In Spanish – Language Services

National Language Standard

What are the National Language Standards?

The National Language Standards were first created in 1993 by the then Languages Lead Body and

reviewed by its successor, the Languages National Training Organisation. In 2006, the Languages

NTO merged with the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research to form CILT, the

National Centre for Languages.

The National Language Standards set out what you have to be able to do and the knowledge and

skills you need to understand and use language competently in work settings. The Standards are

designed to be used in various ways - the main ones are outlined below.

Employers can use them to diagnose what language skills employees have, to identify what skills are needed to achieve business objectives and to recruit multilingual staff.

Trainers can use them to benchmark skills levels and devise training programmes.

Learners can use them to assess their own levels of skill and set targets for their own progression.

Awarding bodies use them as the basis for National/Scottish Vocational Qualification (N/SVQ) language units and the framework for calibrating vocationally-related qualifications (VRQs).

Which languages?

The Standards can be applied to any language and any occupational setting. They are primarily

intended to be applied to those using and/or learning a language which is not their first language,

though in practice there may be exceptions to this.

The National Language Standards (revised 2006) have been developed in close consultation with

experts from a range of education and industry sectors, and from the sign language field. They are

applicable both to spoken and sign languages.

Overall structure

The National Language Standards are set at the five levels of the N/SVQ framework, plus Entry

level. They are aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and to the

new national recognition scheme in England, the Languages Ladder.

The Standards are set out as a series of 24 Units, with one unit representing a single linguistic skill

at a particular level. The four linguistic skills are:

Listening (the ‘Receptive’ units for sign language users);
Speaking (the ‘Productive’ units for sign language users);
Reading;
Writing.

The Listening/Receptive units and Speaking/Productive units are each subdivided into two

Elements. The first element deals with one-way communication; the second element covers two-way

or group interaction.

The General framework shows at a glance the units and elements which make up the National

Language Standards and describes briefly what you should be able to do at each level.

Source: National Language Standards (revised 2006)

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