The Preparatory Program achievement scale is the range of possible levels of language ability as represented by the levels of the courses from Pre-Beginner to Advanced. The interpretation of the scale is provided in the descriptors below which represent the achieved level of proficiency as described by the student learning outcomes. The student learning outcomes appear in the syllabus for each course and are drawn from the Curriculum Handbook. As an additional aid for users, the courses are also aligned with IELTS and CEFR, full descriptors of which are provided at the end of this document.
Prep Level |
CEFR Level |
IELTS Level |
Writing Skills Course |
Communication Skills Course |
Pre-Beginner |
A1 to low A2
Basic User |
4.0 Overall |
Writing
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- write basic sentences introducing themselves or others and write simple descriptions of people, places, everyday objects, and daily routines
- write simple descriptions about their and other people’s activities happening at the time of speaking
- write a short text (6-8 sentences / 50-70 words) about their and other people’s likes, dislikes, abilities, hobbies, and interests
- use capital letters and basic punctuation appropriately in simple sentences
- use basic cohesive devices
- use level-appropriate grammar to produce simple phrases and sentences
- use level-appropriate vocabulary to communicate meaning
|
Speaking
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- use simple language to express needs and ask questions in the context of classroom communication
- use simple language to give basic personal information and information about others and to describe people, places and everyday objects
- use simple language to talk about their own and other people’s daily routines, likes and dislikes, abilities, hobbies, and interests
- answer simple questions on common everyday topics
- use basic cohesive devices
- use level-appropriate grammar to produce simple phrases and sentences
- use level-appropriate vocabulary to communicate meaning
- use simple language to describe their and other people’s activities happening at the time of speaking
|
Pre-Beginner |
A1 to low A2
Basic User |
4.0 Overall |
Reading
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- follow commonly used directions for classroom exercises
- recognize phrases and content words related to personal information and information about others as well as in simple descriptions of people, places and everyday objects
- recognize phrases and content words in short written texts about people’s daily routines, likes and dislikes, abilities, hobbies and interests
- identify main ideas and factual and numeric information related to basic personal information as well as in simple descriptions of people, places and everyday objects
- identify main ideas and factual and numeric information in simple written texts about people’s daily routines, likes and dislikes, abilities, hobbies and interests
- recognize pronoun referents in simple texts
|
Listening
By the end of the course the students will be able to:
- follow basic classroom instructions
- recognize phrases and content words related to basic personal information as well as in simple descriptions of people, places, and everyday objects
- recognize phrases and content words in short spoken texts and conversations about people’s daily routines, likes and dislikes, abilities, and hobbies and interests
- identify main ideas and factual information related to basic personal information as well as in simple descriptions of people, places, and everyday objects
- identify main ideas and factual information in short spoken texts and conversations about people’s daily routines, likes and dislikes, abilities, hobbies, and interests
|
Beginner |
A2 to low B1
Independent
User |
4.5 Overall |
Writing
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- compose descriptive paragraphs (100-120 words / 8-10 sentences)
- demonstrate organization of ideas within a paragraph through the use of relevant topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence
- use basic linking devices to sequence, add, and illustrate ideas as well as show cause-effect
- apply basic formatting
- use a sufficient amount of level-appropriate vocabulary to produce basic descriptions
- use grammatical structures to produce simple, complex and compound sentences
|
Speaking
By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- list similarities and differences between people
- describe personal experiences
- state their opinion and support it with appropriate examples and details
- describe theme-related scenes
- organize their ideas using basic cohesive devices
- use sufficient level-appropriate vocabulary
- use appropriate grammatical structures
|
Beginner |
A2 to low B1
Independent
User |
4.5 Overall |
Reading
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- identify the main idea in short reading passages
- identify the purpose of short reading passages
- identify specific details in short reading passages
- make basic inferences or predictions about text content from headings, titles or headlines
- predict the meaning of vocabulary from context
- recognize pronoun referents
|
Listening
By the end of the course the students will be able to:
- identify main ideas in simple spoken texts on familiar topics
- identify factual details in simple spoken texts on familiar topics
- recognize inferences
|
Intermediate |
Low to high B1
Independent
User
|
5
Overall |
Writing
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- compose developed, cohesive, and coherent opinion and narrative paragraphs on course-related subjects (120- 150 words / 9-12 sentences)
- prepare a simple outline to organize ideas and information
- write level-appropriate grammatically and mechanically complete sentences
- use level-appropriate vocabulary
- format paragraphs according to basic academic norms
|
Speaking
By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- give effective and well-organized presentations on topics (2- 5 minutes)
- describe past events and experiences, including feelings and reactions
- express opinions supported by appropriate examples and details
- state advantages and disadvantages using simple language
- demonstrate adequate grammatical knowledge to speak effectively
- employ level-appropriate collocations and vocabulary
|
Intermediate |
Low to high B1
Independent
User
|
5
Overall |
Reading
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- distinguish between main ideas and supporting details
- make simple inferences
- distinguish fact from opinion
- derive the meaning of vocabulary from context
- recognize pronoun referents
- identify problems-solutions
|
Listening
By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- distinguish the main idea and key details in spoken discourse
- demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
- infer opinions from a simple presentation or conversations
- demonstrate note-taking skills
|
Advanced |
High B1 to high B2
Independent
User |
6
Overall |
Writing
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- write well-constructed and developed paragraphs and essays with appropriate unity, coherence, and cohesion on course-related academic subjects (150+ / 250+ and 12-15 sentences / 4 paragraphs)
- apply a process approach to writing by brainstorming, outlining, editing and revising
- use level-appropriate vocabulary and for context
- write a variety of level-appropriate grammatically and mechanically correct sentence types
- format writing according to academic norms
|
Speaking
By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- deliver clear, systematically developed presentations on academic subjects with appropriate signaling of main points and relevant supporting details (4 – 6 minutes)
- apply critical thinking skills to assigned academic topics in order to compare and contrast two or more things
- apply critical thinking skills to assigned academic topics in order to express and justify opinions
- use appropriate grammatical structures for the required situation
- use level-appropriate collocations and vocabulary
|
Advanced |
High B1 to high B2
Independent
User |
6
Overall |
Reading
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- distinguish between main idea and supporting details in a simple academic text
- interact with a short academic text in order to make contextualized inferences
- interact with a short academic text in order to recognize fact and opinion
- use context clues to understand vocabulary
- recognize pronoun referents
|
Listening
By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
- employ listening strategies to recognize the main idea and supporting details
- employ listening strategies to sequence events in chronological order
- demonstrate understanding of relevant vocabulary
- employ listening strategies to make inferences or infer the speaker’s purpose
- employ listening strategies to demonstrate comprehension by paraphrasing and summarizing
|
In addition to its main achievement scale, the Preparatory Program also provides the following achievement scale and interpretation for its study skills courses, which are taken separately from the basic communications and writing skills courses.