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This resource provides strategies on the importance of visuals, how to incorporate the visuals, the positive effects it can have on ELLs and tips on how to use technology to also support using visual aids. As visual aids are filled with important information it can help each student with understanding and comprehension. This is has a high-impact and correlates with research-based best practices because of the enhancement visuals create.

The Importance of Visual Aids for ELLs (2023). edmentum. https://www.edmentum.com/articles/visual-aids-for-ells/

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There is no doubt that visual aids for learning are a significant aspect of learning for any student.

They support the communication of key concepts throughout a topic or unit, function as a memory aid, and engage learners with lesson content by holding more appeal than simple text. The power of imagery in instruction is highlighted by the fact that 65% of the population are considered "visual learners."

Visual learning is particularly vital for supporting English language learners (ELLs). The extra support visuals can provide to ELLs still developing English vocabulary and usage skills can turn unfamiliar concepts into familiar ones and help with understanding.

In this blog, we explore more about visual aids for ELLs and how visual aids are important for all language learners.

How to Incorporate Visual Aids

Visuals can include many items that can be found in the classroom. Specifically, visual aids are any items that students can look at to support them in recalling and understanding a concept.

The following is not an exhaustive list but a good outline of how visuals can be implemented in lessons.

A copy of the text - having the passage, extract or the reading book as a copy of the text you are covering in front of the student helps them follow along with the words as you read them. This is ideal for ELLs as it can help them fully comprehend the content in the text and enable them to practice reading skills.

Worksheets with imagery - sheets that include images to align with important concepts or vocabulary you are teaching are ideal for ELLs to support the recognition of words.

Vocabulary posters - sheets with images and vocabulary under them displayed in a classroom are ideal for encouraging recall and instilling the understanding of objects.

Activities involving imagery - lessons that include tasks such as drawing, diagrams, or graphics to support the explanation of concepts are valuable for recollecting vocabulary and aiding understanding of content.

Why are visual aids for ELLs so important?

There are so many ways visuals can be adopted in lessons. However, it's important to know why we should focus on implementing them, especially for multi-language learners who need to develop their vocabulary and attain the confidence to speak another language.

Reduce Nervousness and Support Confidence

Schools can be a place that induces anxiety for some students. This could be for academic or social reasons.

For ELLs, that anxiety may be even more intense as they might not be used to the culture and the language around them.

With learning content, visuals can provide that stimulus to support ELLs' recognition and recall. They'll be at ease as they can see the content you are teaching and have more of an idea of what is being discussed.

Support Comprehension

Visuals are very important for some students to fully comprehend concepts as they inspire imagination and affect cognitive capabilities.

It's a good idea to include them at the right time during a lesson, such as before an activity is implemented. By introducing visuals earlier, multi-language learners can better understand what is being discussed in order to grasp the concept and aid their understanding.

The right visual aids can encourage patience which is ideal for instilling at the start of your lesson.

Foster Emotions

There is a link between emotional response and visual stimuli. They are both closely connected in the brain and generate memories.

This highlights the importance of visual aids for ELLs as they act as visual metaphors to improve retention, create long-lasting impressions, and stimulate images from their own experiences to use in learning.

Cement Information

According to Dr. Lynell Burmark, an education consultant who writes and speaks about visual literacy: "Unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are processed by our short-term memory, where we can only retain about seven bits of information."

Dr. Lynell goes on to say: "Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched."

Images can support the instilling of information in long-term memory, which is ideal for supporting ELL students as it shows that images can help the retention of information and learning of a language more quickly.

Promote Motivation

Adopting visual aids for learning that captivate and have interesting statistics in a lesson can transform an unengaging topic or task into an interesting task that ELLs want to take part in.

Images can support learners in fighting the urge not to pay attention and motivate students to perform better.

Supports Decoding

To support multi-language learners with fully understanding sounds and words, they need to hear and see text while reading.

By allowing students to circle words or grammar to support them with grasping the language, you are giving them another visual cue that can support pronunciation and the decoding of vocabulary.

How to Incorporate Visual Aids for ELLs with Technology

Many eLearning tools can support learning with visual aids, techniques, and interactive content. Edmentum's Courseware, a flexible digital curriculum for 6-12 students, includes highlighter tools and incorporates images and videos.

These are important for ELLs as they support them with understanding vocabulary and content to better their English language learning.

Visual aids and interactive content are essential for teachers to have in their toolkits to support ELLs and their learning. They can help ELLs improve their English language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. They are ideal for speeding up ELLs' language learning and academic accomplishments.

Although students should be reminded and comforted that learning a language can take a long time, the process can certainly be made easier by implementing visuals in lessons.

Interested in learning more about how to support adult English language learners (ELLs) in your classroom? Explore these tips to enhance their learning experience and set them up for success.

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While English language learners are struggling to understand a new language, visual aids for ELLs can bring them back to the present lesson.

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Drawing differences can create a point of view for others to feel seen. When drawing through affirmations it can create a positive outlook on the diversity. As students draw the differences, it is encouraging the emphasis on them and creates a supportive learning environment. This resources provides a break down through powerful lessons addressing differences. This supports research-based best practice by helping make connections, ideas and building confidence.

Liz, P., Dolan, L., Latimer, K. (2024). Drawing Differences . embracerace. https://www.embracerace.org/community/drawing-differences?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3vO3BhCqARIsAEWblcCPFDfvqKkABhovxwVPDYHKLhZgKxnO3moj_MbWtfomhBYzCoefj1QaAjK-EALw_wcB

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EmbraceRace supports parents to raise children who are brave, informed and thoughtful about race. Join the movement!

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When teaching ELLs there are different tools that can be beneficial for our students, us as educators have to build relationships with our students in order to be able to best help each student. When scaffolding our lessons we are engaging the students and building on from prior knowledge. This resource gives a break down of verbal scaffolds and procedural scaffolds. When scaffolding this can support research-based best practices as you are planning each lesson and creating that foundation for ELL students to progress.

Vasquez, V. (n.d.). Scaffolding Techniques for English Language Learners: Part 1. Collaborative Classroom . https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/scaffolding-techniques-english-language-learners-part-1/

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Scaffolding Techniques for English Language Learners: Part 1

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When supporting English Language Learners during instruction we must consider that the instruction is two-fold. Teachers are supporting content and language acquisition simultaneously. This is not an easy task! Scaffolding has been praised for its ability to engage most learners. When the learning is scaffolded students are constantly building on prior knowledge and forming associations [...]

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Students need to feel welcomed, heard, seen, safe and accepted in the classroom community. This resource talks about the importance of students feeling this way and ways to help build relationships to create this positive learning environment. This correlates with research based best practices as it can create as this is working towards academic success, building trust, and communicating with your students.

Gonzalez, V. (2019). 5 Ways We Can Build Relationships with ELLs. Middle Web . https://www.middleweb.com/36910/building-relationships-with-ells-others/

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5 Habits to Build Relationships with ELLs and ALL Students!

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How can teachers build relationships with English language learners to help them feel safe and ready to learn? Valentina Gonzalez shares 5 proven techniques.

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There are many tools for using technology to support ELLs in the classroom. This resource gives tools to try in order for ELLs to use technology to help with students needs. It also provide many different sources to go to within this resource which can expand the learning. Learning tools are beneficial and correlate with research-based best practices as they are tailored support, new, and evolving each day.

Knutson, J. (2023). How to Use Technology to Support ELLs in Your Classroom. Common Sense Education . https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-use-technology-to-support-ells-in-your-classroom?campaignid=21109071300&adgroupid=164582787496&adid=704453236980&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3vO3Bh

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How to Use Technology to Support ELLs in Your Classroom | Common Sense Education

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Quality edtech for ELLs isn’t easy to find, but great options do exist.

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As there are many services and tools that can help ELL students, Assistive Technology (AT) is a way to help students work around additional challenges that ELL students might come across. This resources talks about how this tool a high tech accommodation that can help with each subject. There is AT tools for each area, and this can be accessible at school and at home. This correlates with research-based best practices as it acts as a support system to help with challenging areas for each individual student.

Lee, A. (2023). What is assistive technology?. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/assistive-technology

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People who learn and think differently can use technology to help work around their challenges. This is called assistive technology (AT). AT helps people with disabilities learn, communicate, or function better. It can be as high-tech as a computer, or as low-tech as a pencil grip. It's a type of accommodation that involves tools.

Assistive technology has two parts: devices (the actual tools people use) and services (the support to choose and use the tools).

Students who struggle with learning can use AT to help with subjects like reading, writing, and math. AT can also help kids and adults with the tasks of daily life. And many adults use these tools on the job, too.

Assistive technology devices

There's a wide range of AT devices for people with learning and thinking differences. Simple AT tools include highlighters, organizers, and timers.

Other AT tools are high-tech and depend on digital devices. For example, an app with text-to-speech technology can read aloud for people with dyslexia.

There are hundreds of these tools. For examples, explore:

Assistive technology services

Getting the best use out of assistive technology requires more than just having a tool. That's where AT services come in. AT services is any support that helps people with disabilities to choose, get, or use an AT device.

Some examples of AT services include:

Evaluation performed by a doctor or specialist

Training to help a person learn what a tool can do and how to use it

Help with repairing a device

Without these services, assistive technology may not be effective. AT tools and services work together to help people thrive.

Myths about assistive technology

There are lots of myths about AT. Some people wrongly believe that using AT is "cheating." Others worry that people who use AT may become too reliant on it.

One of the biggest myths is that using AT will prevent kids from learning academic skills. Education experts say that's not true.

At the same time, keep in mind that AT can't replace good teaching or instruction. And it won't "cure" a learning difference like dyslexia or ADHD.

Watch a video debunking five myths about AT.

Selecting and using assistive technology

Finding the right AT tools and learning how to use them can be overwhelming.

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What is assistive technology (AT)? It's any device, software, or tool that lets people with disabilities work around challenges. AT tools can help with reading, writing, math and other tasks.

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This resource provides approaches for how to help ELLs meet the needs through Social and Emotional learning. Understanding and advocating for our students is important and this resource focuses on how to help focusing on linguistically and culturally diverse students. By creating this safe learning environment where students are open to talk about their emotions and open up correlates with research-based best practices in working with ELLs.

Williams, C. P. (2019). Meeting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of English Learners. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/meeting-social-emotional-learning-needs-english-learners/

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Advocates of educational equity, access, and inclusion for historically underserved children have always struggled to highlight the challenges these children face without defining the children as themselves being those challenges. Indeed, the very term-"historically underserved"-stems from a correction of an older term, "underprivileged." This switch has been important, because "historically underserved" puts the onus on what adults can control (how systems serve these kids) instead of on the privileges that the kids lack.

This shift should not obscure the complexity within these terms. As the field of education devotes more attention to historically underserved children's social and emotional development, advocates must also account for ways that different forms of historical inequity influence children's social and emotional growth in different ways. This is particularly important for linguistically and culturally diverse children in U.S. schools.

An Under-Recognized Strength

The issue of accurate and equitable terminology extends even further for students who speak languages other than English when not in school. In the United States, they have been called everything from Limited English Proficient to English Learners, Dual Language Learners, Emergent Bilingual Learners, and Multilingual Learners, among other labels.

Each of these terms is inadequate in its own way. All define students-who are children in all their diversity and complexity-solely in terms of their languages, and most emphasize the English skills they have not yet fully developed. These kids are more than their linguistic profiles: classifying them so narrowly risks leaving out their other strengths, goals, and needs.

For instance, research often shows that these students score higher on measures of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills than do their monolingual peers. Social and emotional learning includes things like relationship-building skills, emotional self-regulation, and abilities related to the understanding and management of social cues. These are not separate from children's academic development. A growing research consensus suggests that social and emotional skills have significant academic, health, and long-term social benefits. In its 2017 meta-analysis of the state of research on English Learner (EL) students, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine found that "Evidence indicates that [ELs] have comparable or better social-emotional competencies relative to their monolingual English peers." Specifically, ELs appear to score high on self-regulation and interpersonal skills.

New Enthusiasm for Holistic Approaches Child Development-but More Caution Needed

Competencies like those that fall under the umbrella of SEL are sometimes called "non-cognitive" or "non-academic" skills. Whichever term you prefer, there's no question that it is very much in vogue to discuss them in progressive education circles today. The 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opened the door to converting this interest into firm policy. It allowed states to include a "non-academic" indicator in their systems for rating schools in their accountability systems. However, states have thus far avoided using this opportunity to directly measure students' SEL skills as part of their ESSA accountability systems.

There are understandable reasons for this. Even those who want U.S. schools to prioritize SEL development are concerned about measuring SEL metrics at scale, and with accountability stakes attached. Schools and teachers are a long way from being ready to implement SEL-focused programming at scale, and it can be difficult to get valid, reliable data on young students' SEL development with existing tools. As SEL advocate Tim Shriver told Education Week during the time when states were drafting their ESSA plans, interest in SEL was "booming," but while "Someone might say, 'Why aren't you holding states accountable for teaching it?' The answer to that is we are not ready for it yet."

Shriver's implication, however, was clear enough: interest in SEL competencies will eventually move educating for those competencies into systems for measuring school quality.

Designing for Inclusion and Diversity

When social and emotional learning measurement becomes widespread, this availability will offer a considerable opportunity for English-learning students. It could help schools think more capaciously about their English learners. Since ELs, on aggregate, tend to score well on these measures, it could help schools recognize these students in terms of their strengths, not just their still-developing language skills.

Since ELs, on aggregate, tend to score well on these measures, it could help schools recognize these students in terms of their strengths, not just their still-developing language skills.

However, a more precise view of ELs' social and emotional learning skills won't arrive automatically. Given how difficult it is to gather solid SEL data for any student, gathering it for ELs will require a high degree of intentionality to avoid duplicating schools' all-too-common blind spots regarding these students' diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Any efforts to incorporate these metrics into school ratings and accountability systems must be valid and reliable for multilingual and multicultural students as well.

A study published in Child Development in 2012 shows the limitations of even well-meaning metric design. The study found significant variation in the SEL caregiving practices of Latinx mothers, native-born white mothers, and Asian-heritage mothers. However, it characterizes these variations in terms of "strengths" and "weaknesses." Latinx households, it found, had similar "social-emotional functioning" levels as the households of native-born white mothers. By contrast, households of Asian-heritage mothers had "weaker social functioning." It bears noting that the SEL metrics driving this analysis drew upon a relatively limited set of specific questions around conflict (and resolutions) between parents, as well as symptoms of depression. SEL metrics like these are not sufficient to deliver on the modality's potential, and especially not for EL students.

Later studies have connected these sorts of in-home SEL practices with child outcomes. One found that Latinx children tend to score well on SEL but not as well on early academic and linguistic benchmarks. But it also noted the challenge of limited SEL assessment tools: "Stronger measurement would enrich our understanding of how Latino children grow within particular cultural contexts." Our yardsticks are still far from adequately calibrated for the job.

This lack of firm data can't be ignored as enthusiasm for SEL metrics-and linked accountability provisions-grows. Researchers and policymakers need to be cautious about imposing culturally specific norms on children's SEL development. Indeed, a 2013 review of research on ELs and SEL found "social-emotional benefits to fluent bilingualism," but also "no consistent pattern with respect to the social-emotional development of [ELs] in comparison to that of non-[ELs]." This may be due to diversity within the group of students that U.S. schools label as ELs. That is, EL students from particular cultural backgrounds may be more likely to perform well on some SEL metrics than on others.

Any efforts to measure students' SEL competencies-and schools' effects on them-could highlight English learning students' assets, but only if their linguistic and cultural diversities are taken seriously in the design and implementation processes.

Perhaps this uncertainty about the intersection of SEL measures and multilingual children's development reflects the myriad ways to be a healthy, productive human adult. As such, it would follow that there should be myriad healthy paths through childhood; and accordingly, any efforts to measure students' SEL competencies-and schools' effects on them-could highlight English learning students' assets, but only if their linguistic and cultural diversities are taken seriously in the design and implementation processes.

Tags: ELL, English Language Learners, Social and Emotional Learning

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Meeting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of English Learners

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Advocates of educational equity, access, and inclusion for historically underserved children have always struggled to highlight the challenges these

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As there are many core subjects to cover, social-emotional learning(SEL) is just as important. Learning about emotions and how to handle situations will be something that is used in our students day to day life. This resource dives into how important it is to make SEL a part of schedule and academic class. It gives examples of how hands-on learning experiences can help teaching SEL. This resource correlates with research-based best practice as it is working on improving communication and working on self-efficacy.

Klein, A. (2022). 4 Ways to Build Social-Emotional Skills for English Learners. Education Week . https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/4-ways-to-build-social-emotional-skills-for-english-learners/2022/12

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Weaving social-emotional learning into academics is hard. But schools with high populations of English learners have an extra challenge: They are working to build up students' mastery of a second language, even as they are trying to teach them skills like persistence, collaboration, and stress management.

Londyn Lallavais is a dean of students at Metro Nashville's McMurray Middle School, where 98 percent of students are English learners. Recent research has shown that SEL is particularly powerful for this population of students.

The school has gone deep on SEL over the past couple of years, with support from Kyla Krengel, the district's director of social-emotional learning.

Lallavais and Krengel were featured guests for an online panel discussion about SEL on Dec. 8 that was part of an Education Week K-12 Essentials Forum. (You can watch the forum here.)

"Just from last year, to where we currently are, we have seen a decrease in our number of office referrals. We've seen an increase in student engagement," she said. "We've seen an increase in attendance. And we've seen an increase in students wanting to be here and wanting to be involved in extracurricular activities, to be a part of band and all the different clubs that we have."

Here are four tips from Lallavais and Krengel for helping English learners-and students more generally-develop SEL skills:

1. Make SEL both a regular part of the schedule and part of each academic class

Teachers may already be integrating SEL into academics, at least to some extent, Krengel said. But often "they need to be more explicit with their language and/or interactive pedagogy to connect what they're doing specifically to social-emotional learning," she added.

Teachers should ask themselves if they are "providing time for their students to reflect on the SEL skills that they're learning as well as the academic skills?"

SEL integration can also happen in stages, Krengel said. "It is a process and takes time, so you don't have to do it all at once. Some teachers struggle with where to start."

Her recommendation? Start with helping students feel seen and emotionally safe with a "welcoming ritual" and end with an "optimistic closing" before moving on to deeper integration.

Lallavais' school initially tried to pair SEL skills development just with language arts classes. Now, those skills are integrated throughout the day across academic subjects. Plus, there's time set aside on Fridays just for SEL.

2. Provide more hands-on learning experiences

Students who are still working to build English proficiency need more than just to hear a word like "persistence." They need to be able to experience the concept for themselves.

During the school's dedicated time for SEL, "we try to make sure that we're strategically integrating some type of hands-on, tangible 'I can feel it, I can do it' activity," Lallavais said. That "helps our students make that connection" between the English word for an SEL skill and how it feels to put it into practice.

For example, when learning about persistence, Lallavais' students were given a fun, but tough task: Build towers out of dry spaghetti and marshmallows, not exactly the world's most stable materials.

3. Share relevant, human experiences

Relationships resonate for middle schoolers, Lallavais said. It never hurts to make sure that kids realize that their teachers and school leaders are real people with real emotions too.

For instance, Lallavais told her students that she sometimes gets so frustrated when she gets stuck in traffic that "I want to run a red light, but I can't because I'll get a ticket." The kids responded with "Oh, you too!"

"I think the students feel like we're so above them that we don't have emotions as well," and it's smart to dispel that belief, Lallavais said.

4. Create opportunities for student feedback

McMurray Middle School regularly surveys students to see if they are getting what they need out of SEL instruction. The goal is to understand "how they're feeling, do we need to change anything?," she said. If the survey picks up that something isn't working, then "it's OK to go back to the drawing board and to change things up a little bit," Lallavais said.

One of her favorite recent survey responses from a student? "'I can tell you how I feel, and you listen.'"

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4 Ways to Build Social-Emotional Skills for English Learners

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Teaching students how to master a second language and develop SEL skills at the same time is challenging.

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Each student can learn at different paces and can all be at different levels of English Language Proficiency. When teaching ELL students we need to know the 6 levels that students can be placed at in order to best assess each student. This resources breaks down the different levels and gives pointers on where to place certain students based on their individual skills. This correlates with research-based best practices as it identifies needs and targets certain areas.

Corujo, J. (2023). 6 Levels of English Language Proficiency for ELL Students. HMH. https://www.hmhco.com/blog/levels-of-english-language-proficiency-for-ell-students

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There are various assessments used to determine students' English language proficiency. WIDA -an organization that provides educators with key resources and instructional tools to support multilingual learners-offers assessments to determine students' identification, placement, progress, and achievement. In one of the WIDA assessments, students are assessed in four language domains-speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This WIDA assessment measures English language proficiency, also known as ELP, on a scale of 1 to 6. Students' scores describe performance in terms of the six WIDA language proficiency levels.

The WIDA proficiency levels are listed below as well as the skills students use at each level. WIDA provides details of each level at a technical level, but we have simplified them.

Level 1: Entering

Level 2: Beginning

Level 4: Expanding

Level 5: Bridging

Level 6: Reaching

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6 Levels of English Language Proficiency for ELL Students

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Explore the 6 levels of English language proficiency for ELL students to support your multilingual learners.

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As an educator we need to know the time range when a skill should be mastered. Over certain time certain skills should be fluent and have a grasp on English Language. This resource is more of a break down with the time periods and how it coincides with certain topics. It has a scale to assess your students on, and from here you take the score to see where a student falls with English language proficiency levels. This correlates wiht research-based best practice as it tracks growth and identifies the support services that a student may need.

Jones, M. (n.d.). English Proficiency Levels: A Guide To Determining Your Level. SpeakUp Resources . https://magoosh.com/english-speaking/english-proficiency-levels-a-guide-to-determining-your-level/

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Understanding English Levels with CEFR

The Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for language ability and comprehension. This standard includes 6 distinct English levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. Some institutions also recognize the pre-A1 level, though it is not as common. What do these designations actually mean about your English abilities?

All CEFR language levels were originally created by the Council of Europe in order to standardize language ability. These standards are used to determine language ability for speakers all over the world. Let's take a closer look at each English level to see what they mean:

A1 - Beginner (Basic)

The A1 level refers to speakers who have a basic grasp of the English language. If you are at the A1 level, you can understand some common phrases and words in English. You can ask and answer simple questions (i.e. How old are you? Where do you live? What's your favorite color?).

Your interactions will be relatively basic, and you may need other people to speak slowly with you in order to understand.

This level is common among those who have only been studying English for a short time (less than 6 months) or those who have not studied English for many years and do not practice regularly.

A2 - Beginner (Basic)

At the A2 level, you can speak in full sentences and phrases on simple topics. Your vocabulary covers a broader array of subjects than it did at the A1 level, but your interactions are still limited to direct exchanges of information.

You can likely have a full conversation about yourself and various parts of your life. While your listening comprehension has improved, you might still need others to speak slowly or repeat themselves from time to time.

This level is common among adults in their first year of study or those who have not studied English for many years.

B1 - Intermediate (Independent)

Once you reach B1 level English, your English abilities are at the "intermediate" level. This means that you can speak and understand English for matters related to your daily routine. You can also be much more descriptive about your life and experiences. Finally, you can talk (using relatively simple terms) about more abstract or subjective topics, like aspirations, dreams, or opinions.

This level is common among adults who have been continuously studying English for more than one year or those who have the opportunity to practice English on a semi-regular basis.

B2 - Intermediate (Independent)

The B2 level is often referred to as the "upper intermediate level." As a B2 English speaker, you can take part in conversations on a variety of concrete and abstract topics. You may not know a lot of technical vocabulary, but you can still convey complex thoughts, explanations, experiences, or concepts with moderate accuracy.

This English proficiency level is common among adults who have been studying English for several years and practice regularly.

C1 - Advanced (Proficient)

Once you have reached the C2 level, you are considered an advanced student of the English language.

You now have a firmer grasp of more complex grammar structures, implicit meaning in both text and speech, as well as the ability to speak English fluently in almost any environment. Though you will naturally make some errors from time to time, they are likely small and infrequent.

In order to reach the C1 level, you will likely need to study English formally for several years and practice speaking or reading English on a regular basis. This level of English proficiency is common among those who have lived in an English-speaking country for an extended period of time.

C2 - Advanced (Proficient)

C2 is the highest assessment of all 6 CEFR levels.

At this level, you can understand the vast majority of English, spoken or written, that you encounter. Though you may make rare errors, your proficiency is near or equal to that of a native English speaker. You can understand the finer nuances of tone, pacing, and word choice, even in complex texts or situations.

C2 level speakers have likely been studying English for many years, practicing the language regularly or even on a daily basis with native speakers.

How to Determine your English Proficiency Level

Great! Now you know the 6 different English proficiency levels. But how can you determine your own English level? While the summaries above may give you a rough idea of where you are on a scale from A1 to C2, you'll want to test your abilities in order to know for sure. You can easily check your English level with our free English speaking test.

Additionally, there are a number of free online resources and English proficiency tests to help you assess your English abilities:

We recommend using more than one source to test yourself, as no single test will give you a perfect assessment. Learning how many words you know is yet another fun way to find out your English level.

IETLS, TOEFL, and CEFR

You can also gauge your English level by evaluating your scores on the IETLS or TOEFL. Here's a helpful chart to see what your scores mean for your English level:

That being said, these tests are designed to give you a general idea of where you stand on the CEFR English scale. Once you know your English level, you will be in a better position to develop a study plan that is right for you!

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SpeakUp's lead teacher will talk about specific areas/concepts students from different levels need to focus on, in order to level up

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English Proficiency Levels: A Guide to Determining Your Level

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Language proficiency levels are difficult to measure, as everyone has different strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles.