Department of European Languages and Cultures

Third Year Language (CEFR: C1)

Descriptors providing an indication of the passive and productive abilities of students passing Third Year Language.

‘Can do’ statements

The following descriptors provide an indication of the passive and productive abilities of students passing this course.

Students passing at grade: Will meet these criteria:
A almost all of the time
B most of the time
C regularly
D some of the time

Listening comprehension

  • Follow extended speech, live or broadcast, on abstract and complex topics of academic or vocational relevance.
  • Follow extended discussion even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.
  • Follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of academic/professional presentations which are propositionally and linguistically complex.

Reading comprehension

  • Understand in detail a wide range of lengthy, complex texts likely to be encountered in social, professional or academic life, occasionally with time to reread them.
  • Scan quickly through books and articles within his/her field of interests and assess their relevance to the task at hand.
  • Read extensively, eg. enjoying novels without consulting a dictionary unless I want to note precise meaning, usage or pronunciation.
  • Understand formal letters connected or unconnected to his/her field of work or study with the occasional use of a dictionary.

Spoken

  • Express him/herself fluently, adopting a level of formality appropriate to the circumstances.
  • Keep up with animated discussions on abstract or complex topics involving a number of speakers.
  • Give clear, well-structured presentations on complex subjects in his/her own field, expanding and supporting points of view with appropriate reasons and examples.

Written

  • Write clear, well-structured texts on complex topics in an appropriate style with good grammatical control.
  • Put together information from different sources and relate it in a coherent summary.
  • Present different points of view in a paper, developing an argument, highlighting the most important notes, and supporting reasoning with examples.
  • Maintain a high degree of grammatical control.