Level A2 Reading and Viewing

The students' performance in these tasks suggest that they are working within the range of Level A2 in Reading and Viewing. The assessing teacher will need to consider a range of student samples in order to determine whether each student is at the beginning of A2, consolidating A2 or at the A2 standard in Reading and Viewing.          

At beginning Level A2 students:       

• recognise some words in English and make some attempts to read unknown words using initial sounds
• continue to use early decoding skills but they are not yet able to predict from language context alone because of their developing English proficiency
• are mostly reliant on illustrations and teacher support to establish meaning in a text and may not understand everything that they read
• can follow and read short, simple texts along with the teacher and class in shared reading activities.

At consolidating Level A2 students:       

• are beginning to apply their developing reading skills with more confidence and independence
• recognise some common genres and their features
• can identify key information in a text with some support from the teacher but comprehension of unfamiliar topics will be more limited
• begin to recognise that information can be represented in visual forms
• are beginning to rely less on teacher support when reading individually but still benefit from reading well known texts about familiar topics with support from the teacher.

At Level A2 Achievement Standard students:       

• read and respond to a wide range of familiar texts. These texts may be print or digital texts, including visual, multimodal or interactive texts.
• predict, ask questions, retell and talk about texts read and viewed in class
• read a range of topic-related classroom texts, with support
• can read familiar texts with some fluency
• read back their own writing or own sentences recorded by another
• use texts purposefully, following simple procedural texts and finding basic information in texts
• discuss simply the events in texts and characters' feelings and actions
• identify the purposes of familiar text types including classroom texts, simple stories and factual texts
• use their developing knowledge of context, sound–symbol relationships, word patterns and text structure to read simple familiar and unfamiliar texts
• interpret simple images and identify the layout of a range of text types.

Student information

This student is six years and three months old and has been in Australia for four months. She is from the Philippines and speaks Filipino at home. She attended school for one year in the Philippines, where she had a little exposure to English. She has been in a Foundation class in an English language school for four months in Australia. She will exit into a mainstream school in a few weeks after completing this assessment task.        

Task

As part of larger units of work on Food and Minibeasts, the student was asked to complete a computer-based task following a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. In the task the student matches days of the week, pictures of food, numbers sentences and stages of the butterfly’s life cycle. The student also read the instructions to complete these tasks.       

The teacher was using the task to assess the student’s ability to respond to a familiar text with limited support as well as the student’s use of cues and strategies to decipher unknown words. The teacher wanted to know the extent to which the student could:       

• demonstrate her understanding of a familiar text
• retell the main events of the story she had read
• recognise familiar words in new or different contexts.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)
• Understand how different types of images in texts contribute to meaning (VCEALA116)
• Focus on both content and functional words to understand the main idea in a text (VCEALL126)
• Recognise that full stops and question marks separate text (VCEALL133)
• Relate most letters of the alphabet to sounds (VCEALL131)
  

Overall, this student can also:

• Understand a small range of simple, familiar texts (VCEALC112)
• Understand information in texts read and viewed in class (VCEALC113)
• Read familiar texts with some fluency (VCEALL135)
• Read familiar phrases and sentences with fluency (VCEALL128)
• Recognise a small range of familiar words in different contexts (VCEALL129)
• Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)
• Understand and use the basic features of different texts (VCEALL124)
• Use knowledge of context, text structure and language to understand literal and inferred meanings (VCEALC114)
• Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)
• Understand that the purpose of a text is reflected in its form (VCEALA117)

Possible next steps for this student's learning

• Reading, understanding and responding to common instructions in other areas of the curriculum, for example, in Science or Maths (VCEALL046)
• Discussing familiar texts to develop inferential understanding of texts (VCEALC114)
• Relating a similar personal experience to the character, such as growing up (VCEALA122)
• Describing the similarities and differences between the character and own experiences for example between the human life cycle and a minibeast life cycle (VCEALA122)
  

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Foundation student who is working within the range of A2 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway A of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.       

A Foundation student should consistently demonstrate the final achievement standard in Pathway A (Level A2) in all three language modes before they transition to the English curriculum.        

 They will need to be equally capable across all three language modes to be able to meet the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their mainstream peers, and without substantial language support.        

They will need to be sufficiently proficient in understanding and using the academic language across the learning areas to participate in learning activities across the Victorian curriculum.        

They will also need to be able to understand and use the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the Victorian curriculum increase, for example in Year 3 and 4.

Student information

The student was born in Thailand to parents who had left Burma and Burmese is the main language spoken at home. She is now six years and nine months old and has been in Australia for four years. The student has been attending school in Australia for one year and nine months. Previously she attended an English language school for one year before moving to her current school, where she is in Year 1 participating in a refugee bridging program.       

Task

The task involves the students participating in some activities based on a class reading of Little Red Riding Hood. This is a genre that is familiar to the class, as they have previously read other folk tales and children’s stories, including other versions of this story. The teacher read the story to the whole class, using a big book, and then the students retold the story with reference to the pictures. The class then re-read the story with students reading the parts for the different characters. Following these class readings, the students then chose some statements, which they classified as true or false and then shared their evaluations of the statements with the teacher.       

The teacher wanted to assess how well the student could read a familiar text and read simple statements to confirm their understanding of the story they had read.       

In particular, she wanted to see how well the student:       

• participated in a simple group task based on the shared reading of the text
• recalled factual information from texts read and viewed in class
• used a range of cues when reading
• read a well-known text with some fluency.

In the transcript, the words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold. The words of the teacher and other students are in normal font.       

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

Overall, this student can also:

• Understand a small range of simple, familiar texts (VCEALC112)
• Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)
• Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)
• Read familiar texts with some fluency (VCEALL135)

Possible next steps for this student's learning

Student information

The student is 8 years old and in Year 2. They were born in Iran and speak Persian at home. They had age-equivalent schooling in Iran. They have been in Australia for 9 months and are currently in a new arrivals program.

Task

The students have recently completed a unit of work about the beach, in which they learned about sea creatures and the marine environment and participated in an excursion to the beach.  In this task, the student read an informative text At the Beach with support from the teacher.  They were then asked to retell information, to answer some simple comprehension questions and to make connections with her own experience at the beach.  The task was completed one-to-one in a familiar environment.  

The teacher is assessing the student’s ability to:

• retell information from the text
• demonstrate understanding by answering simple questions
• recognise familiar words in new or different contexts
• relate something from the text to their own experience.

The words spoken by the student/s being assessed are in bold.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Understand a small range of simple, familiar texts (VCEALC112)
• Understand how different types of images in texts contribute to meaning (VCEALA116)
• Read familiar phrases and sentences with fluency (VCEALL128)
• Recognise that full stops and question marks separate text (VCEALL133)
• Read familiar texts with some fluency(VCEALL135)
• Understand information in texts read and viewed in class (VCEALC113)
• Use knowledge of context, text structure and language to understand literal and inferred meanings (VCEALC114)
• Relate something from a text to own experience(VCEALA122)
• Relate something from a text to own experience (VCEALA122)

Possible next steps for this student’s learning

• Read an increasing range of simple texts (VCEALC112)
• Identify and compare differences in text genres (VCEALL123)
• Learn a small range of metalanguage for elements of texts (VCEALL125)
• Recognise and use full stops and question marks to guide intonation (VCEALL133)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Year 2 student who is working within the range of A2 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway A of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.

A Year 2 student should consistently demonstrate the final achievement standard in Pathway A (Level A2) in all three language modes before they transition to the English curriculum.  

They will need to be equally capable across all three language modes to be able to meet the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their mainstream peers, and without substantial language support. 

They will need to be sufficiently proficient in understanding and using the academic language across the learning areas to participate in learning activities across the Victorian curriculum. 

They will also need to be able to understand and use the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the Victorian curriculum increase, for example in Year 3 and 4.     

The teacher may also exercise their professional judgement to place the student on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum rather than transitioning them to the English curriculum. The teacher should review the student’s language proficiency across the Victorian curriculum learning areas and determine where the student is best placed on Pathway B in each of the three language modes. The student will then start on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum in all language modes. 

Student information

The student came to Australia from China 9 months ago and speaks Chinese at home. They are 7 years and 11 months old and in Year 2. They had age-equivalent schooling in China and are currently in a new arrivals program.    

Task

The students have recently completed a unit of work about the beach, in which they learned about sea creatures and the marine environment and participated in an excursion to the beach. In this task, the teacher and students read a story about a sandcastle competition, The Best Sandcastle, and then discussed and gave opinions about the merit of the different features of the sandcastles in the story. Students then used model sentences and familiar vocabulary on sentence strips to build their own sentences about the features they thought would make the best sandcastle, with support from the teacher.  The task was completed with a small group in a familiar environment.      

The teacher is assessing the student’s ability to:

• retell information from the story
• recognise familiar words in new or different contexts
• make connections between the text and their own experiences
• use familiar written words and phrases to finish a modelled sentence. 

The words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold.    

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Use knowledge of context, text structure and language to understand literal and inferred meanings (VCEALC114)
• Understand information in texts read and viewed in class (VCEALC113)
• Read familiar phrases and sentences with fluency (VCEALL128)
• Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)
• Respond to texts in personal and creative ways (VCEALC115)
• Recognise a small range of familiar words in different contexts (VCEALL129)
• Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)
• Sub-vocalise when reading silently (VCEALL134)
• Read familiar texts with some fluency(VCEALL135)

Possible next steps for this student’s learning

• Read and discuss a range of simple texts to build literal and inferential understanding (VCEALC114)
• Identify and compare differences in text genres (VCEALL123)
• Continue to practise using full stops and question marks to separate text when reading aloud (VCEALL133)
• Read longer texts with some fluency(VCEALL135)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Year 2 student who is working within the range of A2 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway A of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.

A Year 2 student should consistently demonstrate the final achievement standard in Pathway A (Level A2) in all three language modes before they transition to the English curriculum.  

They will need to be equally capable across all three language modes to be able to meet the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their mainstream peers, and without substantial language support. 

They will need to be sufficiently proficient in understanding and using the academic language across the learning areas to participate in learning activities across the Victorian curriculum. 

They will also need to be able to understand and use the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the Victorian curriculum increase, for example in Year 3 and 4.    

The teacher may also exercise their professional judgement to place the student on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum rather than transitioning them to the English curriculum. The teacher should review the student’s language proficiency across the Victorian curriculum learning areas and determine where the student is best placed on Pathway B in each of the three language modes. The student will then start on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.