Language Proficiency Scale

The Ottawa Hospital 5-Level Language Proficiency Scale

The Ottawa Hospital uses a 5-level language proficiency scale to define the required level of language skills in English and in French for positions at the Hospital, and to evaluate job candidate language skills.

The descriptors below summarize what the different levels represent. The vocabulary used to create the descriptors is specialized; if you have any questions, you are welcome to write to the Official Languages Program: officiallanguages@toh.ca.

Level 1:

Oral Comprehension: Oral comprehension is not sufficient for communication.

Oral Expression: Communication is impossible.

Reading Comprehension: Recognizes letters in the alphabet.

Written Expression: May only able to write basic personal information (e.g., name).

Level 2:

Oral Comprehension: Able to understand some very common expressions when spoken at a normal speed especially when used with gestures and visual cues. Able to understand some common words in isolation without visual cues but may not be able to comprehend sentence-level speech on familiar topics. Comprehension often relies on cognates, borrowed words, and/or visual cues. Gestures and repetitions are often necessary.

Oral Expression: Has very limited control of vocabulary and grammar. Able to address very simple and familiar topics using isolated words and memorized phrases. Mostly speaks in short sometimes incomplete sentences in a single verb form. Almost every sentence has phonological or grammatical inaccuracies. Is unable to sustain sentence-level discourse. Long pauses, frequent repairs, and repetitions frequently impede the communication is understood with difficulty.

Reading Comprehension: Able to understand some common, highly contextualized words and phrases. Often relies on cognates and borrowed words to decode meaning. Comprehension is highly dependent on background knowledge and context. Able to read short, simple phrases. Misinterpretations frequently occur due to incomplete acquisition/knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and written conventions. Re-reading of texts is often required.

Written Expression: Has very limited control of basic sentence structure and writing conventions. Able to write simple words and short sentences on familiar topics. Unable to sustain sentence-level writing over several sentences to produce an organized text. Writing lacks cohesion and organization. Grammar, word choice, spelling, or punctuation errors are frequent. Errors are distracting and impede comprehension of the text.

Level 3:

Oral Comprehension: Able to understand sentence-level speech on familiar topics when spoken at a normal speed. Recognizes the main idea and some supporting details in very familiar, routine, and predictable settings. Can understand the general topic of longer connected discourse on familiar and less familiar topics but may not be able to identify the main point or supporting details. Repetitions and rewording are often necessary with unfamiliar topics.

Oral Expression: Has a limited control of the vocabulary and grammar of the language. Able to address simple, concrete, and familiar day-to-day topics using basic sentence structures. Accuracy in basic grammatical structures is evident but not consistent in spontaneous speech. Is able to communicate meaning in most routine situations despite errors in word choice or grammar. Insufficient vocabulary or grammatical knowledge to express ideas on abstract topics. Pauses, repairs, and reformulations are evident. Pronunciation is clear enough to be understood by interlocutors accustomed to listening to intermediate-level speakers.

Reading Comprehension: Able to read simple sentences. Able to understand basic, concrete, and connected text on familiar topics. Able to identify some main ideas and supporting details in more complex text. Has sufficient range of vocabulary to understand routine, highly-contextualized texts. Background or contextual knowledge is required for accurate comprehension. Some misinterpretations occur due to incomplete acquisition/knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and written conventions. Re-reading of texts may be required.

Written Expression: Has some control of basic sentence structure and writing conventions. Able to write simple sentences about familiar everyday topics. Writing often resembles spoken language. Unable to adjust writing style to different audiences. Uses a limited number of cohesive devices such as “and”, and “so”, but often lacks deliberate organization. Grammar, word choice, spelling, or punctuation errors are present. Errors may be distracting and may impede comprehension of the text.

Level 4:

Oral Comprehension: Able to understand most routine narrative and descriptive connected discourse on familiar topics. Recognizes the main idea and most supporting details in familiar or routine settings. Able to understand some key details in complex or unfamiliar situations although misunderstandings may occur. For maximum comprehension in unfamiliar situations, key details may need to be repeated and/or rephrased and the speech spoken at a slower than normal rate. Can understand some common cultural references. Occasional repetition may be necessary.

Oral Expression: Has a high degree of control of vocabulary or grammar, but not both. Able to handle most familiar and concrete topics and some unfamiliar or abstract topics. Attempts to adjust style of speech to the listener or audience may sometimes be effective. Accurately uses some common idioms or colloquialisms. Speech in routine situations rarely contains vocabulary or grammatical errors. Exhibits inaccurate, incorrect, or awkward phrasing when speaking in unfamiliar situations or about a complex or unfamiliar topic. Pauses, hesitations, and reformulations are more evident when dealing with more abstract or complex topics. Inaccuracies in pronunciation occur but do not impede communication.

Reading Comprehension: Able to understand most factual and some abstract materials. Able to understand the main ideas and many supporting details in connected texts on familiar and some unfamiliar topics. Has a good range of common vocabulary and has some technical vocabulary in areas of specialization. Able to understand some unfamiliar topics, despite the lack of background knowledge. Can understand some common cultural references. Misinterpretations may occur when dealing with more structurally or conceptually complex topics or uncommon idioms. Re-reading of more complex texts may be required.

Written Expression: Has a high degree of vocabulary or grammar, but not both. Able to write one or more paragraphs on most concrete topics and some abstract topics. Attempts to adjust style of writing to the reader may sometimes be effective. Accurately uses some common idioms or colloquialisms. Writing is relatively cohesive and organized. Writing exhibits a high degree of accuracy in simple structures, but errors, awkward wordings, and repetitions may occur in more complex and less frequent structures. Errors do not detract from the overall comprehension of the text but may be distracting to the reader.

Level 5:

Oral Comprehension: Able to understand discourse of any length in a standard dialect on a wide range of familiar and unfamiliar topics. Is able to understand some non-standard dialects, although some misunderstandings may occur. Able to easily identify the main idea and supporting details in academic and professional settings. Comprehension of significant details in well-structured speech is almost always accurate. Able to understand many cultural references. Rarely has difficulty understanding speech spoken at a normal speed. Little or no repetition is necessary.

Oral Expression: Exhibits a high degree of control of both vocabulary and grammar. Able to handle all familiar and some unfamiliar formal and informal situations on a wide range of concrete and abstract topics. Adjusts style of speech to the listener or audience. Is able to accurately convey subtle nuances with some colloquialisms. Errors may occur in highly complex structures, but when they occur, they are generally able to self-correct. Long pauses and hesitations are rare and do not distract from the speech. Pronunciation is clear throughout. Even though an accent may be present, speaker is intelligible to most highly proficient speakers of the language.

Reading Comprehension: Able to understand almost all forms of written language including abstract and structurally complex text. Can easily identify the main idea and supporting details in academic and professional texts. Understands a wide range of common and uncommon vocabulary. Able to understand most unfamiliar topics despite the lack of background knowledge. Able to comprehend many sociolinguistic and cultural references. Misinterpretations are rare. Can accurately derive meaning of unfamiliar words from the context. Re-reading may be necessary only for highly complex or colloquial texts.

Written Expression: Exhibits a high degree of control of both vocabulary and grammar. Able to write formal and informal essays, reports, and other correspondence on a wide range of abstract and concrete topics. Adjusts style of writing to the reader. Is able to accurately convey subtle nuances with some colloquialisms. Writing is organized and uses a wide variety of cohesive devices to link complex ideas. Errors are rare and do not interfere with comprehension.

Last updated on: April 10th, 2026