ELL COMPASS questions are divided into three subject areas, which are listening, reading, and writing. In turn, each of these subject areas is divided into four levels of English proficiency. Students at the most basic level can understand and communicate basic needs in English, while students at the most advanced level are nearly fluent in English and can communicate on an academic or professional level.
A student’s proficiency is measured separately for reading, writing, and listening. With regard to a student’s reading proficiency, a level one student will be capable of recognizing the letters of the English alphabet. Level one students will also be able to recognize certain words, especially those that relate to things they encounter in day to day situations, such as nouns describing common objects or verbs expressing simple actions. Level one students are also able to use context to help them understand meaning. Level one reading ELL COMPASS questions will present students with an image and four multiple choice answers which are sentences that describe the image. In order to pick the correct answer, students will not necessarily have to understand the entire sentence, but will be able to pick out several words in the sentence describing the objects and actions taking place in the image.
Some students who have very limited English skills may fall into a pre-level one category. Students in this category may understand a few English words or phrases, but do not yet have the ability to use them in order to effectively understand what others are trying to communicate.
Students with a level two proficiency in reading English can understand short sentences and paragraphs. Level two students will also be able to read and understand a few idiomatic expressions. Students with this level of proficiency can also understand some variation in verb tense and how this affects meaning. Level two students can understand basic instructions that affect their everyday lives in written English, such as street signs. ELL COMPASS level two questions will present students with a short paragraph to read. This paragraph will likely be descriptive in nature and may be taken from or adapted from an actual publication. The questions will ask students to pick out details described in the paragraph as well as infer meaning from the information given.
Students with level three proficiency in reading English will be able to understand passages with many paragraphs. These include news articles, instructional manuals, and academic or business-related texts. Level three students can read and understand what to do based on complex sets of written directions with multiple steps. They can pick out the main idea and supporting details of a written passage. Level three students can also use contextual clues to help them understand the meaning of unknown words encountered in a passage. Students with level three proficiency are familiar with reading strategies such as skimming for words or phrases that contain necessary information and can employ these strategies while reading passages. They can also use sentence structure to aid their comprehension. Level three ELL COMPASS questions may juxtapose two passages on similar subject matter. Students will be asked questions that compare the information given in the two passages. They may also be asked questions about word choice in the passages and how context can affect the meaning of a word.
Students with level four proficiency in reading English are able to understand complex grammatical structures and abstract ideas expressed in written language. Level four students are nearly fluent. They are able to evaluate an author’s purpose and identify facts versus opinions in text. They can also make inferences about a passageÕs validity based on the information provided in the passage. Level four ELL COMPASS questions will present students with an academic text and ask comprehension questions that require students to recall information from the text as well as analyze its meaning and context.
ELL Grammar Questions in COMPASS
ELL COMPASS exams tests students’ English proficiency in reading, listening, and grammar usage. Students are grouped into four proficiency levels, with level one being the most basic level and level four having the highest level of English language comprehension. A few students who do not have much experience at all communicating in English may be classified as pre-level one. These students may comprehend a few words in English but are barely able to communicate or understand what others are trying to communicate to them.
Students with a level one proficiency in English grammar should have a basic understanding of the present tense. They should be able to differentiate between most plural and singular nouns, as well as recognize the correct order of words in an English sentence. A level one ELL COMPASS question may ask students to choose a correct phrase to fill in a blank in a simple sentence.
Students at the level two proficiency level of English grammar can understand a few more verb tenses, although may still have some difficulty interpreting the effects of complex tenses on meaning. They should understand past, present, and future tenses. A general understanding of English punctuation is also necessary for level two grammar proficiency students. They should understand how punctuation can alter a sentence or convey various meanings. Level two students will understand the construction of simple questions in English. The level two ELL grammatical questions on COMPASS exams may require students to fill in blanks with appropriate phrases in sentences that are part of a question and answer sequence between two people.
Level three students should be able to understand proper grammatical constructions to the extent that they can correct some errors in academic or professional texts. Students with a level three proficiency in English grammar will be able to fix incomplete or run-on sentences and will be able to formulate complete sentences in their own writing. They will understand how to use compound sentences and conjunctions. Level three students will understand parallel structure, how to use transition words to convey relationships between clauses, compound sentences, and conjunctions. Level three students will be familiar with most irregular verbs in the English language and will understand how to use perfect verb tenses as well as basic past, present, and future tenses.
Similar to level one and level two ELL COMPASS exam grammatical questions, level three ELL COMPASS exam grammatical questions will require students to correctly fill in blanks in sentences. Students may be presented with an instructional passage from a day-to-day life contextual example. Questions may ask students to identify correct punctuation or the correct verb tense and word order of common phrases.
Level four ELL grammatical students possess similar skills to level three ELL grammatical students, but at a slightly more complex skill level. Level four students have a fine understanding of sentence construction, but at the more detailed clause level than level three students. They also have a keen sense of how to properly use conjunctions and transitional words. They will know how to fix incomplete or run-on sentences. Level four students know how slight changes in punctuation can influence the subtlety of meaning in written language. Level four students will have a solid grasp of all verb tenses commonly used in English. They will also understand how grammatical structure can alter context, and how there may be multiple ways to correctly structure sentences, but that each way may carry a slightly different meaning. Students will need to understand the difference between the active and the passive voice. Level four ELL COMPASS questions will be fill in the blanks with multiple choices, just like the other levels of grammatical ELL COMPASS questions. Students will likely be presented with an academic text that may be expository. They will be required to answer questions related to verb tense, punctuation, clause construction, and conjunctions.
ELL Listening Questions in COMPASS
ELL COMPASS exam questions are divided into four levels of proficiency. ELL COMPASS exams test three areas of English language usage, which are listening, reading, and grammar.
For ELL listening questions, students will hear a recorded passage. A multiple choice question about the information contained in the recorded passage will appear on the computer screen, and students will need to choose the best answer based on what they heard.
Listening level one tests basic proficiency. Level one students are expected to comprehend simple phrases that relate to their immediate needs, such as greetings and polite chit-chat. They should be able to understand basic social questions about their background, likes, and dislikes. Level one COMPASS ELL questions will have pictorial representations to choose from as the multiple choice selections for answers to questions. The recordings students hear will be a short sentence or phrase.
Level two listening ELL COMPASS questions test a slightly more sophisticated sentence structure and content than level one questions. Students at a level two proficiency should be able to understand simple directions as they relate to situations at hand. Understanding spoken English outside of a given context may be more challenging. Level two students should understand several verb tenses and the time frames they imply, although they may not be able to pick out the main idea and details of a more lengthy spoken English passage. Sometimes level two students may require slower speech in order to comprehend what is being said. Students at level two should have a basic understanding of the construction of English sentences and the order in which words are placed. Level two listening ELL COMPASS questions will be simple instructions usually with only one step. Students will need to choose a written response from the multiple choices. Questions may include more than one voice conversing.
Level three questions require that students have a basic understanding of English used in an academic or professional setting. Students at level three should have a basic grasp of the main idea and details in spoken English, although they may have some difficulty understanding spoken language about topics with which they are not familiar or which are heard out of context. Level three students should have a strong understanding of English verb tenses and how various verb tenses can affect the intended meaning of English. Questions at level three will include multifaceted instructions with more than one step. Level three questions will present a longer spoken passage presenting detailed information. Students will then have to answer several multiple choice questions that describe the details communicated in the passage. Aside from describing details, students will need to understand the overall importance and intention of the passage. Some questions may be based on an informational context, such as a telephone recording that presents various options.
Students with a level four proficiency will demonstrate practical fluency in English. They should be able to understand intellectual and business-oriented English conversations without difficulty. Level four students also have the ability to grasp indications of spoken English through tonality, emotional stress behind words, and variations in speaking styles. Level four students will easily be able to pick out the main idea and details of an academic lecture or professional discourse. When subject matter contains unfamiliar words or phrases, a level four student will be able to use context clues in order to comprehend meaning. Students with a level four English proficiency should be able to succeed in English-speaking classrooms without suffering due to a language barrier. ELL COMPASS level four questions will include a longer spoken piece. This piece will likely represent an academic lecture. The specific subject matter of the lecture will vary. Students will then answer multiple choice questions about the content of what they heard. These questions will require students both to recall information as well as to make inferences based on the information they heard.