Stanag 6001

NATO UNCLASSIFIED

STANAG 6001 (Edition 4)

NATO STANDARDIZATION AGREEMENT (STANAG)

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS

Related Documents:

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Annex A:

Table of Language Proficiency Levels

AIM 1. The aim of this agreement is to provide NATO Forces with a table describing language proficiency levels. DEFINITION 2. language proficiency / compétence linguistique An individual’sunrehearsed, general language communication ability. [MCTC] [Not NATO Agreed] AGREEMENT 3. Participating nations agree to adopt the appended table of language proficiency levels for the purpose of : a. b. c. Communicating language requirements for international staff appointments. Recording and reporting, in international correspondence, measures of language proficiency. Comparing national standardsthrough a standardized table while preserving each nation’s right to maintain its own internal proficiency standards.

GENERAL 4. The descriptions at Annex A give detailed definitions of the proficiency levels in the commonly-recognised language proficiency skills: “listening”, “speaking”, “reading”, and “writing”.

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STANAG 6001 (Edition 4) PROFICIENCYLEVELS 5. The language proficiency skills described in Annex A are broken down into six levels coded 0 through 5. In general terms, skills may be defined as follows: Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 No proficiency Survival Functional Professional Expert Highly-articulate native

6. At Appendix 1 to Annex A, a series of plus (+) descriptions is provided. A plus indicator may beadded to a base level for training, evaluation, recording or reporting purposes, to indicate a level of proficiency that substantially exceeds a 0 through 4 base skill level, but does not fully or consistently meet all of the criteria for the next higher base level. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY PROFILE 7. Language proficiency profiles will be recorded using a sequence of 4 digits, with plus indicatorsif/when applicable, to represent the four language skill areas, and those skills will be listed in the following sequence: Skill L Skill S Skill R Skill W (CP in French) (EO in French) (CE in French) (EE in French) Listening Speaking Reading Writing

8. This four-digit number will be preceded by the code letters SLP (PLS in French) to indicate that the profile shown is the Standardised (S) Language(L) Profile (P). (For example: SLP 3321 means level 3 in listening, level 3 in speaking, level 2 in reading and level 1 in writing.) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT 9. This STANAG will be considered implemented when a nation has issued the necessary orders/instructions to adopt the table and to put into effect the assessment criteria detailed in this agreement.

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NATOUNCLASSIFIED ANNEX A to STANAG 6001 (Edition 4) TABLE OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS

LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Level 0 – No proficiency
1. No practical understanding of the spoken language. Understanding is limited to occasional isolated words. No ability to comprehend communication.

Level 1 – Survival
2. Can understand common familiar phrases and short simple sentences about everyday needsrelated to personal and survival areas such as minimum courtesy, travel, and workplace requirements when the communication situation is clear and supported by context. Can understand concrete utterances, simple questions and answers, and very simple conversations. Topics include basic needs such as meals, lodging, transportation, time, simple directions and instructions. Even native speakers used tospeaking with non-natives must speak slowly and repeat or reword frequently. There are many misunderstandings of both the main idea and supporting facts. Can only understand spoken language from the media or among native speakers if content is completely unambiguous and predictable.

Level 2 – Functional
3. Sufficient comprehension to understand conversations on everyday social and routine...