STANAG 6001 TEST SYLLABUS FOR TEACHERS AND CANDIDATES
GENERAL
Purpose of Test
The purpose of the test is to assess where military and related personnel are in terms of language competence on a proficiency scale according to the BILC descriptors and criteria. As a result of this the test taker receives a certified Standard Language Profile (SLP) of competence between levels 1 and 3 according to the BILC descriptors in order to undertake professional tasks that require STANAG LEVELS 1-3.
Profile of a Test taker
Test takers are members of the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) and civilians attached to SAF or working at the Ministry of Defence. Minimum age of a test taker is 24.
Description of the test
Serbian STANAG 6001 is a multi-level test and it consists of four sections: Listening comprehension, Speaking, Reading comprehension and Writing. The test is for levels 1 to 3 of language competence as described in the BILC interpretations of 2001.
1. LISTENING
1.1 Description of the Listening Test
The listening test consists of six tasks, two per each level, getting progressively more difficult in the course of the test. Each task consists of five items and each item is scored 1 point. Maximum score that can be obtained is 30 points.
Duration : Recordings last up to three minutes per task. Total duration of the Listening test is 30-45min.
1.2 Types of listening
Monologue, dialogue and multi-participant in both catered and authentic English. These may be lectures, briefings, interviews, discussions, radio broadcasts, TV broadcasts, etc.
1.3 Listening skills focus
Identify topic and specific information; Listen for gist; Understand common abbreviations and acronyms, including those of a military nature; Understand explicitly stated information; Identify detail correctly, be able to make predictions and infer from well-structured context; Make inferences from incomplete information and emotional register of speakers; understand implicit information.
1.4 Topics
Home and family, food, shopping, free time activities, sport, holidays, traveling, daily routines, people, places, job procedure, military matters, current events, education, politics, economics, business, culture, science and technology.
1.5 Types of tasks
Short-answer questions, table completion, sentence completion, gap-filling, diagrams, maps, pictures, listing, multiple-choice, matching, sequencing, true/false/not-given questions, and a combination of the above.
1.6 Test-taker performance
Level 1 is expected to score 8-15 points
Level 2 is expected to score 16-23 points
Level 3 is expected to score 24-30 points
2 SPEAKING
2.1 Test level
The test is for levels 1 to 3 of language competence as described in the BILC interpretations of 2001.
2.2 Description of the Speaking Test
Stage One: Warm-up questions (up to 1 minute)
An interlocutor introduces himself/herself and asks the student to do the same.
Stage Two: Structured interview (3 minutes)
The candidate responds to a few questions, each requiring an increasing complexity of response, on general topics. Candidates are prompted to extend their answers.
Stage Three: Long Turn (3 minutes)
The candidate is given a task by the examiner relating to a general topic, which occasionally has a military flavour and asked to read the information for one minute before he/she responds. The candidate is requested to speak for two or three minutes. Examiners who listen expect a higher performance than STANAG level 1.
Stage Four: Discussion (6 minutes)
The candidate is asked to develop issues related to the task in the long turn. There are two parts: A and B. Part A consists of three areas, each with three questions, related to the topic in the long turn. These questions are of increasing complexity and should enable examiners to distinguish between good Level 2 candidates and potential Level 3 candidates. Part B is designed to confirm the capability of candidates reaching STANAG Level 3. It consists of a discussion point related very generally to the long turn task. Candidates should produce a range of language more complex than in the previous parts of the test.
Stage Five: Wind-down (up to one minute)
The interlocutor indicates that the test is ended and may ask a simple courteous question.
Duration of the Speaking test: 15 minutes
2.3 Types of Speaking
Interaction with an examiner, uninterrupted speech.
2.4 Speaking skills focus
Make introductions, express greetings, farewell and thanks; Ask and answer questions and exchange ideas and information on familiar topics in predictable situations; Ask for services and assistance in different situations; describe events and activities (habits and routines, personal experiences); make plans and arrangements; describe hopes and ambitions; Compare and contrast; explain likes or dislikes, opinions and plans; give directions and instructions; Make suggestions; agree and disagree with others; talk about matters of personal or professional interest and/or relevant to everyday life; ask for information in the workplace and at an interpersonal level; request clarification, express satisfaction, dissatisfaction and confirmation. Narrate and describe reactions.
2.4 Topics
Home and family, food, shopping, free time activities, sport, holidays, travelling, daily routines, people, places, job procedures, military matters (units, duties, equipment, etc), current events, education, communication, politics, economics, business, culture, science and technology.
2.5 Types of tasks
Warm-Up questions; structured interview on general topics; long turn based on general topics or general military topics; discussion on aspects of the topic introduced in the long turn; wind-down
2.6 Test-taker performance
Level 1- Able to produce simple phrases and sentences providing relevant personal and professional information; Get by with sufficient vocabulary on topics such as family, hobbies, interests, work, travel, current events with some hesitations; Some repetition and hesitation occurs requiring patience from the listener;
First language features are marked and sometimes impede communication; Errors are usually in terms of agreement and tenses; The syntax and grammar of complex sentences have frequent errors and may lead to confusion in meaning.
Level 2- Deal with most situations where the language is spoken;
Enter into conversations that are familiar, of personal interest or relevant to everyday life; Connect phrases to describe experiences and events; Narrate a procedure or an event and describe reactions; Use reasonably accurately a repertoire of frequently used routines associated with predictable situations; Keep going comprehensibly even though pausing for planning and repair in grammar and lexis is evident; Initiate and maintain close face-to-face conversation; Express and respond to feelings such as surprise, happiness, sadness, interest and indifference; Both simple and complex sentences demonstrate control in word order and grammatical form although complex sentences have more errors, but this does not lead to confusion in meaning.
Level 3-Briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans; Repeat back part of what somebody has said to confirm mutual understanding; Link a series of elements into a connected linear sequence of points; Start again with a new tactic when communication breaks down; Syntax and grammar are usually accurate although errors still occur; Great range and variety in communication is evident; Express thoughts about abstract or cultural topics.
Scoring criteria: In assessing candidate’s performance, the following criteria are taken into consideration: Discourse Competence, Pronunciation, Vocabulary, and Grammar.
3 READING
3.1 Test level
The test is for levels 1 to 3 of language competence as described in the BILC interpretations of 2001.
3.2 Description of the Reading Test
The reading test consists of six tasks, two per each level, getting progressively more difficult in the course of the test. Each task consists of five items and each item is scored 1 point. Maximum score that can be obtained is 30 points.
Duration of the Reading test: 60 minutes.
3.2 Types of Reading
Notices and signs, announcements, post-cards, timetables, programmes, agendas, menus, advertisements, handouts, leaflets, brochures, guides, forms, diary, maps, or plans, news, text books, personal and professional correspondence, informational and editorial items in newspapers, periodicals and professional journals (articles reports, reviews), encyclopaedia entries, dictionary entries, imaginative literature of a contemporary popular nature (novels/extracts and short stories, poems/verse), manuals, technical texts, charts, etc.
Texts should be drawn from the following functional types: narrative, discursive, descriptive, informative and instructional.
3.3 Reading skills focus
Understanding the main idea, identify detail, guess meaning of unfamiliar words from context, answer factual questions about texts, understand hypothesis, supported opinion, argumentation, clarification, understand implicit information, distinguish between various stylistic levels, recognize humour, irony, emotional overtones and subtleties.
3.4 Topics
Home and family, food, shopping, free time activities, sport, holidays, traveling, daily routines, people, places, job procedures, military matters (units, duties, equipment, etc), current events, education, communication, politics, economics, business, culture, science and technology.
3.5 Types of tasks
Short-answer questions, table completion, sentence completion, gap-filling, diagrams, maps, pictures, listing, multiple-choice, matching, sequencing, true/false/not-given questions, and a combination of the above.
3.6 Test-taker performance
Level 1 is expected to score 8-15 points
Level 2 is expected to score 16-23 points
Level 3 is expected to score 24-30 points
4 WRITING
4.1 Test level
The test is for levels 1 to 3 of language competence as described in the BILC interpretations of 2001.
4.2 Description of the Writing Test
The Writing Test consists of two parts.
Part One -Candidates are expected to produce up to 100-120 words of connected, factual, coherent writing. They are instructed to spend 20 minutes on this task.
Task Part Two - Candidates are expected to produce up to 200-250 words of effective and extended pieces of writing demonstrating appropriate command of language).
They are instructed to spend 40 minutes on this task.
Duration of the Writing test: 60 minutes.
4.3 Writing skills focus
Giving and asking for information; Expressing thanks and apologies; Making and responding to requests; Writing and replying to invitations; Asking for and giving reasons for a course of action; Descriptions and comparisons; Narrating and explaining a sequence of events in paragraphs; Asking for clarification; Expressing own opinion on wide range of topics, both personal and professional.
4.4 Topics
Personal information, job, family, home, free time activities, general routines, holidays, travelling, food, festive occasions; Art, science and technology, culture, economics, politics and military domain.
4.5 Types of tasks
Short personal correspondence related to job, family, home and other everyday activities, e.g. lists, short notes, postcards, e-mails, short questionnaires asking for description, letters, phone messages, filling-in forms; personal and routine workplace correspondence and related documents, such as memoranda, brief reports, and private letters on everyday topics, CVs (resumes), summaries; official correspondence, reports in a special field and extended pieces of writing of analytical, hypothetical and argumentative nature, such as briefings, extended reports, speeches and discussion papers.
4.6 Test taker performance
Level 1- Can complete writing tasks requiring information of phrase length. The range of vocabulary is limited and there is a frequent repetition of basic vocabulary. Can occasionally use examples of a wider range of words with certain errors in word choice. Attempts to use a range of structures but the lack of control of grammar and punctuation can cause considerable difficulties. Tries to use some complex sentences but errors in grammar, especially in verb phrases are common and make the writing difficult to understand in places.
Level 2- Can complete tasks requiring language at the level of the simple sentence, occasionally with complex sentences with common discourse markers, such as “but”. Ideas may be roughly organized according to major points or straightforward sequencing of events. However, relationship of ideas may not always be clear, and transitions may be awkward. Simple, high frequency grammatical structures are typically controlled, while more complex structures are used inaccurately or avoided. Vocabulary use is appropriate for high frequency topics, with some circumlocutions. Errors in grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation may sometimes distort meaning. However, the individual writes in a way that is generally appropriate for the occasion, although command of the written language is not always firm.
Level 3 -Can write effective formal and informal correspondence and documents on practical, social, and professional topics with considerable ease. Can use the written language for argumentation, analysis, hypothesis, explanation, narration and description. Although techniques used to organize extended texts may seem somewhat foreign to native readers, the correct meaning is conveyed. Transitions are usually successful. Control of structure, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation is adequate to convey the message accurately. Errors are occasional, do not interfere with comprehension, and rarely disturb the native reader. When it is necessary for a document to meet full native expectations, some editing will be required.
Scoring criteria: In assessing candidate’s performance, the following criteria are taken into consideration: Task completion, Organization, Vocabulary, Syntax and Grammar.
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