Superior (S 3): Professional Proficiency speaking

You should aim for this level if you

• plan to live for some years in a country
• need the language to carry out fully your job responsibilities
• have a very strong interest in the language
• are interested in the country where the language is spoken, and
• want to make close relationships with people who speak the language.

If you get there, you will speak fluently and rarely make grammatical mistakes that bother native speakers. You may still have to search for a word occasionally, but will be able to come up with another way to say what you want. You will be able to talk about a full range of topics and deal with people on a professional level.

You can expect to spend months or even years in the language community before you reach this level, as it involves sociolinguistic competence. This proficiency can only be developed by experiencing language in a large number of social situations.

• What you can say at Superior level
• ACTFL guidelines: Speaking--Superior

• Generic module: Superior (S 3): Professional Proficiency speaking
• In overview module: Guidelines for setting speaking goals
• In overview module: Guidelines for setting proficiency goals
• In modular book: Managing Your Language Learning Program, by Carol J. Orwig
• In bookshelf: Language Learning

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 2 September 1998

© 1999 SIL International