Levels and categories: Students compete among same level and category – that is, a Level 3 bilingual student won’t be compared with a Level 1 regular student. Level 3 bilingual students are compared with other Level 3 bilingual students.

LEVELS: Levels ACTFL Benchmarks 1 Novice 2 Intermediate low 3 Intermediate mid 4 Intermediate mid, high 5 Not offered yet Spiraling: new levels may also return to previous levels, reinforcing and advancing them. Sentences Paragraphs Words,lists 1 2 3 4 5 Self, personal needs and wants, Immediate context: school, family, friends Society, values, work, technology, opinions, probabilities, uncertain scenarios

Bilingual Lives between languages: Family speaks the language, maybe was in an immersion program for many years and became bilingual, etc. Outside experience Previous experience puts student at an advantage: maybe lived abroad, maybe had additional schooling in foreign language, etc. Regular Learned language in classroom CATEGORIES: Properly identifying your students’ categories is crucial so a regular student will not be compared with a bilingual. Therefore, each level will still be split into categories: So, your student Mary may be Level 1, Regular, but Anna may be Level 1 Outside experience. Level 1 Regular Outside experience Bilingual Students compete among same level and category – that is, a Level 3 bilingual student won’t be compared with a Level 1 regular student. Level 3 bilingual students are compared with other Level 3 bilingual students.