Can do's: Pre-basic user (Pre-A1)

Overall spoken reception

Can understand short, very simple questions and statements provided they are delivered slowly and clearly and accompanied by visuals or manual gestures to support understanding and repeated-if necessary

• Can recognize Pre-Band I vocabulary, including instructions, provided they are delivered clearly and slowly in a well-defined, familiar, everyday context
• Can recognize numbers, prices, dates and days of the week, provided they are delivered slowly and clearly in a defined, familiar, everyday context
• Can recognize words, names and numbers that he/she already knows in simple, short recordings, provided they are delivered very slowly and clearly
• Can understand short, simple instructions for actions such as ‘Stop,’ ‘Close the door,’ etc., provided they are delivered slowly face-to-face, accompanied by pictures or manual gestures and repeated if necessary

Overall reading comprehension

Can recognize all the words and phrases in Lexical Pre-Band I especially if accompanied by pictures or illustrations

• Can recognize the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case
• Can recognize the use of a full stop to signal the end of a sentence and a question mark to signal a question
• Can recognize the use of upper case to signal the beginning of a sentence and a proper noun
• Can self-correct when decoding a familiar word by choosing the correct phoneme for a grapheme that may be associated with multiple phonemes
• Can read familiar ‘irregular words’
• Can accurately read and pronounce phonetically-spelled words and words with familiar orthographic patterns
• Can accurately and fluently read familiar words and chunks read aloud
• Can read sentences in the correct direction, from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom
• Can read and understand sentences that contain lexical items from Pre-Band I
• Can demonstrate understanding of a word by matching it to a picture
• Can recognize familiar lexical items accompanied by pictures, such as a fast-food restaurant menu illustrated with photos or a picture book using familiar vocabulary Can recognize a range of basic everyday nouns and adjectives (e.g., colors, numbers, classroom objects) and basic action words (e.g., ‘clap’, ‘stamp’, ‘jump’, ‘walk’)

Overall spoken reception

Can produce short phrases about themselves, giving basic personal information (e.g., name, address, family) and describe him/herself
Can recite and sing using appropriate stress, rhythm and intonation

• Can repeat phrases and short sentences, if spoken slowly and clearly
• Can use basic informal expressions for greeting and leave-taking (e.g., ‘hello’, ‘hi’, ‘bye’)
•  Can ask someone their name using a basic phrase
• Can use a few basic words and phrases to show politeness (e.g., ‘please’, ‘thank you’)
• Can ask about the identity of an object using a basic phrase (e.g., ‘What is it?’)
• Can give a simple evaluation, using a fixed expression (e.g., ‘Yes/No’, ‘Good/Bad’)
• Can produce short phrases about themselves, giving basic personal information (e.g., name and address)
• Can describe him/herself (e.g., name, age, family), using simple words and formulaic expressions, provided he/she can prepare in advance
• Can say how he/she is feeling using simple words like ‘happy’ accompanied by body language
• Can recite a short, simple rhyme or chant
• Can sing a basic song from memory with or without the support of gestures and pictures
• Can ask someone the time
• Can ask for the spelling of a word, using a basic phrase
• Can get someone’s attention using a fixed expression
• Can ask people to do things with them, using a fixed expression (e.g., ‘Let’s play.’)
• Can start and end a simple phone call to family or friends using informal formulaic expressions
• Can make a few basic requests related to immediate personal needs (e.g., ‘Can I go outside?’

Overall written production

Can form letters in accordance with standard print conventions and in relation to marked lines
Can give basic personal information in writing (e.g., name, address)

• Can trace individual letters in the correct direction
• Can copy individual letters in the correct direction
• Can write their own name with the correct use of capital letters
• Can write the letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case
• Can copy short sentences containing familiar words, if presented in standard printed form
• Can signal the end of a sentence using a full stop
• Can label simple pictures related to familiar topics by copying single words

Overall spoken interaction

Can ask and answer questions related to personal information using short formulaic expressions and gestures when necessary

• Can understand simple questions which directly concern him/her, about name, age, address or similar things, if the person is asking slowly and clearly
• Can tell people his/her name and ask other people their name
• Can ask and answer questions about him/herself and daily routines, using short, formulaic expressions and relying on gestures to reinforce the information
• Can ask very simple questions for information, such as ‘What is this?’ and understand very short answers
• Can understand and use some basic responses including ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ ‘Please,’ ‘Sorry’ and formulaic expressions such as ‘Excuse me,’ ‘Thank you,’ ‘No thank you,’
• Can recognize and produce simple greetings, say his/her name and take leave

Overall written interaction

Can write short phrases and sentences giving basic personal information

• Can use isolated words and basic expressions to give simple information about him/herself
• Can spell words according to the appropriate stage in developmental spelling
• Can employ very simple principles of word order in short statements

• Can manage very short, isolated, rehearsed utterances using gesture and signaled requests for help when necessary