Objectives for Intermediate-Level Students of French, German, and Spanish
SPEAKING: Ability to adapt and personalize memorized material to interact in a limited number of everyday, social situations in a way that is understandable to native speakers who are used to dealing with foreigners. Speech may still be characterized by pauses, errors in grammar and word selection, and inconsistent pronunciation and intonation. Students are now able to initiate and maintain conversations, and respond meaningfully to statements and questions.
LISTENING: Ability to comprehend statements and questions involving basic social and personal needs, such as personal conversations, public announcements, radio and television programs. Misunderstandings may still arise, and statements and questions may have to be repeated or reworded before they are understood. Details may be difficult to grasp, but the general meaning of the spoken message should be understood.
READING: Ability to comprehend the main ideas of texts and to scan for factual information in short texts intended for a general audience that require the reader to make few interpretive suppositions, such as classified ads, social invitations, advertisements, forms and applications, and simple business and social correspondence. Some details may be difficult to grasp, but the general meaning of the text should be understood.
WRITING: Ability to create short texts that communicate meaningfully with native speakers used to dealing with foreigners, such as memos, simple correspondence, compositions on familiar themes, information required on forms and applications. Signs of an emergent personal style are evident, although students still rely on structures and vocabulary learned in class. Errors in grammar, word selection, and punctuation may still occur, but meaningful communication will not be impeded.