ELI Proficiency Guidelines

Students are able to function in an English-speaking university setting. They are able to write grammatical, well-organized and fully-developed extended essays integrating outside sources. They can read university-level textbook material as well as current periodicals and novels. They are able to listen to, and take notes on, university lectures with good understanding and are able to competently take part in classroom discussions with native speakers of English.

525/195/71

Level 4

Students can function in a limited sense in an English-speaking university setting. They are able to write grammatical, organized essays but not yet able to integrate outside source material. They are developing the ability to read university-level material but need support from their instructor. They are able to listen to, and take notes on, simulated university lectures with good understanding and are able to take part in classroom discussions with non-native speakers of English.

475/152/53

Level 3

Students are developing the ability to function in an English-speaking university setting. They can write simple extended essays using basic sentence structures and organization but need extensive feedback from instructor. They can read simulated university-type readings with help from instructor. They are able to listen to, and take notes on, simple academic lectures and can take part in simple classroom discussions with other non-native speakers of English.

425/113/38

Level 2

Students are beginning to function beyond the general level of English. They are beginning to write organized text beyond the paragraph level with extensive feedback. They can read longer texts on general topics and are beginning to read on accessible academic topics. They can understand conversations on general topics and, with support, accessible academic topics. They can take part in conversations on general everyday topics and accessible academic topics.

375/79/25

Level 1

Students can function at a basic general level of English. They can write simple paragraphs on general topics using very basic sentence structure with very extensive feedback from instructor. They can read simple texts on general topics. They are able to understand, with difficulty, conversations on general, everyday topics and can take part, with difficulty, in conversations on general, everyday topics

325/50/15