- Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read.
- Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.
- Can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.
That is the definition of C2 and my nieghbour can do this, she is nine years old. The expectation for her in school at her age is:
- Uses language effectively for a variety of purposes/situations
- Participates in group discussions
- Gives accurate directions to others
- Summarizes and restates ideas
- Organizes information for clarity
- Uses subject area information and vocabulary for learning
- Give effective oral presentations
- Can explain relationships between meanings of multiple-meaning words (analogies)
- Uses more abstract and specific vocabulary and grammar, complex sentences in writing than in conversation
- Uses a variety of words, not just the same ones over and over
- Gives synonyms and categories in word definitions
- 4 out of 5 words have a prefix or suffix
- Uses more figurative language in conversation
- Listens to and understands information presented by peers
- Form opinions based on evidence
- Listens for specific purposes
- Demonstrates understanding of grade level content material
- Understands jokes and riddles based on sound similarities – Examples: “What kind of shows to cows like to watch?” “Moo-sicals”
- Understands jokes and riddles based on word ambiguity – Examples: “Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I’ll never know.” – Groucho Marx
- Understands most common idioms
- Reads for specific purposes
- Reads grade level books fluently
- Use previously learned information to understand new information
- Follow written directions
- Take brief notes
- Link information learned to different subjects
- Learn meanings of new words through knowledge of word origins, synonyms, and multiple meanings
- Use reference materials
- Explain the author’s purpose and style
- Read and understand a variety of literature
- Compare and contrast in content areas
- Make inferences from texts
- Paraphrase content, include main idea and details
- Read 120-150 words per minute
- Write effective narratives and explanations, and several paragraphs on the same topic
- Develop a plan for writing, beginning, middle, end
- Organize writing to convey a central idea
- Edit final copies for grammar, punctuation, spelling
- Write effective narratives and explanations, and several paragraphs on the same topic
- Develop a plan for writing, beginning, middle, end
- Organize writing to convey a central idea
- Edit final copies for grammar, punctuation, spelling
So you can see that a nine-year-old child is expected to have a GREATER linguistic ability in their native language than a C2 foreigner.