Second Language Competency Survey

Exit Survey »

Bonjour, Guten Tag, Hola, Konnichiwa, Nǐ Hǎo

Welcome to International Education Week.

Here is a chance for you to find out just how masterful (or not) you are in your second (third, fourth...) language.

You will be asked to rate your speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. For each descriptor, there is also a numerical value. At the end of the survey, you will be asked to total your scores from all 4 responses. This will then give you a "language competency score".

All respondants will have their name go into a draw for a $50 gift certificate at Las Palmeras Restaurant.

Please start with the survey now by clicking on the Continue button below.

What is your name (first and last) and where do you work in the District?

Have you taught in a country outside of Canada before?

Yes

If you answered yes to question #2, where?

What is your second language for which you are answering this survey? (Note - if you speak multiple languages, you may complete a survey for each language

Reading Skills - How competent are your reading skills in your identified second language?

You are able to read and have a basic understanding of simple notes/letters/emails/etc. (value - 5)

You are able to read newspapers/basic books and understand about half of the content. (value - 12)

You are able to read newspapers/basic books and understand almost all of the content. (value - 18)

You are able to read any type of text with total fluency, with almost no unknown words. (value - 24)

Oral Understanding (Listening) - How competent are your listening skills in your identified second language?

You understand approximately what people want when they talk to you, but no more. (value - 5)

You can follow basic conversation you overhear, and understand about half of what is said on televsion, radio, etc. (value - 12)

You understand most of what you hear, be it on the street, on the TV, radio, etc., with a few words or expressions here and there that are unknown. (value - 18)

Hearing an unknown word is very uncommon for you, regardless the scenario. (value - 24)

Oral Expression (Speaking) - How competent are your speaking skills in your identified second language?

You can explain what you need using basic survival language, with the use of gestures. Expressing opinions and answering beyond yes or no is very limited. (value - 5)

You can tell people what you need without too much trouble, and you can express basic judgments or give sensible answers when asked. Nevertheless, you have to stretch your vocabulary to achieve this. (value - 12)

No problem to speak with people; you can speak about most topics without feeling constrained. Here and there, you miss some words, but you can usually explain them by another way or ask what they are by giving their definitions. (value - 18)

You can converse in any condition (over the phone in particular) over any topic. You make jokes, use idiomatic expressions and can convey your thoughts with all the subtleties and disctinctions that you want. (value - 24)

Written Expression - How competent are your writing skills in your identified second language?

You are limited to the most basic phrases and writing anything takes you ages - if you can do it at all. (value - 5)

You can write simple notes/emails/etc. without needing too much time, but expressing something complex (hypothesis, conditions, future) requires much time and you're still unsure if you wrote it correctly. (value - 12)

You write emails,letters, etc. relatively fluently, only needing to look up words in the dictionary from time to time. (value - 18)

You can write any form of text with no hesitation; You "feel" that something is correctly written when you look at it. The idea of writing an essay does not scare you off. (value - 24)

Now total up your numeric scores from the previous 4 questions. What is your second language competency score?