CLB CLB Benchmarks & Proficiency Levels 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which CLB levels fall within the 'Intermediate' stage?
- CLB 3–7
- CLB 4–8
- CLB 5–8 (Correct answer)
- CLB 5–9
Correct answer: CLB 5–8
The Intermediate stage spans CLB levels 5 through 8, bridging basic and advanced proficiency.
Question 2: At CLB Level 1, a language user would typically be able to:
- Write a formal business report
- Follow simple one-step oral instructions (Correct answer)
- Participate in extended academic discussions
- Read and summarize news articles
Correct answer: Follow simple one-step oral instructions
At CLB 1, users have very limited proficiency and can typically follow only simple, short, one-step oral instructions.
Question 3: Which of the following tasks would be most appropriate for a CLB 10 speaker?
- Identifying numbers in a short spoken message
- Writing a brief, simple list of items
- Composing a detailed analytical report (Correct answer)
- Reading a single sentence on a sign
Correct answer: Composing a detailed analytical report
CLB 10 is in the Advanced stage, where speakers can produce complex, detailed written texts such as analytical reports.
Question 4: In the CLB framework, 'language functions' refer to:
- The grammatical rules governing sentence structure
- The communicative purposes for which language is used (Correct answer)
- The phonetic sounds of English
- The vocabulary range at each benchmark level
Correct answer: The communicative purposes for which language is used
Language functions in the CLB refer to the communicative purposes for which language is used, such as giving information, expressing opinions, or making requests.
Question 5: Which statement best describes the CLB's overall approach to language assessment?
- It focuses exclusively on grammatical accuracy
- It uses only written tests to measure proficiency
- It is task-based, measuring real-world communicative ability (Correct answer)
- It ranks speakers against native English standards only
Correct answer: It is task-based, measuring real-world communicative ability
The CLB uses a task-based approach, measuring a person's ability to use language for real-world communicative purposes across different life contexts.
Question 6: Which organization is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining the CLB?
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) (Correct answer)
- Statistics Canada
- The Canadian Council on Learning
Correct answer: Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB)
The Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) is the organization responsible for developing, maintaining, and promoting the CLB framework.
Question 7: How does the CLB provide a more detailed proficiency profile compared to a single overall score?
- It provides a score for overall performance only
- It gives separate benchmark levels for each of the four language skills (Correct answer)
- It uses percentile rankings instead of levels
- It does not distinguish between spoken and written skills
Correct answer: It gives separate benchmark levels for each of the four language skills
The CLB assigns separate benchmark levels for each of the four language skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening), giving a skill-by-skill proficiency profile.
CLB CLB Benchmarks & Proficiency Levels 2
Which CLB levels fall within the 'Intermediate' stage?