What is native or bilingual proficiency?

Native or bilingual proficiency is the fifth level of five in the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale of language proficiency, formerly called the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) scale. This level is sometimes referred to as S-5 or level 5. A person at this level is described as follows:

• has a speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker
• has complete fluency in the language, such that speech on all levels in fully accepted by educated native speakers in all of its features, including breadth of vocabulary and idiom, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references.

• Concept module: native or bilingual proficiency
• In modular book: Glossary of Language Learning Terms, by International Language Learning Department
• In document collection: Other Resources
• In bookshelf: Language Learning

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 20 August 1998

© 1999 SIL International