How do we measure language fluency?

The term “levels of fluency” refers to predetermined levels of language skills that correlate with a person’s level of proficiency when he/she is speaking, writing or reading any language. For anyone pursuing a career in human resources, it can be important to include your level of language fluency on your resume and job application. There are five language proficiency levels, and many employers require at least level three, which is essentially a professional working proficiency level.

Developing proficiency or fluency in any language begins with word learning. By the time a child is 12 months old, they learn their first words and by the time they are 36 months old, they may know more than 900 words with their utterances intelligible to the ones who interact with them the most. To check your level of proficiency/fluency in the language, you can refer to online tests & guides which will help in guiding you to understand your level of fluency in any language.

The ACTFL was developed from the ILR, but it’s a little more gritty. It has five main levels which are known as novice, intermediate, advanced, superior and distinguished, and each of the above discussed first four levels are split into low, medium and high sub-levels as shown below: 

0 – No proficiency: This level is the most basic level. It refers to the knowledge of the language that is nonexistent or limited to a few words.

1 – Elementary proficiency: Level one refers to the level of fluency that signifies that one knows how to structure basic sentences. This may include common questions and answers typically used by tourists. This is particularly known as the starting point of the language proficiency levels. This level shows someone who is traveling to a new country and who has just begun to study a language.

2 – Limited working proficiency. This level means that one is able to have limited social conversations and understand basic commands. One at this level might need help with more extensive conversations in the language.

3 – Professional working proficiency. Level 3 refers to one who understands the language sufficient to contribute, to a great extent, in the workplace, though you can show an obvious accent and need help with advanced terminology. One is likely to have an accent at this level but most probably require help in understanding subtle and nuanced phrasing.

4 – Full professional proficiency. Level four skills refers to the ILR scale is what most employers want to see on a resume. This implies that you can have conversations at an advanced level with a firm understanding of the language, though you may have some misunderstandings or occasional mistakes; which are common. Advanced speakers may begin to engage in conversation for long periods of time and with more demanding topics, they might express ideas without too much searching or lag in the conversation.

5 – Native / bilingual proficiency. Level five means that one is entirely fluent in a language. He/she was raised speaking the language or has spoken it long enough to become proficient in it.

Proficiency is simply a matter of skill. In other words, proficient speakers may not speak perfect pronunciation or grammar all the time, but they speak confidently and well.