iii Canadian
Language Benchmarks
The Centre for
Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) at www.language.ca
has the Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000 online and will soon have the
Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000 ESL for Literacy Learners. While neither of
these is a curriculum, the performance outcomes they describe are invaluable
references for the teacher doing curriculum or test development. An ancillary
document, the Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000 Guide to Implementation is also
available in hard copy from the CCLB.
This resource has suggestions for using the Canadian Language Benchmarks
2000 for curriculum and course development, including needs assessment, setting
learning objectives, methodology, resource selection and evaluation.
The Canadian
Language Benchmarks (CLB) 2000 is a set of national standards for ESL. It
describes what people can do in English at 12 levels of competency. The CLB is
used across Canada as the basis for language assessment and teaching. In
Manitoba all the government funded Adult ESL programs use the CLB in every part
of their program. Post-secondary educational institutions, such as Red River
College also recognize CLB test results for program admission. In addition,
many businesses, industries and professions are using the CLB to identify the
language requirements for various jobs. For more information about the Canadian
Language Benchmarks 2000 visit the following web page: http://www.language.ca/
The Benchmarks Competency Assessment: A Guide to Assigning Benchmarks developed by Centre for Language
Training and Assessment (CLTA), Peel District School Board, Ontario provides
easy-to-understand information on benchmarks.
The Guide was developed to help LINC instructors recognize, monitor, and
measure the progress of learners in the classroom in relation to Benchmarks 1
to 8 in order to assign benchmarks to students. Tools such as peer evaluation forms, learner portfolios, learner
needs assessment journals, and self-assessment checklists are included and
suggested for in-class assessment.
http://alphaplus.ca/lincdoc/pdfs/clba.pdf
Canadian
Language Benchmarks Overview
|
12 11 |
Learner uses English at a very high level, higher
than average mainstream speakers of English.
Able to cope with academic, business, social and technical
situations. Can negotiate and manage
conflictive situations, write proposals, persuasive articles, research papers
and abstracts, read and view authentic materials for pleasure. Can evaluate and revise the writing of
others. |
|
10 9 |
Learner is no longer learning to read, write and
listen; rather s/he is reading, writing and listening to learn. This is the area identified by Red River
College for many of its training programmes.
The learner is conscious of how language is used to persuade and
influence and can begin to develop an appreciation for literary style and
nuance. This is the level of much
high school English. |
|
8 7 |
Learners have mastered the more complex
grammatical structures and have expanded vocabulary to comfortable speak and
write on a wide variety of everyday topics.
They can identify levels of formality and adjust their language to
familiar situations. They can offer
opinions and advice properly. They
can read texts of up to 10 pages on familiar topics or follow complex
instructions. They are beginning to
use language for academic purposes. |
|
6 5 |
At this point, the second language learner can
handle familiar, everyday situations in the community or at the
workplace. They are able to ask for
explanations, clarify their meaning, listen to short talks or read about a
variety of subjects. Errors in
pronunciation, grammar, spelling and punctuation may cause misunderstanding
at times. |
|
4 3 |
Simple structure is mastered at this stage. Messages are short and are limited to very
basic, daily routine situations.
There are frequent errors and often a need for clarification and
repetition. Can read and write very
short simple texts with recognisable spelling and punctuation. Vocabulary is quite limited. |
|
2 1 |
Beginners.
May be able to copy text accurately in order to fill in personal
information forms. Can perhaps
recognise single vocabulary items or short phrases. May be able to recognise and say the numbers and letters in
order to identify themselves. May
respond to familiar greetings. |
The Centre for
Canadian Language Benchmarks has a document on their website, Additional Sample Task Ideas located at http://www.language.ca/pdfs/sampletasks.pdf
This useful
document gives concrete examples of what sorts of tasks a language learner can
competently perform at each benchmark level.
Adult Language
Training Branch, Immigration and Multiculturalism Division of the Manitoba
Government has excellent links for learners on their website: http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigrate/english/learningenglish/1.html
There is also a
number of resources for teachers on the Adult Language Training Branch website:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigrate/english/learningenglish/2.html
The Government
of Alberta has published a comprehensive guide to teachers about ESL
learners. It may be useful to refer to
the website below:
http://www.learning.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/ESL/eeslgi.pdf
The Tapestry of Language Learning: The Individual in the Communicative
Classroom , Robin
Scarcella & Rebecca Oxford, Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1992
The
Vancouver Community College bookstore has a good listing to resources for ESL
teachers:
http://vcc.bc.ca/kecbookstore/ESL_Books/Teacher_s_Resource/teacher_s_resource.html
Links of Interest
to Students & Teachers of English as a Second Language:
See also Other
Resources for links to other websites and texts.