Level CL Speaking and Listening

The student work samples on this page are also available to download:

CL Speaking and Listening proficiency levels and Achievement Standard

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

At beginning Level CL students:

  • have very little or no oral English and do not respond meaningfully to English

and/or

  • may spontaneously repeat words or phrases without understanding their meaning

and/or

  • will probably not speak in the classroom except to same language peers

and/or

  • will join in activities, watching and copying what other students do in the classroom but may not speak.

At consolidating Level CL students:

  • are settling into situations where English is the dominant language
  • begin to understand that communication with teachers and peers needs to be conducted in English rather than a reliance on their home language
  • begin to learn the basic oral English required to manage learning in an English-speaking classroom, primarily through words or formulaic expressions, rather than grammatically complete patterns
  • have begun to recognise the importance of non-verbal communication
  • have begun to understand that different forms of language are used in different situations and contexts, including an awareness of changes to word stress, intonation and rhythm.

At Level CL Achievement Standard students:

  • communicate simply but effectively in English in familiar social and classroom contexts
  • communicate using formulaic language; short, simple and well-rehearsed grammatical features; and adaptations of their emerging English repertoire
  • use stress and intonation appropriately in some familiar interactions and can imitate models with some accuracy
  • understand common instructions and questions, and simple descriptions and explanations when strongly supported in familiar contexts
  • understand and use basic subject–verb–object grammatical patterns, common regular and irregular verbs, and basic prepositions and connectives, such as time and sequence markers
  • use their repertoire with varying accuracy to ask and respond to questions in predictable contexts, express simple ideas and preferences, and provide short explanations and descriptions
  • use some strategies to initiate and sustain basic conversations in English, repeating and re-pronouncing as necessary.

Informative text - Talking about food (1)

Student information

The student was born in Burma and is 14 years and nine months old. He has been in Australia for five months. His home language is Chin, which is a language spoken by one of the minority linguistic and cultural groups in Burma/Myanmar. His schooling has been disrupted as his family moved from Burma/Myanmar to Australia via India. He had a total of three years of school before he came to Australia. He has been attending an English language school for four months and his age would make him a Year 9 student.

Task

In this task the student is asked to respond to questions and talk about some items of food. This is part of a class unit of work on food. In the unit, the teacher introduced vocabulary for colours and common food items. The students have worked with cards showing names and illustrations of food items. The students also looked at identifying the sound and name of initial and final letters as a strategy to help them read familiar and unfamiliar words. The students asked questions and talked about the foods they like and don't like, discussed which foods are good for them and which are not so healthy because of their high sugar, salt or fat content.

In this task, the teacher is observing how well the student can talk about food using the vocabulary he has learnt and a basic subject-verb-object sentence structure. The teacher is also interested in assessing if the student can use familiar formulae such as I like... or I don't like... and answer familiar questions practiced in previous class work. The teacher wants to provide an environment where the context is clear, and there are no distractions for the student.

In particular, she is assessing how well the student:

  • recognises pieces of information in a short, spoken text he has heard
  • shows understanding of simple sentences and some basic familiar questions when he is listening
  • describes common food he is familiar with
  • uses familiar simple vocabulary in his speaking
  • produces short simple statements and utterances.

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

 

  •            
  •            

Transcript

0:06-0:34

Alright, this time I want you to practise talking.

Okay.

So I'm going to ask you some questions.

Okay.

Mm. Tell me, what is this?

This is banana.

Mm hm, what is this?

This is a pear.

What is that?

This is coffee.

What about that?

This is scone.

Mm hm.  What's that?

This is orange.

0:35-0:53

Hm, look at the apple and tell me what colour is the apple?

This is red colour.

Mm hm. What colour is the watermelon?

This red and black and green.

Mm hm. What colour is the rice?

This is white.

0:54-1:57

Now look at the foods and tell me, can you see any foods that are good to eat?

Good to eat, banana.

Mm hm. Is there anything else which is good to eat?

Banana, this is good for, good for you, banana.

Mm hm, and where do bananas come from? Where can you find bananas?

I do know, how does [0:01:26.2] I don't know.

Mm hm. Do they grow in the ground or do they grow on trees?

Trees.

Mm hm, good.  Can you see any foods here which are not good to eat?

Not good to eat.  [Bread 0:01:51.6].

Mm-hm, do you think it's good to eat a lot of bread or a little bit of bread?

A little bit of bread.

1:58-3:25

Mm hm, okay.  Now I'm going to talk about the corn, okay? 

Mm hm.

So I want you to listen. So this is corn, it's yellow, it grows from the ground, it grows on a plant. I think it's very good to eat because it's a vegetable. I like eating corn. And when I go shopping I see lots of corn, okay? Now you have a turn. Can you choose a food and can you tell me something about that.

Mm, a banana.

Okay, tell me about it.

This is, banana good for you eat and…

What colour is it?

This is yellow colour banana, good for you. My country, banana.

Mm hm. Did you eat many bananas in your country?

Yeah, many.

Did you cook the bananas or did you just get them from the tree?

The tree.

Mm hm, great. Do you like bananas?

Yes, I like banana.

Okay, what are some other food that you like to eat?

I like to eat apple, here.

Mm hm, and at home what do you like to eat?

Home, rice. 

Mm hm, good. Thank you.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Use language appropriate to the context and audience in routine interactions (VCEALA488)
  • Employ non-verbal strategies in interactions (VCEALA489)
  • Repeat short modelled utterances with understanding (VCEALL493)
  • Use simple conjunctions to link ideas in short utterances (VCEALL495)
  • Negotiate meaning with supportive conversation partners (VCEALC481)
  • Identify single pieces of information from a short, spoken text (VCEALC484)

Overall, this student can also:

  • Participate in familiar situations and learning activities (VCEALC482)
  • Comprehend some familiar questions with support from the speaker (VCEALC483)
  •  Express personal meanings non-verbally or using simple language (VCEALC486)
  • Use language appropriate to the context and audience in routine interactions (VCEALA488)
  • Distinguish spoken English from other languages and attempt to respond in English (VCEALA490)
  • Recognise and use common words relating to familiar class routines, people, experiences and interests (VCEALL499)

Possible next steps for this student's learning

  • Understanding and using articles a, an and the (VCEALL496)
  • Understanding and using demonstrative pronouns such as this and that correctly  (VCEALL496)
  • Preparing, rehearsing and giving a simple talk about a familiar topic (VCEALC487)
  • Introducing simple compound words, for example, I like bananas and apples (VCEALL495)
  • Introducing negatives, for example, I don't like …(VCEALL499)
  • Practising simple sentence structures (VCEALL536)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Year 9 student who is working within the range of Level CL 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 C of the EAL curriculum.

Informative text - Talking about food (2)

Student information

This student is 13 years and nine months old. She came to Australia from Somalia three months prior to this task taking place. She speaks Somali and attended school for three years while in Somalia. She is in a Year 8 class group in an English language school where she has been attending school for nine weeks.

Task

In this task the student is asked to respond to questions and talk about some items of food. This is part of a class unit of work on food. In the unit, the teacher introduced vocabulary for colours and common food items. The students have worked with cards showing names and illustrations of food items. The students also looked at identifying the sound and name of initial and final letters as a strategy to help them read familiar and unfamiliar words. The students asked questions and talked about the foods they like and don't like, discussed which foods are good for them and which are not so healthy because of their high sugar, salt or fat content. In this task, the teacher is observing how well the student can talk about food using the vocabulary she has learnt and a basic subject-verb-object sentence structure. The teacher is also interested in assessing if the student can use familiar formulae like I like... or I don't like... and answer familiar questions practiced in previous class work. The teacher wants to provide an environment where the context is clear, and there are no distractions for the student.

In particular, she is assessing how well the student:

  • recognises pieces of information in a short, spoken text she has heard
  • shows understanding of simple sentences and some basic familiar questions when she is listening
  • describes common food she is familiar with
  • uses familiar simple vocabulary in her speaking
  • produces short simple statements and utterances.

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

 
  •            
  •            

Transcript

0:06-1:08

So here there are two pieces of paper. Can you tell me what this one says?

I like.

What does this one say?

I don't like.

I want you to listen to me, and I want you to put the food on the right side, but first you have to listen to what I say, alright? Okay, I like coffee.

I like coffee.

I don't like bread.

I don't like.

I love bananas.

I love bananas.

I don't like grapes.

I don't like grapes.

I like ice-cream and I like hotdogs.

Ice-cream, hotdog.

I don't like pizza and I don't like watermelon. 

1:09-2:04

Now I want you to practice talking, so I'm going to ask you questions about the food. So first tell me what are these?

This is grapes.

Mm hm. What's that? 

This is a banana.

What is that?

Coffee.

What is this?

Cheese.

What about that?

Pizza.

Good. Tell me, what colour is the banana?

The banana is yellow.

What colour is the ice-cream?

Ice-cream is green, um grey.

Mm hm. What colour is the rice?

Rice, yellow.

Mm hm, and…

No, white.

[laughs] Good.

2:05-2:43

Okay, tell me, is the banana good for you?

Yeah, good for you eat.

Can you show me another food which is good to eat? What's another food that is good to eat?

This one good for you.

Mm hm. Are there any more foods which are good for you?

Some good for you to eat.

Mm hm.

It's good for you.

Anything else?

This one good for you.

Mm hm, is there…?

This one good for you, this one no good because…

Ah ha, why?

…too much sugar.

Ah, very good.

2:44-4:28

Okay, this time I'm going to talk about a food, I'm going to describe a food. Let me see. Mm, I'll talk about the orange.

Orange, a good for you.

Yeah, so first I will talk about it and then I will ask you to talk, okay?

Okay.

So this is an orange, and it's orange. Its colour is orange; it's very good to eat, I like oranges. And in the shops you can find a lot of oranges. There are many oranges in the shops. Okay, what about you? Can you choose one food and can you talk about it?

This one, banana. Banana is eating good for you.

Mm hm, what colour is it?

Yellow.

Okay, in your country were there many bananas?

 Hmm?

Were there many bananas in your country, in Somalia?

Yeah.

Do you like bananas?

Yes, I love bananas.

What are some foods that you like to eat?

This one.

Mm hm.

I like this one, it's eating, good for you.

Mm hm, and do you eat any other foods? Are them some other foods that you like... at home?

Yeah.

What do you like to eat at home?

Banana, grapes, oranges and pizza.

Okay, very good.  Thanks Awo.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Participate in familiar situations and learning activities (VCEALC482)
  • Recognise and use common words relating to familiar class routines, people, experiences and interests (VCEALL499)
  • Repeat short modelled utterances with understanding (VCEALL493)
  • Produce short, simple non-standard utterances showing subject–verb relations (VCEALL496)
  • Identify single pieces of information from a short, spoken text (VCEALC484)
  • Employ non-verbal strategies in interactions (VCEALA489)

Overall, this student can also:

  • Identify single pieces of information from a short, spoken text (VCEALC484)
  • Participate in familiar situations and learning activities (VCEALC482)
  • Employ non-verbal strategies in interactions (VCEALA489)
  • Recognise and use common words relating to familiar class routines, people, experiences and interests (VCEALL499)
  • Repeat short modelled utterances with understanding (VCEALL493)
  • Produce short, simple non-standard utterances showing subject–verb relations (VCEALL496)

Possible next steps for this student's learning

  • Using basic descriptive words in speech (VCEALL498)
  • Preparing, rehearsing and giving a simple talk about familiar topic (VCEALC487)
  • Practising using verbs in simple writing and speaking activities, for example, This one is a banana (VCEALL538)
  • Studying a unit on health to connect with the student's interests
  • Introducing simple time adverbials to practise the past tense, for example, Yesterday I ate (VCEALL497)
  • Practising simple sentence structures (VCEALL536)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Year 8 student who is working within the range of Level CL 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 C of the EAL curriculum.

Related pages

Student work samples: Level CL Reading and Viewing
Student work samples: Level CL Writing
Student work samples: Level C1 Speaking and Listening