Language Skills – ALTE Framework

Ceredigion County Council has adopted the ALTE framework to assess candidates’ language skills. Abilities are assessed against the ALTE Framework “Can-do statements” as listed below.

Listening & Speaking

Level 1

Can pronounce place names and personal names correctly. Can greet customers on a reception desk or on the telephone. Can begin and end a conversation.

Level 2

Can understand the essence of a conversation. Can receive and understand simple messages following normal patterns, such as time and place of meeting, request to talk to someone. Can pass on basic information and simple instructions. Can begin and end conversations and meetings bilingually.

Level 3

Can understand and participate in most day-to-day non-technical conversations in the office. Can advise the public on general matters within own area of work, but must turn to English for technical or specialist terms. Can contribute to meetings or presentations within own area of work, but must turn to English for technical or specialist terms.

Level 4

Can contribute effectively to internal and external meetings in the context of the job area. Can understand differences in language and dialect. Can argue for or against a specific case. Can chair meetings and answer questions confidently from the Chair. Can give presentations fluently and confidently in the context of the job area.

Level 5

Can contribute fluently and confidently in relation to all aspects of day-to-day work, including discussing and advising upon technical, specialist or sensitive matters.

Reading Skills

Level 1

Can understand short reports on familiar matters, if these are expressed in simple language, such as elementary signs, simple instructions and agenda contents.

Level 2

Can understand most short reports and familiar instructions within his/her own area of expertise, provided enough time is given.

Level 3

Can understand most reports, documents and correspondence he/she is likely to encounter during his/her work.

Level 4

Can understand correspondence and reports expressed in standard language.

Level 5

Can understand reports, documents and articles he/she is likely to read during his/her work, including complicated concepts expressed in abstruse terms.

Writing Skills

Level 1

Can write personal names, place names, job titles and names of Council departments. Can write a simple request to a colleague, such as “Somebody has called, can you call back?”

Level 2

Can write a short simple message on paper or by e-mail to a colleague within the Council or a known external contact.

Level 3

Can write informal messages and reports for internal use.

Level 4

Can write business correspondence, short reports, e-mail messages and information literature with editorial assistance.

Level 5

Can write business correspondence, short reports, e-mail messages and information literature to an acceptable standard with the assistance of language tools. Can write detailed notes in a meeting whilst contributing fully.