| Level | PronunciationUses a dialect and/or accent intelligible to the aeronautical community | StructureRelevant grammatical structures and sentence patterns are determined by language functions appropriate to the task | Vocabulary | Fluency | Comprehension | Interactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-operational 3 | Pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are influenced by the first language or regional variation and frequently interfere with ease of understanding. | Basic grammatical structures and sentence patterns associated with predictable situations are not always well controlled. Errors frequently interfere with meaning. | Vocabulary range and accuracy are often sufficient to communicate on common, concrete, or work-related topics but range is limited and the word choice often inappropriate. Is often unable to paraphrase successfully when lacking vocabulary. | Produces stretches of language, but phrasing and pausing are often inappropriate. Hesitations or slowness in language processing may prevent effective communication. Fillers are sometimes distracting. | Comprehension is often accurate on common, concrete, and work-related topics when the accent or variety used is sufficiently intelligible for an international community of users. May fail to understand a linguistic or situational complication or an unexpected turn of events. | Responses are sometimes immediate, appropriate, and informative. Can initiate and maintain exchanges with reasonable ease on familiar topics and in predictable situations. Generally inadequate when dealing with an unexpected turn of events. |
| Elementary 2 | Pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are heavily influenced by the first language or regional variation and usually interfere with ease of understanding. | Shows only limited control of a few simple memorised grammatical structures and sentence patterns. | Limited vocabulary range consisting only of isolated words and memorised phrases. | Can produce very short, isolated, memorised utterances with frequent pausing and a distracting use of fillers to search for expressions and to articulate less familiar words. | Comprehension is limited to isolated, memorised phrases when they are carefully and slowly articulated. | Response time is slow, and often inappropriate. Interaction is limited to simple routine exchanges. |
| Pre-elementary 1 | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. | Performs at a level below the Elementary level. |