| 9 |
- - speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words or grammar
- - speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features
- - develops topics fully and appropriately
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- - uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics
- - uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately
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- - uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately
- - produces consistently accurate structures apart from 'slips' characteristic of native speaker speech
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- - uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety
- - sustains flexible use of features throughout
- - is effortless to understand
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| 8 |
- - speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self-correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language
- - develops topics coherently and appropriately
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- - uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning
- - uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuracies
- - uses paraphrase effectively as required
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- - uses a wide range of structures flexibly
- - produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors
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- - uses a wide range of pronunciation features
- - sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses
- - is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility
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| 7 |
- - speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence
- - may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction
- - uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility
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- - uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics
- - uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices
- - uses paraphrase effectively
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- - uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility
- - frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist
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- - shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8
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| 6 |
- - is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation
- - uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately
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- - has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies
- - generally paraphrases successfully
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- - uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility
- - may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems
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- - uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control
- - shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained
- - can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times
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| 5 |
- - usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self-correction and/or slow speech to keep going
- - may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers
- - produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems
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- - manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility
- - attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success
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- - produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy
- - uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems
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- - shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6
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| 4 |
- - cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction
- - links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple connectives and some breakdowns in coherence
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- - is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice
- - rarely attempts paraphrase
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- - produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare
- - errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding
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- - uses a limited range of pronunciation features
- - attempts to control features but lapses are frequent
- - mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener
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| 3 |
- - speaks with long pauses
- - has limited ability to link simple sentences
- - gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message
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- - uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information
- - has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics
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- - attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or relies on apparently memorised utterances
- - makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions
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- - shows some of the features of Band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 4
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| 2 |
- - pauses lengthily before most words
- - little communication possible
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- - only produces isolated words or memorised utterances
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- - cannot produce basic sentence forms
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- - speech is often unintelligible
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| 1 |
- - no communication possible
- - no rateable language
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| 0 |
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