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Finally, as noted above, we are proposing that a hallmark of the
intermediate stage be that all of the major structural knowledge be available on
a recall basis. This can perhaps best be specified by relating accuracy to the
intermediate level of proficiency. What this means is that we cannot hope for
100% accurate recall, but at the intermediate level it is developmentally
appropriate for learners to be aware that accuracy is important and to be striving
to make constant improvement. Assessment processes can also be used to
help make students aware that different contexts call for different degrees of
attention to accuracy.
The overarching concern at this stage is independence of learning. If we
begin with this issue, many of the other concerns fall into place relatively neatly.
At the Intermediate-High level of proficiency in speaking,the expectation is to
"sustain a general conversation on factual topics."3 2We leave it to our
successors to define "common functions," although we believe that there is a
"common sense" in the profession as to what these are. Furthermore, we urge
that no such list ever be taken too seriously. We may decide that knowing how
to send a fax is a common function, but the inability to do so should hardly be a
criterion for requiring a learner to return to the intermediate level. It is an
important characteristic of the advanced stage is that much of what lies ahead
for the learner is, to some degree, fragmentary, and thus much more amenable
to independent learning than is true at the elementary stage.
As suggested by the proficiency description of the Intermediate-High
level, the principal venue for comfortable speaking will be factual topics.
Always implied by a proficiency rating, however, is the demonstration of some
ability at the next level of proficiency. In this case, we see that some comfort at
the advanced level of proficiency means the beginning of ability to function in a
wider range of settings, and hence over a wider range of topics.
For a variety of reasons content-based instruction is especially valuable
at this stage. Learners have acquired enough structural and lexical knowledge
that they find authentic texts less daunting. Furthermore, as learners progress
there is more need to modularize their learning. That is, as they move to learn
about different topics and settings in more depth, it is almost inevitable that they
achieve the levels of mastery that are a natural consequence of content-based
learning.
The criterion of independent functioning is again useful in attempting to
define the domain of structural knowledge at the advanced stage. A significant
part of independent learning derives from analytic abilities. At this stage,
therefore, it is vital that learners have acquired all of the major structures and
32ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Russian
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