FOR NLSC USE ONLY
NATIONAL LANGUAGE SERVICE CORPS (NLSC) PILOT
CONTROL NUMBER
DETAILED SKILLS SELF-ASSESSMENT
INSTRUCTIONS: The following Self-Assessment of foreign language Speaking Proficiency is intended to serve as a rough estimate of foreign
language proficiency.
It is not necessary to know all the words or understand all the details of the texts listed for each item number below, but it is necessary in order to
perform the functional tasks described at the indicated level of accuracy.
To estimate your level of proficiency, please read each task statement below and check "yes" if you believe you can perform the stated task and "no" if
you do not believe you can perform it. If a statement describes your ability only some of the time, or only in some contexts, you should answer "no".
SECTION II - ASSESSMENT: SPEAKING PROFICIENCY IN
:
(Language)
(X one) YES NO
(X one) YES NO
1. I can tell/ask someone how to get from here to the nearest
27. I can speak to a group of educated native speakers on a
professional subject and be sure I am communicating what
hotel, restaurant, or post office.
I want to, without my language skills amusing or irritating
2. I can order a simple meal.
them.
28. I can listen, take notes, and summarize accurately a
3. I can negotiate for a hotel room or a taxi ride at a fair price.
speech or an informal discussion in my area of special
interest, heard on the radio or over a public address
4. I can buy a needed item of clothing or a bus or train ticket.
system.
5. I can understand and respond correctly to standard
29. I can (on a social occasion) defend personal opinions
questions about my nationality, marital status, occupation,
toward culture, race relations, or other sensitive subjects.
date and place of birth, etc.
30. I can cope with such trying linguistic situations as broken-
6. I can introduce myself appropriately.
down plumbing, an undeserved traffic ticket, or a serious
social or diplomatic blunder made by myself or a colleague.
7. I can take leave in a social situation (someone's house, an
office, a conversation) appropriately.
31. I can follow connected discourse on a non-technical
subject, e.g., a panel discussion on the status of women.
8. I can use the language well enough to assist someone who
does not know the language in coping with the situations or
32. I feel that I have a professional command (rather than just
problems covered in the previous statements.
a practical one) of the language.
9. I can describe my present or most recent job in some detail.
33. I can use the language to speculate at length about how
some change in history or the course of human events
10. I can give detailed information about my family, my house,
would have affected my life or civilization, e.g., how our
and the weather today.
lives would be different without the invention of the
computer.
11. I can hire an employee, or arrange for special services
taking care of details such as salary, qualifications, hours,
34. In professional discussion, my vocabulary is always
specific duties.
extensive and precise enough to enable me to convey my
12. I can give a brief autobiography and tell of immediate plans
exact meaning.
and hopes.
35. I am able to alter my speech deliberately, depending upon
13. I can describe the basic structure of the U.S. Government
whether I am talking to university professors, supervisors,
or of the U.S. educational system.
subordinates, elders, close friends, employers, etc.
14. I can describe the purpose or function of the organization
36. I can serve as an informal interpreter for a U.S. senator or
I represent.
cabinet official on all diplomatic and social functions.
15. I can understand what native speakers want to tell me on
topics like those mentioned above, and they understand
37. I practically never make a grammatical mistake.
me (linguistically) at least 80% of the time.
38. I can carry out any job assignment as effectively in
16. I can take and give simple messages over the telephone.
this language as in my native language.
17. I can describe the geography of the U.S. or a familiar
39. I can use the language sufficiently and effectively to
location.
convince a good friend to give up habits or behaviors that
18. I can describe in detail a person or place that is very
hurt them, such as smoking, overeating, etc.
familiar to me.
40. I can use the language sufficiently well to act as an
19. I can discuss the parts of the body and general ailments
interpreter for a high-ranking U.S. Government official
afflicting them.
making a state visit to the country where the language is
20. I can tell the facts of what has been reported recently on
spoken.
television news or in the newspaper.
41. Educated native speakers react to me as they do to each
21. I can tell about a trip I took or some other everyday event
other.
that happened in the recent past.
42. I sometimes feel more at home in this language than in
22. I can use the language well enough to assist someone else,
my native language.
who does not know the language, in coping with the
situations or problems covered in statements 9 - 21.
43. I can do mental arithmentic in the language without slowing
23. There are no grammatical features of the language that I try
down.
to avoid.
44. I consider myself a well educated native speaker of the
24. I never find myself in the middle of a sentence I cannot
language.
finish because of linguistic limitations (grammar or
vocabulary).
45. I have a broad grasp of the idioms, colloquialisms, and
cultural references used in the language.
25. I do not find it difficult to follow and contribute to a
conversation among native speakers who try to include me.
46. In discussions on all subjects, my vocabulary is always
26. I am never afraid that I will misunderstand information given
extensive and precise, allowing me to convey my exact
to me over the telephone.
meaning.
DD FORM 2933, SEP 2009
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