The use of national and international proficiency standards, in addition to our own Performance Criteria for Business and Industry, is an integral part of the design and management of our custom language training programs. Such standards promote on-going objective assessment of language skill level and guide program design and materials and media selection.

This standard incorporates an integrated consideration of pronunciation, fluency (ease of speech), vocabulary, grammatical and structural accuracy, discourse features, linguistic strategies, and sociolinguistics and culture.

Language for Special Purposes:
Performance Criteria

Performance, relative to proficiency, is understood to be use of language for a "special purpose" such as a business professional use, a more limited field than global language use. BLIS, long a specialist in the area of customized, "special purpose" language training, has designed performance criteria for clients with highly specific areas of application. We also design organization-specific standards. (see Home Page, Awards & Special Projects)

Assessment

Assessments are available as an independent service. Examinees receive a proficiency or performance rating for speaking skills and extensive feedback with particular attention to the most critical aspects for advancing to the next proficiency/performance level.