Canadian Language Benchmark 5

Your written proof and explanation must clearly show that you meet these benchmark criteria.

There is no Canadian Language Benchmark test. These are descriptions of language abilities. CIC visa officers use these descriptions to determine your language abilities based on the written evidence you provide.

• listen
• speak
• read and
• write.

Listening

Global Performance Descriptor

• Learner can follow very broadly and with some effort the gist of oral discourse in moderately demanding contexts of language use (e.g., face to face formal and informal conversations, audio tapes and radio broadcasts) on everyday personally relevant topics and at a slower to normal rate of speech.
• Can understand simple exchanges: conceptualized short sets of common daily instructions and directions; direct questions about personal experience and familiar topics; routine (simple, repetitive, predictable) media announcements.
• Can understand a range of common vocabulary and a very limited number of idioms.
• Often requests repetitions.
• Can follow simple short predictable phone messages, but has limited ability to understand on the phone.

Performance Conditions

• Listening texts are moderately short monologues/ presentations and dialogues (five to eight exchange turns, each turn three to five sentences long; or two to five minutes in length) on familiar everyday topics.
• Speech is clear at a slow to normal rate.
• Communication is face to face, or video-and audio-mediated (e.g., tape).
• Instructions are clear and explicit, used with some visual clues and presented step by step.
• Learner is adequately briefed for focused listening.
• Some tasks require oral or physical response. Some tasks are in a guided writing format (e.g., circle or match items, fill in blanks, complete a chart, answer questions, etc.).
• Learner may need one to two repetitions.

Competency Outcomes and Standards

I. Social Interaction

What the person can do

• Identify factual details and inferred meanings in dialogues containing compliments, invitations and offers; discussion of interests, likes/dislikes and preferences.
• Identify situation and relationship between speakers.

Examples of tasks and tests

• Community, Study, Workplace: Watch videotaped casual dialogues or listen to audiotaped and phone conversations.
• Identify specific factual details and inferred meanings.
• Respond to comprehension questions, circle or check items, write in appropriate blanks or as required in the task.

Performance Indicators

• Identifies specific factual details and inferred meanings in video- and audiomediated listening texts/discourse as required.
• Identifies the emotional state of speaker from tone and intonation.
• Identifies situation and relationship between speakers.

II. Instructions

What the person can do

• Understand a range of spoken everyday instructions on step by step procedures.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community, Study, Workplace: Take a simple phone message (e.g., Bob will call Monday, Feb. 19, at 11 p.m.).
• Follow oral instructions on how to use a computer (e.g., open or close a program).

Performance Indicators

• Responds with action to directions and instructions.
• Completes the task.

III. Suasion (getting things done)

What the person can do

• Demonstrate comprehension of factual details and some inferred meanings in simple advice and suggestions, announcements and commercials.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community, Study, Workplace: Identify specific factual details and inferred meanings in simple advice and suggestions, announcements and commercials.
• Circle or check answers, or write in appropriate blanks, etc., as required in the task.

Performance Indicators

• Identifies main intent, main idea, factual details, words and expressions and inferred meanings in persuasive oral texts as required.

IV. Information

What the person can do

• Demonstrate comprehension of the gist, factual details and some inferred meanings by listening to a descriptive or narrative text.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Study : Listen to a TV/radio news item or report. Respond to a number of questions.
• Community: Complete a theatre/TV schedule with required details by listening to a prerecorded message.

Performance Indicators

• Gets the gist, factual details and some inferred meanings in a listening text.
• Identifies key words and phrases.
• Responds to requests for facts and opinions relating to text.

---

Speaking

Global Performance Descriptor

• Learner can participate with some effort in routine social conversations and can talk about needs and familiar topics of personal relevance.
• Can use a variety of simple structures and some complex ones, with occasional reductions. Grammar and pronunciation errors are frequent and sometimes impede communication.
• Can demonstrate a range of common everyday vocabulary and a limited number of idioms. May avoid topics with unfamiliar vocabulary.
• Can demonstrate discourse that is connected (and, but, first, next, then, because) and reasonably fluent, but hesitations and pauses are frequent.
• Can use the phone to communicate simple personal information; communication without the visual support is still very difficult.

Performance Conditions

• Interaction is face to face, or on the phone.
• Rate of speech is slow to normal.
• Context is mostly familiar, or clear and predictable, but also moderately demanding (e.g., real world environment; limited support from interlocutors).
• Circumstances range from informal to more formal occasions.
• Instructions have five to six steps, and are given one-on-one, one step at a time, with visual clues.
• Length of presentation is three to five minutes.
• Topics are of immediate everyday relevance.
• Audience is a small familiar group.
• Setting is familiar.
• Topic is concrete and familiar.
• Presentation is informal or semiformal.
• Uses pictures or other visuals.

Interaction one-on-one

• Interaction is face to face or on the phone.

Interaction in a group

• Group of three to five people is familiar.
• Topics are familiar, non-personal, concrete.
• Interaction is informal or semi-formal.
• Leader or moderator is encouraging.

Competency Outcomes and Standards

I. Social Interaction

What the person can do

Interpersonal competencies

• Respond to small talk comments.
• Extend, accept or decline an invitation or offer.
• Express and respond to compliments.
• Express and respond to congratulations.

Conversation management

• Indicate non-comprehension.
• Take turns.
• Encourage others in a conversation by showing interest.

Phone competencies

• Answer the phone briefly according to the situation.

Examples of tasks and tests

Interpersonal competencies

• Community, Study, Workplace: Respond to small talk comments.
• Express and respond to compliments and congratulations.
• Community: Extend an invitation for a coffee, dinner, party.
• Accept or decline an invitation for a coffee, dinner, party.

Conversation management

• Sorry, what did you say? I didn’t catch what you said about X. Could you repeat that? What does X mean? Excuse me. May I ask a question?

Phone competencies

• Hello, lunchroom, Bob speaking... Just a moment, please. I’ll get Tom...Tom, a phone call for you, line 1... .

Performance Indicators

Interpersonal competencies

• Responds to small talk comments. Extends, accepts or declines an invitation
  or offer.
• Expresses and responds to compliments.
• Expresses and responds to congratulations.

Conversation management

• Indicates incomprehension.
• Takes turns by giving non-verbal and verbal signals (signalling to speak).
• Encourages conversation (e.g., eye contact, smiling, nodding and short phrases).

Phone competencies

• Answers the phone.
• Provides needed information.
• Refers the call to another person.

II. Instructions

What the person can do

• Give an extended set of sequentially presented simple clause instructions/directions on daily routine actions.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community, Workplace: Direct a person to a place with or without maps, diagrams, sketches (e.g., give clear directions to one’s home; the washrooms).

Performance Indicators

• Gives spoken directions. (Listener can follow the directions.)

III. Suasion (getting things done)

What the person can do

• Give and get permission.
• Give simple informal advice.
• Call for emergency assistance.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Please, would you mind, could you, would you?
• Work: Request permission to leave work early or take a day off.
• Community: Call 911, report a problem in some detail, and request help.

Performance Indicators

• Gives and gets permission.
• Uses polite expressions with requests.
• Gives simple advice.
• Gives address.
• States the reason.
• Requests help.
• Provides details clearly, intelligibly.

IV. Information

What the person can do

Presentations

• Relate a sequence of events in the present, past or future.
• Tell a detailed story/report an incident.
• Describe a scene or picture.
• Describe a daily routine.

Interaction one-on-one

• Ask for and provide information related to routine daily activities (e.g., personal, family, others, work).

Interaction in a group

• Participate in a small group discussion.
• Express necessity, worry, or concern.

Examples of tasks and texts

Presentations

• Study: Tell a detailed story (e.g., historical, biographical), or report an incident
  based on a series of pictures.
  Describe a routine based on a series of pictures.
  Give a detailed description of a scene or a picture.
• Work: Report a few routine activities of the day; include explanations and examples.

Interaction one-on-one

• Community: Obtain information at a pharmacy to get the best product for a specific situation.

Interaction in a group

• Study: Plan a trip from point A to point B.
• Discuss a familiar current issue.

Performance Indicators

Presentations

• Presents information in a coherent connected discourse.
• Uses an introduction, development and conclusion.
• Uses explicit markers/logical connectors (first, next, finally, but).
• Uses simple grammar structures, with clear present, past and future time reference; and personal and textual reference (only some errors).
• Uses vocabulary adequately.
• Provides accurate, detailed descriptions.
• Speaks with appropriate eye contact, body language, voice volume, rate, fluency and intelligibility.

Interaction one-on-one

• Explains the nature of inquiry, provides necessary details.
• Asks relevant questions.
• Summarizes and repeats back.
• Gives thanks for the help and information.
• Speaks intelligibly; listener can follow all details.

Interaction in a group

• Expresses opinion.
• Agrees and disagrees.
• Expresses necessity and reason (must/because).
• Expresses worry/concern.

---

Reading

Global Performance Descriptor

• Learner can understand the purpose, main ideas and some detail in some authentic two- or three-paragraph texts in moderately demanding contexts of language use.
• Can find specific, detailed information in prose texts, and in charts and schedules (e.g., transit timetables).
• Can get specific details from everyday routine texts, such as a set of instructions, plain language news items, a notice from the gas company.
• Language of the text is mostly concrete and factual, with some abstract, conceptual and technical vocabulary items, and may require low-level inference to comprehend it.
• Learner often requires rereading and clarification.
• Occasionally, learner can guess successfully the meaning of an unknown word, phrase or idiom from the context without a dictionary.
• Generally, still uses a bilingual dictionary regularly; begins to use a concise unilingual ESL/EFL dictionary.

Performance Conditions

• Text is two or three paragraphs long and related to personal experience or familiar context.
• Text is legible, easy to read; is in print or neat handwriting.
• Tasks are in a standard format: with items to circle, match, fill in a blank, complete a chart, answer questions, etc.
• Learner is adequately briefed for focused reading (has at least minimal knowledge to activate knowledge schemata for top-down processing).
• Instructions are clear and explicit, for everyday situations, used with some visual clues, presented step by step. Pictures occasionally accompany text.
• Text has clear organization.
• Text is two or three paragraphs long, printed or electronic.
• Language is mostly concrete and literal, with some abstract words.
• Context and topic are often familiar and partly predictable for learner.
• Content is relevant and can be related to personal experience.
• Text types: newspaper articles, educational/content materials, stories, encyclopedia entries, short reports.

Competency Outcomes and Standards

I. Social Interaction Texts

What the person can do

• Identify factual details and inferred meanings in moderately complex notes, e-mail messages and letters (personal and public) containing compliments, invitations, likes, dislikes, preferences.

Examples of tasks and tests

• Community, Study, Workplace: Read authentic notes, e-mail messages and letters containing compliments, invitations and offers; discussion of interests, likes, dislikes and preferences. Answer comprehension questions as required in the task.

Performance Indicators

• Identifies specific factual details and inferred meanings in the texts.
• Identifies purpose of text.
• Identifies reader-writer relationship, attitude of writer, context.

II. Instructions

What the person can do

• Understand and follow moderately complex written instructions for seven to 10-step procedures.
  Understand/follow moderately complex everyday texts

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community: Sequence correctly seven to 10 steps in instructions on how to unplug the sink using commercial bottled liquid or environmentally friendly means, based on written texts.
• Explain a three-paragraph instructional text on prevention and treatment of burns.

Performance Indicators

• Follows common authentic instructional texts with pictures.
• Follows/responds with action to directions and instructions.

III. Business/service texts

What the person can do

Identify factual details and some inferred meanings in moderately complex business/service texts, including formatted texts. Read public announcements, commercials, business notices, letters, etc.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community: Use two bus route maps/schedules: locate a time of departure; coordinate with a transfer to reach destination.
• Community, Study, Workplace: Use the White Pages to locate a business address.

Performance Indicators

• Identifies type and purpose of text; gets the gist.
• Identifies key information and locates specific details in verbal text and graphics, including extensive directories, charts and schedules.

IV. Informational texts

What the person can do

• Demonstrate comprehension of a two or three-paragraph moderately complex descriptive or narrative text on a familiar topic.
• Demonstrate comprehension of standard maps, basic diagrams, basic graphs.

Information literacy/reference and study skills competencies

• Access and locate two pieces of information in CD-ROM ESL educational software.
• Access and locate information through tables of content, indexes and glossaries.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Study: Read a short newspaper article or an adapted literary text for main ideas and supporting details.
• Answer seven to 10 questions.
• Explain an educational system or a government system by reading and interpreting a simple chart.
• Compare information in two pie or bar graphs.
• Access, locate and compare/contrast two pieces of information in CD-ROM ESL educational software texts for reading development, if available.
• Access, locate information through tables of content, indexes or glossaries.

Performance Indicators

• Identifies factual details and inferred meanings in text as required (70-80%).
• Identifies main idea and key details.
• Identifies organization of text and links between paragraphs.
• Compares facts to make choices.
• Predicts, guesses meaning of words and expressions from textual clues.
• Predicts what will happen next in a narration by selecting an outcome.
• Demonstrates understanding of standard maps, basic diagrams, basic pie or bar graphs.
• Accesses and locates two pieces of information in CD-ROM ESL educational software texts.
• Accesses and locates information through tables of content, indexes and glossaries (by alphabetical order).

---

Writing

Global Performance Descriptor

• Learner demonstrates initial ability in performing moderately complex writing tasks.
• Can effectively convey an idea, opinion, feeling or experience in a simple paragraph.
• Can write short letters and notes on a familiar topic.
• Can fill out extended application forms.
• Can take simple dictation with occasional repetitions at a slow to normal rate of speech.
• Can reproduce in writing simple information received orally or visually.
• Demonstrates better control over writing when reproducing information (e.g., writing down notes, messages and paraphrasing).
• When creating own text, learner’s linguistic means of expression remain simple, with frequent difficulty with complex structures and awkward sounding phrases (word combinations).
• Can write down everyday phone messages.
• Can complete a short routine report (usually on a form) on a familiar topic.

Performance Conditions

• Circumstances range from informal to more formal occasions.
• Addressees are familiar.
• Topics are of immediate everyday relevance.
• Letter is one paragraph long.
• Note is short (four to six clauses).
• Texts may be short oral texts on concrete factual matters with five to seven details.
• Information to reproduce is up to one page long, with easy layout; is in legible handwriting or print.
• Forms are moderately complex in format, 20 to 30 items long.
• Messages are three to five sentences long.

Competency Outcomes and Standards

I. Social interaction

What the person can do

• Convey a personal message in a formal short letter or note, or through e-mail, expressing or responding to invitations, quick updates, feelings.

Examples of tasks and tests

• Community, Study, Workplace: Write a formal invitation for a special group function (club picnic, BBQ, potluck, etc.). Include clear directions to the location.
• Community, Study: In a 100- to 150-word letter to your friend, describe how you feel about your new home town (province, country).

Performance Indicators

• Conveys the message; reader can follow the text.
• Uses language and content that are appropriate and relevant to the occasion.
• Uses simple grammar structures, punctuation and spelling; makes only a few errors.
• Conveys main ideas and supports them with detail in a basic paragraph structure.

II. Reproducing information

What the person can do

• Take live phone messages, voice mail messages or pre-recorded information with five to seven details.
• Reduce a page of information to a list of seven to 10 important points.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Bob will call Monday, February 1st at 11 pm. Bus #47 to University; walk two blocks north; turn left to get to 112 Avenue to Mary’s.
• Community, Study, Workplace: Take a message over the phone clearly and accurately.
• Take clear notes from a short prerecorded company message about job openings and application procedures, including minimum requirements.

Performance Indicators

• Writes down messages or reduces written information to important points with accurate details.
• Conveys clear message to recipient.
• Records names, addresses, numbers, dates, times, directions and other details with correct spelling and in legible handwriting or print.

III. Business/service messages

What the person can do

• Convey business messages as written notes.
• Fill out forms.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Community: Fill out application form for power, water or telephone service.
• Workplace: Fill out a worker’s accident report form.

Performance Indicators

• Conveys a clear message to the recipient.
• Conveys a sense of audience in language and format.
• Demonstrates good use and control of simple structures, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation (few errors).
• Fills out form with required information.
• Spells and follows punctuation conventions.

IV. Presenting information and ideas

Write a paragraph to relate/narrate a sequence of events; to describe a person, object, scene, picture, procedure or routine; or to explain reasons.

Examples of tasks and texts

• Study, Workplace: Write a paragraph describing an event/incident, or telling a story from your experience.
• Study: Write a paragraph to report the historical trek of an explorer, based on a map or a diagram.
• Community, Study: Write a paragraph for a school newsletter to describe a new community or a newly developed facility that you consider very attractive.
• Community, Study, Workplace:
  Word-process, revise, edit, format and print texts using a computer, if available.

Performance Indicators

• Addresses the purpose of the task.
• Expresses main idea and supports it with details.
• Demonstrates good control of simple grammatical structures. May have difficulty with complex structures.
• Demonstrates adequate vocabulary for the topic.
• Provides accurate descriptions, explanations or account of events in the report/story sequence.
• Provides an introduction, development and conclusion, and an adequate paragraph structure in the text.
• Uses appropriate logical connectors (next).
• Uses accurate spelling and punctuation.
• Writes legibly or prints.