Council of Europe
The capacity to deal with material which is academic
or cognitively demanding, and to use language to good effect at a level of
performance which may in certain respects be more advanced than that of an
average native speaker.
Example: CAN scan texts for relevant information, and grasp main topic of
text, reading almost as quickly as a native speaker.
Effective Operational Proficiency
The ability to communicate with the emphasis on how
well it is done, in terms of appropriacy, sensitivity and the capacity to deal
with unfamiliar topics.
Example: CAN deal with hostile questioning confidently. CAN get and hold
onto his/her turn to speak.
The capacity to achieve most goals and express oneself
on a range of topics.
Example: CAN show visitors around and give a detailed description of a
The ability to express oneself in a limited way in
familiar situations and to deal in a general way with nonroutine information.
Example: CAN ask to open an account at a bank, provided that the procedure
An ability to deal with simple, straightforward
information and begin to express oneself in familiar contexts.
Example: CAN take part in a routine conversation on simple predictable
A basic ability to communicate and exchange
information in a simple way.
Example: CAN ask simple questions about a menu and understand simple