simple
sentences and/or strings of sentences; exhibit a decline in accuracy as creativity increases;
begin to apply familiar structures to new situations; evidence awareness of capitalization
and/or punctuation with fairly good accuracy when writing in TL; recognize some
spelling errors and make appropriate adjustments; may use false cognates, show only
partial control of newly acquired expressions, or resort to L1 when attempting to
communicate beyond the scope of familiar topics.
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Pattern of control of structures: though a student’s performance may include errors, the
rubric allows the teacher to see what the student can do, determining if there is a pattern
of what the student structurally can do rather than the student just being able to correctly
conjugate one or twice.
Patterns of error: a WOW student is expected to have level appropriate errors. Those
errors are minimal.
Sympathetic listener: one who is very accustomed to interacting with language learners
(Individual teacher expectations are not applicable here.)
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Writing Rubric
How well are you understood?
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Effort: refers to the degree to which the teacher must ‘work’ to understand the intended
message, whether that effort is occasional or must be sustained while reading.
Occasionally (from time to time, not often), the teacher pauses to ‘re-read’ the student’s
work to try to understand what is being said. Sustained (often, repeatedly), the teacher
must pause and may need to re-read a few times in order to be able to understand the
student’s work.
Attempt at organization: this portion of the rubric requires the student’s writing follow a
sequence of ideas. Students are not expected to have opening sentences, supporting
sentences, and a closing for their writing. They are only assessed on the fact that their
writing shows some sort of organization, for example: topic is for the student to describe
his/her family. The writing begins with the student mentioning his/her mother and
describing the mother ‘fully’ before continuing to the description of another family.
Interpersonal Rubric
How well do you complete the task?
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Maintain conversation: evaluates students attempts to ‘keep the conversation going’
Uses repeated words to maintain conversation:
o student may just repeat, more than once, a question/statement rather than
rephrasing to help partner understand or ‘keep the conversation going.’
o Student uses same question with single word substitution: (A) ¿Dónde trabaja tu
madre? For the next question, either partner A or B might ask ¿Dónde trabaja tu
padre?
How well are you understood?
 ‘by your partner’ as judged by your teacher: before this performance, teachers should
remind students that though this category does evaluate how well they are understood
by their partner, points will not be deducted from students who ask a comprehensible
question that a partner does not understand.
 Basic questions vs. Complete questions vs. well-developed questions:
o Basic questions: words/phrases such as, but not limited to: ¿y tú?, ¿Por qué?,
¿Cuándo?, ¿Dónde?, ¿Con quién?, etc.
o Complete questions:
 ¿Por qué fuiste a la casa de tu abuela?
 ¿Dónde vives?
o Well-developed:
 Por qué fuiste a la casa de tu abuela en vez de la casa de tu tía?
 ¿Vives tú en una casa o en un apartamento?
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