Level C3 Speaking and Listening

The students' performance in these tasks suggest that they are working within the range of Level C3 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 C3, consolidating C3 or at the C3 standard in Speaking and Listening.      

At beginning Level C3 students:   

• have begun to show confidence in using language and listening to texts that fall outside of familiar situations, including in learning areas across the curriculum
• begin to produce spoken texts that show a clear structure, but they might not yet include all the necessary words and connectives that make it fluent and coherent.

At consolidating Level C3 students:   

• have begun to use a range of connectives to produce a single coherent text, including time signals to link ideas and events
• are gaining increasing awareness and control over the subtleties of intonation, stress, and rhythm when using language to gain the audience/listeners' attention, although they might still have trouble using these effectively themselves
• have begun to experiment with techniques when presenting small talks to a classroom audience, including formal and non-verbal language, digital resources, sequencing words, and inviting/responding to questions.

At Level C3 Achievement Standard students:   

• listen, question and respond successfully in a wide range of social and academic contexts
• demonstrate sufficient control of stress, rhythm and intonation to be understood in most contexts
• use appropriate non-verbal language, take account of purpose and audience, and stage extended texts appropriately when participating in group debates and discussions
• discuss texts from across the curriculum using modelled examples in supportive classroom situations and structured group work
• use a range of question types, time signals, conjunctions and modal verbs to express a variety of academic functions, and to give and justify opinions and points of view, with varying accuracy
  
• interpret accessible spoken and print texts and, with support, understand the full text
• listen for specific information when questions are given beforehand
• understand small amounts of abstract and generalised information when appropriate background is provided.

Student information

The student was born in Afghanistan and is 17 years and three months old. The main language spoken at home is Dari and she also speaks Urdu. She attended school in Pakistan where the language of instruction was Persian (Farsi). She previously attended an English language school and is in Year 10 in her current school. She comes from a large family with seven siblings and spends a lot of time assisting with home duties.

Task

The task is a community of inquiry activity, which is a familiar activity for this class. For this task, students sit in a semi-circle and are given a prompt such as a visual or a factual statement for discussion. The teacher facilitates the discussion by asking students to state what they see or feel in response to the prompt. The teacher notes responses on the board continuously, asking clarifying questions, prompting and asking for supporting reasons. Students also ask questions of each other and a flexible discussion ensues.   

Students categorise the answers under different headings, providing reasons for their category groupings. Students then make a collective judgment as to what the prompt may be about, for example, an idea, a theme or an issue.   

The teacher was assessing:

• the student's ability to clarify by asking questions, for example, What did you mean when you said …, Did you mean …
• the student's ability to provide reasons for opinions, for example, I believe … because …
• the student's ability to use connectives to show causal explanations, for example, because, as a result
• the student's ability to categorise, for example, grouping words into themes.
  

The student being assessed is having a conversation with her teacher and her classmates. In the transcript, the words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold and the teacher's and other students' words are in normal font.    

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Listen for specific information, using question, preview and prediction strategies (VCEALC677)

• Use available English repertoire to discuss and justify a point of view on a familiar topic (VCEALC679)
• Adapt speech in common classroom interactions so it is appropriate to the particular context and audience (VCEALA681)
• Participate in a range of school routines in mainstream classrooms (VCEALC675)
• Interpret the main idea in texts, with some support (VCEALC676)
• Develop non-verbal communication skills (VCEALA682).
  

Possible next steps for this student's learning

• Using a variety of text connectives to show causal explanations, for example, because, as a result (VCEALL688)
• Providing the student with opportunities to discuss formal and informal topics to build their confidence (VCEALC673)
• Providing a short list of written sentence stems students can refer to during the activity (VCEALL689)
• Developing personal word lists to build knowledge of vocabulary (VCEALL692)
• Giving students a soft ball to throw to each other while sitting in a circle; each student has the chance to talk when they are given the ball and they should make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak (VCEALC673).
  

Pathways and transitions considerations

A Year 10 student who is working within the range of Level C3 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.

Student information

The student was born in Afghanistan and is 18 years old. The main language spoken at home is Dari. He missed five years of schooling prior to arriving in Australia in 2007. Since then, he has spent a year in an English language school and another four years in an Australian mainstream school.   

Task

The task is a community of inquiry activity, which is a familiar activity for this class. For this task, students sit in a semi-circle and are given a prompt such as a visual or a factual statement for discussion.    

The teacher facilitates discussion by asking students to state what they see or feel in response to the prompt. The teacher notes responses on the board continuously, asking clarifying questions, prompting and asking for supporting reasons.    

Students also ask questions of each other and a flexible discussion ensues. Students categorise the answers under different headings, providing reasons for their category groupings. Students then make a collective judgment as to what the prompt may be about, for example, an idea, a theme or an issue.   

The teacher was assessing:   

• the student's ability to clarify by asking questions, for example, What did you mean when you said …, Did you mean …
• the student's ability to provide reasons for opinions, for example, I believe … because …
• the student's ability to use connectives to show causal explanations, for example, because, as a result
• the student's ability to categorise, for example, grouping words into themes

The student being assessed is having a conversation with his teacher and classmates. In the transcript, the words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold. The teacher's and other students' words are in normal font.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Listen for specific information, using question, preview and prediction strategies (VCEALC677)
• Comprehend familiar and specific curriculum area vocabulary in a spoken or digital text (VCEALL692)
• Adapt speech in common classroom interactions so it is appropriate to the particular context and audience (VCEALA681)
• Use longer descriptive phrase (VCEALL691)
• Contribute to effective group work (VCEALC678)
• Use available English repertoire to discuss and justify a point of view on a familiar topic (VCEALC679).
  

Overall, this student can also:

• Listen for specific information, using question, preview and prediction strategies (VCEALC677)
• Negotiate with peers and teachers in familiar informal and formal classroom situations (VCEALC674)
• Interpret the main idea in texts, with some support (VCEALC676)
• Use pronunciation and non-verbal features to support communication (VCEALL694)
• Develop non-verbal communication skills (VCEALA682).
  

Possible next steps for this student's learning

• Asking open-ended questions to encourage students to provide longer responses (VCEALL691)
• Providing opportunities for the student to discuss informal and formal topics and develop confidence when speaking (VCEALC673)
• Developing personal word lists to build vocabulary knowledge; provide students with time to quiz each other and regularly review their lists (VCEALL692)
• Analysing symbolism in other texts, for example, the use of colour in advertisements (VCEALA718).
  

Pathways and transitions considerations

A student who is working within the range of Level C3 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.

Student information

The first student is 16 years old. They were born in Greece and have been in Australia for 9 years. On arrival in Victoria, they attended an English language school for 6 months before enrolling in a mainstream primary school. They are in Year 10 at a Victorian government secondary college. Their home language is Greek. They had age-equivalent schooling in Greece.

The second student is 16 years and 7 months old. They were born in Thailand and have been in Australia for almost 7 years. They had age-equivalent school in Thailand, and on arrival to Australia enrolled in Year 4 at a Victorian government primary school. They are in Year 10 at a Victorian government secondary college. Their home language is Thai.

Task

The students had been studying persuasive devices used in opinion pieces and had read and discussed a model text about Halloween and its appropriacy as a celebration for Australian children. In this task, the students participated in a role play with their teacher. They took on the persona of parents giving different sides of the argument in an interview.

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

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Prepare and deliver an oral presentation, after modelling and support – including creating and using memory aids such as palm cards or slides (VCEALC680)
• Use available English repertoire to discuss and justify a point of view on a familiar topic (VCEALC679)
• Attend to multiple features of speech, including pronunciation, volume, pace, intonation (VCEALC680)
• Adapt speech in common classroom interactions so it is appropriate to the particular context and audience - responding in the appropriate register by matching elements of body language, voice and expression (VCEALA681)
• Construct a range of sentence types (VCEALL689)
• Use specific curriculum area language, incorporating learnt vocabulary into spoken texts, such as discussions, presentations (VCEALL693)
• Participate in conversations with a small range of speakers (VCEALC673)
• Negotiate with peers and teachers in familiar informal and formal classroom situations (VCEALC674)
• Use a range of expressions to structure a point of view, including conjunctions (‘because’), subjective language (‘I think’) and some objective language (‘It is clear that …’) (VCEALC679)
• Beginning to use basic and some complex verb forms accurately (VCEALL690)
• Producing text types according to conventions, such as arguments and formal speeches, and incorporating appropriate organisational features for the text type (VCEALL686)
• Use a range of cohesive devices to extend speech (VCEALL688)
• Use pronunciation and non-verbal features to support communication (VCEALL694)
• Using appropriate sentence structures and vocabulary to participate in conversations (VCEALC673)

Possible next steps for this student’s learning

• Rehearsing non-verbal communication for prepared presentations with a partner and seeking feedback, or videoing themself using a digital device for reflection and self-assessment (VCEALA682)
• Continue to practise the use of complex verb forms to increase accuracy (VCEALL690)
• Use longer descriptive phrases, for example by including some simple quantifiers, using an expanding range of adjectives as describers and qualifiers or using adverbs and levels of possibility as modifiers to add detail to verbs (VCEALL691)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A student in Year 7 – 9 who has achieved the C3 standard will continue on Pathway C to Level C4 of the EAL curriculum.

Students who are working within the range of C3 or who have achieved the C3 standard at the end of Year 10 will transition to either English or EAL if they attempt VCE. 

Student eligibility for Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) EAL Units 3 and 4 in Year 12 should be considered when planning pathways for these students. Students who are eligible to undertake Units 3 and 4 EAL should continue in EAL in Year 11. 

Students who are not eligible to undertake Units 3 and 4 may be enrolled in a mainstream English class in Year 11 in order to become familiar with the curriculum content of the VCE English, English Language or Literature Study Design, or they may continue in an EAL class in Year 11.

Regardless of eligibility, students working within the range of or at C3 at the end of Year 10 will need ongoing language and EAL-informed teaching to help them with the academic demands of VCE. 

Schools should contact the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to determine students’ VCE EAL eligibility.