jTELS/TELSa Level A1-B1

This section contains the expected outcomes for the jTELS* and TELSa** qualifications A1, A2 and B1. More detailed information is provided in the various syllabi which provide a framework around which teachers can plan their lessons in order to help their students achieve the required level of competence relating to language systems (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, functional language and pronunciation) and the four language skills (Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking). Teachers are encouraged to interpret, adapt and personalise content as they deem feasible, without losing sight of the importance of engaging their students and ensuring that they are empowered enough to achieve their goals and, eventually, move on to a higher level of competence.

Recommended ‘Guided Learning’ hours (i.e. class time, testing, and project work in class) is as indicated below. We also recommend that ‘instruction time’ is supplemented by active ‘Self-study’, as detailed in the ‘ESaT Framework of Progress: Recommended Total Qualification Time’. It is understood that ‘Self-study’ includes unsupervised guided work after class time, like homework, assignments, etc.: –

jTELS/TELSa A1: 80 – 90 hours (…plus active Self-study), assuming the learner’s level at course commencement is Starter Level.
jTELS/TELSa l A2: 80 – 90 hours (…plus active Self-study), assuming the learner’s level at course commencement is Level A1.
jTELS/TELSa B1: 80 – 100 hours (…plus active Self-study), assuming the learner’s level at course commencement is Level A2.

In designing the examinations for the two programmes (jTELS and TELSa), we have looked closely at the needs of the candidates at each level so as to ensure that the examinations are as relevant as possible. To give an example : the Use of English, Reading and Writing paper (Paper 1) of each level includes a number of short texts covering topics which candidates can expect to find in ‘non-examination’ contexts (e.g. Notices, dialogues, role play situations, etc.). The tasks are meant to engage the candidates by asking them to process and manipulate the language in ways which are as close as possible to normal everyday situations. Whilst working on the tasks, the candidates will need to use appropriate strategies in order to read through the texts as efficiently as possible, and to exploit them in order to locate the necessary information as quickly as possible. The reading element in the Use of English tasks sets a context which requires the candidate to utilise his/her …

‘linguistic knowledge’ to understand the text (as with all Reading tasks)
‘textual knowledge’ to determine the logical relationship between the sentences and to determine the references made in the text, and
‘world knowledge’ to map his/her linguistic and textual knowledge to the context of the text.

Teachers are advised not to limit themselves to the language items listed in the syllabi, but should work, instead, around their students’ needs, ability and interests, which should also help determine the competencies and strategies to target during the course of study. (See the ‘Language Skills’ section of each of the level syllabi)

The targeted competences in the Language Skills sections of the syllabi are aligned to the most popular frameworks. The main aim of these frameworks is to act as a guide, providing teachers and syllabus planners with a base from which to work. They are intended to provide a concrete illustrative set of descriptors to help decision-makers design courses to suit their students’ needs. Accordingly, the common reference levels can be exploited in a number of ways and in varying degrees of detail.

Needless to say, a framework is exactly that – ‘a framework’ which needs to be adapted and extended, depending on the needs of any particular institution.

Upon looking at each of the syllabi, it is clear that they do not simply comply with these frameworks, but they go beyond, thus ensuring that students are sufficiently engaged and challenged. Removing or shortening any part of each of the jTELS/TELSa syllabi to, simply, cover the Common Reference levels, namely the “Can Do’s”, could result in courses finishing well before the required time for development at any level, thereby failing to offer the student a thorough, comprehensive and communicative understanding of the English language.

(* jTELS = Junior Test of English Language Skills ; **TELSa = Test of English Language Skills for Adults)

‘Can Do’s’

Overall Oral Production
A1	Can produce simple phrases and sentences about people and places.
A2	Can give a simple description or presentation of people, living or working conditions, daily routines, likes / dislikes, etc. as a short series of simple phrases and sentences linked into a list.
B1	Can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within his/her field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points.
B2	Can give clear, systematically developed descriptions and presentations, with appropriate highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail.
C1	Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects, integrating sub- themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.
C2	Can produce clear, smoothly flowing well-structured speech with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.

Overall Written Production
A1	Can write simple phrases and sentences.
A2	Can write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘because’.
B1	Can write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within his/her field of interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete elements into a linear sequence.
B2	Can write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest, synthesising and evaluating information and arguments from a number of sources.
C1	Can write clear, well-structured texts of complex subjects, underlining the relevant salient issues, expanding and supporting points of view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples, and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.
C2	Can write clear, smoothly flowing, complex texts in an appropriate and effective style and a logical structure which helps the reader to find significant points.

Overall Listening Comprehension
A1	Can follow speech which is very slow and carefully articulated, with long pauses for him/her to assimilate meaning.
A2	Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type related to areas of most immediate priority (e.g. very basis personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment) provided speech is clearly and slowly articulated.
B1	Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific detail, provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally familiar accent.
B2	Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influences the ability to understand.
C1	Can understand enough to follow extended speech on abstract and complex topics beyond his/her own field, though he/she may need to confirm occasional details, especially if the accent is unfamiliar. Can recognise a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating register shifts. Can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled openly.
C2	Has no difficulty in understanding any kind of spoken language, whether live or broadcast, delivered at fast native speaker speed.

Overall Reading Comprehension
A1	Can understand very short, simple texts a single phrase at a time, picking up familiar names, words and basic phrases and rereading as required.
A2	Can understand short, simple texts on familiar matters of a concrete type which consist of high frequency everyday or job-related language
A2	Can understand short, simple texts containing the highest frequency vocabulary, including a proportion of shared international vocabulary items.
B1	Can read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interest with a satisfactory level of comprehension.
B2	Can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. Has a broad active reading vocabulary, but may experience some difficulty with low-frequency idioms.
C1	Can understand in detail lengthy, complex texts, whether or not they relate to his/her own area of speciality, provided he/she can reread difficult sections.
C2	Can understand and interpret critically virtually all forms of the written language including abstract, structurally complex, or highly colloquial literary and non-literary writings. Can understand a wide range of long and complex texts, appreciating subtle distinctions of style and implicit as well as explicit meaning.