Certificat de nivell elemental de català

This is an examination based on the Council of Europe's Threshold specification, which tests the ability to communicate satisfactorily in most situations of everyday life.

There are five components:

Reading

Candidates are expected to understand authentic, factual texts which are mainly based on topics of general interest. They must be able to understand the gist as well as specific details and scan for information. They are also expected to read texts in order to appreciate the themes and opinions of the writer. Texts are taken mainly from brochures, newspapers and magazines.

There are usually three texts with a total length of approximately 1,200 words. There are twenty items of the following task types: true/false (yes/no), multiple-choice and matching.

Writing

Candidates are expected to be able to write personal letters in order to give or ask for information, report events, describe situations, express opinions, make plans, proposals, etc.

There is one written task. It requires the candidate to write a personal letter. There are five guiding points which provide the basis of the letter. The task includes a clear description of the purpose and the audience. The response should be between 120 and 150 words in length.

Listening

Candidates are expected to understand texts produced in everyday situations (dialogues, loudspeaker announcements, telephone answering machine messages, etc.) and texts taken from the mass media (advertisements, news, traffic news, announcements of general interest, etc.). They are expected to understand both the overall content and relevant details.

There are two sections. The first consists of a text lasting about four minutes with fifteen written items. The task type is true/false. The second section has five short recorded texts. For each of these there is a written multiple-choice item.

Speaking

Candidates are tested individually by two examiners. They are expected to operate in everyday situations (e.g. formulate questions and requests, apologise, etc.). They are also expected to participate in conversations on everyday topics. Candidates must be able to express themselves in a way which is sufficiently accurate and appropriate to be comprehensible.

There are two sections. In the first section candidates must respond to nine questions which test the ability to describe, narrate and express opinions. The second section involves completing five tasks based on everyday situations. The tasks are guided and include a clear description of the context.

Structural Competence

Candidates are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and control of the language system and of the vocabulary required at this level, by completing three types of tasks.

There are two sections. The first consists of ten sentence transformation items and fifteen gap-filling items related to grammatical aspects. The second section consists of twenty gap-filling items, related to vocabulary.

Weighting of components

The Reading, Listening and Speaking components each carry 25% of the total marks and Writing and structural competence 12.5% each.

Results

There are four pass grades: Excellent, Good, Satisfactory and Pass.