Marking Criteria for Level 5: Oral

Date:

Tutor(s) / Examiner(s):
Language*

Grade
A++

80-89
A
70-79

Content*

Grammar*
outstanding accuracy

Vocabulary*
very sophisticated, varied vocabulary; register always appropriate, hardly any errors

Coherence, Fluency*
highly coherent/clear;
outstanding use of a wide range of
connectors; excellent fluency

Oral Interaction, Pronunciation*

interacts with great ease/skill;
communication skills outstanding;
excellent pronunciation

excellent level of accuracy;

hardly any mistakes.

sophisticated, varied vocabulary;

register nearly always appropriate;
very few mistakes
broad vocabulary; capable of
reformulations when necessary; a
few minor errors
good variety of vocabulary;
avoids repetitions; appropriate
register; few minor errors

very coherent/clear; excellent

use of a wide range of connectors;
excellent fluency
coherent/ clear discussion; comprehensive range of connectors;
very good fluency
overall coherent/ clear; use of
connectors partly limited; good
fluency

interacts with ease/skill;

communication skills and
pronunciation are excellent
interaction with overall ease;
relates contributions clearly to
others; very good pronunciation
promotes discourse well (not always elegantly); able to engage in
communication; good
pronunciation, only few errors
can initiate discourse; able to
respond appropriately; willing to
communicate but difficult at times;
mostly clear pronunciation

90-100
A+

Final Grade:

Student/Candidate:

high degree of accuracy; a few

minor mistakes.

B
60-69

good degree of accuracy, some

mistakes, very occasionally basic;
self-correcting

C
50-59

appropriate degree of accuracy,

some recurrent/basic errors;
sometimes self-correcting

vocabulary sometimes basic

outside predictable situations;
some basic word errors; problems
with register

appropriate coherence; some

connectors; appropriate fluency,
regular use of simple/short sentences

D
40-49

basic grasp of grammar; a lot of

recurrent errors, can hamper the
understanding; no self-correcting

basic coherence, only few connectors; often simple sentence

structures; often hesitations

difficulties communicating and

interacting (at the lower end of the
level); pronunciation often
inaccurate

F+
33-39

limited grasp of grammar; a lot

of errors that hamper the general
understanding

low range of vocabulary to express ideas/repetitions; many

word errors sometimes hamper
understanding; problems with
register
limited vocabulary; many errors
that hamper general understanding; inappropriate register

unclear/disorganised; hardly any

connectors; mainly simple/short
sentences

F
20-32

very limited grasp of grammar;

very high number of errors that
almost prevent understanding

very highly disorganised; extremely short/simple sentences

FF

extremely limited grammar; high

number of errors prevents
comprehension; sometimes uses
mother tongue

very limited vocabulary; a very

high number of errors that almost
prevent understanding; register is
almost entirely inappropriate.
extremely limited vocabulary;
very high number of errors that
prevent understanding; regular
use of mother tongue.

huge difficulties in communicating/ interacting, partly inappropriate; questions often reformulated;

difficult to understand
enormous difficulties with communicating/ interacting; questions
have to be reformulated often;
very difficult to understand
extremely limited to no
interaction; questions have to be
reformulated very often; pronunciation mostly unintelligible.

0-19

completely disorganised

outstanding; highly accurate/

analytical/ original/ comprehensive; exceptionally wellinformed
excellent; highly accurate/
analytical/ original; thorough
approach; highly informed
very accurate/ analytical;
comprehensive; well-informed;
originality/ depths of answers
accurate/ credible/ sound;
overall well-informed; not
entirely comprehensive; answers good/ simple
appropriate, not always
clear/ comprehensive; less
well-informed/accuracy/analysis; partly superficial; simple/
unfocused
adequate but basic/ superficial; low clarity, analysis shallow; not appropriately wellinformed; simple/ unfocused
answers; repetition
limited/ little understanding/
clarity; very limited analysis/
accuracy; very simplistic
answers/ill-informed
very limited, almost no understanding/ clarity/ analysis/
structure; highly simplistic
answers/very ill-informed
no analysis; answers extremely simplistic/ unclear/ not
informed; questions often unanswered

Grammar

Vocabulary

Coherence/ Fluency

Oral Interaction/

Content

Pronunciation

Comments
Mark

Language:

Content:

* The weightings of language and content in calculating the final mark will vary according to the task. Please also see full description of the MFL- marking criteria on KEATS and/or in the Student Handbook.
(Kings College London/Modern Foreign Languages, September 2016)