Thai Oral Proficiency Guidelines

WORKING DRAFT

NOVICE -- LOW

--Speaker may know a few high-frequency expressions such as: sawa1t dii (formal greeting),
       khO1Op khun (thank you), ma3y pen ray (never mind), dii (good), ni2t nO1Oy (a little), ma3y (not), taksii3 (taxi)
--May be able to name a few typical food items, e.g., names of common fruits, foods, transportation
--May be able to give his or her name
--May know some basic family terms: phO3O, mE3E, phii3, nOO2N
--No real ability to communicate
--May repeat the question of the interviewer
--Pronunciation shows strong influence of native language

NOVICE--MID

--Number of vocabulary words and semantic domains increase, although practical conversation is still extremely limited
--May know some terms of personal significance (such as own street address, or employment related
       terms such as ?acaan, prachum, sO4On, thii3 pru1ksa4a, sii1 si1p ha3a nathii)
--Can name some objects in the surroundings but cannot describe (hO3ON na2am, su3a, dinsO4O , ro2t mee)
--Able to name food items in a restaurant with memorized vocabulary and no variation
--Listing of items is common
--Memorized material and formulaic phrases of three or four words dominate: pay thi3aw, ma3y
       chO3Op, ma3y pen ray, phe1t ma3ak
--Comprehension remains very weak and speaker often repeats question of the interviewer
--Memorized polite formulaic phrases: khr2ap, kha2, sa3ap

NOVICE--HIGH

--Partial control of baseline requirements for Intermediate--Low
--Utterances remain chippy
--Vocabulary remains limited to the speaker’s field
--Can understand some simple questions but has great difficulty creating an answer. Answer often takes
       a translated English form: cha3y rather than the verb repeated
--Partial, inconsistent use of classifiers: sO4ON phi3i rather than sO4ON khon
--May use inappropriate pronouns
--Partial control of adjectival verbs: b3aan pen ya1y
--Begins to use polite articles
--Can express likes and dislikes but not very effectively
--Frequently resorts to English and/or interlanguage
--May be able to answer "A or B" type questions
--Can get into but not out of situations

--Conversation becomes interactive, participatory
--Can sustain conversation on familiar topics with sentence level discourse
--Can express likes and dislikes in relation to themselves
--Can discuss familiar topics: family, living space, personal items
--Consistent use of classifiers but not always appropriately: khon for ?oN
--Most common classifiers are used regularly: khon, tua, khan
--Begins to use indefinites: khray, na4y, ?aray
--Ability to connect sentences in sequence begins to appear, e.g., A lE2Ew kO3O, tE1Ewa3a, kOO1N, although not consistently
--Sentences remain simple in structure often only with content words and no function words
--Uses lE2Ew for the completive
--Uses S-V-O sentence order, yes-no questions but may give the inappropriate answer
       (cha3y rather than the repeated verb), recognizes both ma2y and lu4u [rf4f]
--Uses noun-adjective order: ba3an su4ay
--Uses simple negatives: ma3y pay, ma3y mii
--Can successfully get into and out of a simple role play/survival situation: buying a bus ticket

INTERMEDIATE--MID

--Can initiate within the context of the conversation
--Semantic domains greater
--Can ask for clarification, e.g., to see if the speaker is answering the right question
--Still has difficulty with the wide range of pronouns
--Can manage conversation about everyday social life, but cannot deal with complex social situations
--Can elaborate and modify conversation with strings of sentences. Topics include shopping, food,
       everyday concerns, other self-centered topics
--Language is concrete and anecdotal
--Syntactically appropriate responses to verb and ma3y and cha3y ma2y
--Control pen, wa4y, da3y, wh- questions, comparatives
--Uses simple modals such as khO3y, tO3N, ?aa1t ca1, phf3a, khuan
--Correct classifier placement but still lacks control of full range of classifiers
--Negatives plus limiters: ma3y + leey, ma3y + tha3wray, ma3y khO3y
--Uses limiters: ?ii1k, ?f1fn, le2k ke1en pay, mu4ankan, du3ay, phEEN pay, na3a duu, ku1ap
--Uses indefinites regularly: mii khray yu1u ma2y, ma3y mii ?aray
--Begins to use serial verbs: ?aw. . .pay, ?aw. . .maa, ?aw. . .pay khffn
--Begins to use the verb ha3y
--Begins to recognize and use pronoun/subject deletion
--Can get into and out of a situation/role play without complication: renting a hotel room

INTERMEDIATE--HIGH

--Emerging control of time period makers: cha2aw, ba1ay, yen
--Partial control of baseline requirements for Advanced
--Begins to self-correct
--Begins to explain and offer opinion
--Able to answer questions with more information than necessary. Volunteers information
--Begins to narrate a sequence of events
--Repeats same information with different variations, but does not give detailed paragraph links
--Use of more complicated time expressions: mu3a ki2i ni2i, phu3N maa, weelaa
--Can ask for clarification and reassurance
--Begins to speak in paragraphs
--Emerging serial verbs: ya1ak ca1
--Emerging ability to circumlocute to compensate for vocabulary deficiencies, e.g.,
       mii khru3aN phu3a mii si4aN daN for khru3aN dontrii

ADVANCED

--Paragraph length discourse and complexity increase significantly;
       uses time markers: tOOn nii2, la4N ca1ak na2n, tOOn rE3Ek, sama4y ma1y, sama4y ka1w;
       uses other connectives: su4an ma3ak, lE2Ew kO3O, ki1aw ka1p, kO3 leey, mii tE1E , kaan thi3i ca1, thi3i ca1 he4n pay, tha3a ca1;
       uses topic markers: na2n, ma2ay khwaam wa3a
--Can describe in detail
--Can compare and contrast
--Emergence of use of register changes: proper reference to monks, superiors, etc.
--Uses yu1u following a verb to indicate continuous action
--Use of ha3y meaning ‘give,’ ‘allow,’ ‘for,’ causative tham ha3y
--Use of d.o. + i.o. + clf. structure
--Control of relative clauses; uses thi3i, sf3N
--Control of modals: khoN ca1, phu3a, ?a4at ca1, etc.
--Control of serial verbs, including directional modification: yo2k da3y ma2y, yo2k khf3n ma2y, yaN ma3y da3y
--Use of negatives with serial verbs: nu2k ma2y ?O1Ok, mOON ma3y he4n, yo2k ma3y khu3n
--Use of transitive markers: ru4u wa3a, khi2t wa3a
--Uses grammatical and mode particles
--Can get into, through, and out of a situation with a significant complication
--Appropriate use of ma3y da3y + verb

ADVANCED--HIGH

--Partial control of baseline requirements for Superior
--Common elaborate structures begin to appear in narration: thu2k si1N thu2k ya1aN , phOO kin phOO cha2ay,
       thi3i la ni2t thi3i la nO1Oy, khon la2 lo3ok, phu3u tha3w phu3u kE1E , tham ra3ay tham naa, ha4a puu ha4a plaa,
       pen ya1aN ni2i pen ya1aN na2n
--Emerging control of polite vs. common terms: chu3ay vs. karuna
--Structural accuracy compensates for pronunciation errors
--Begins to use high level discourse markers: mE2EtE1E , than than thi3i, tha3a pho4m cam ma3y phi1t, kho1N ca1

SUPERIOR

--Elaborates and supports one’s ideas and opinions
--Able to comment and criticize in an appropriate manner
--Able to modify one’s speech to the audience
--Use of high-level discourse markers: cuN, kO3leey, su3N
--Use of the restrictor wa3a: cam ma3y da3y wa3a kheey pay ru2 plaa1w
--Can use casual/colloquial expressions: ?aray yaN ni2i, ru4 ?aray yaN ni2i, kO3 leey, ?aray tham nOON ni2i
--Able to discuss any topic in generalist terms in a general discussion without specific terms
       such as ‘capital gains’ in economics
--Able to participate in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, professional, and abstract topics
--May not be able to discuss in-depth highly abstract or unfamiliar topics
--Sporadic errors may occur, particularly with low-frequency structures and some complex high-frequency
       structures more common to formal writing
--No patterned errors in evidence
--Errors do not disturb the native speaker or interfere with communication
--control of polite vs. Common terms; kin, thaan, ra2pprathaan; ma3y sa3ap and may ru2u;
       fEEn, mia, phanyaa, phanrayaa, mE3E baan, thi3i baan

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE CONSIDERED TO BE INDICATIVE OF
SUPERIOR LEVELS BUT NOT NECESSARILY A PART OF THE BASELINE REQUIREMENTS.

--Specialized vocabulary vs. General term for same concept
--Humor
--The full range of mode particles
--Decorated and elaborate speech
--Speechifying

Revised: 5-21-90; 4-24-91; 4-18-92

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