Uses & Level of the BCCE Examination

Uses of the BCCE Examination

The BCCE examination can be used by organizations, firms, public agencies, and academic institutions for a wide range of purposes. The following is just a sample of possible uses:

  • Corporate users can use BCCE as a useful tool when recruiting a global workforce.
  • Government agencies can use BCCE when setting English language requirements for migrants.
  • Job placement agencies can use BCCE when setting English language requirements for non-native speakers of English.

The Level of the BCCE Examination

The BCCE examination aims at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and was developed to reflect the descriptors of this level, as set out in the Manual produced by the Council of Europe. For each of the four areas of language competency below, at B1 level, the Manual states that language users:

Listening Comprehension

  • Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure etc., including short narratives.
  • Can understand the main points of radio news bulletins and simpler recorded material about familiar subjects delivered relatively slowly and clearly.
  • Can understand the main points and important details in stories and other narratives (e.g. a description of a holiday), provided the speaker speaks slowly and clearly.

Reading Comprehension

  • Can read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interests with a satisfactory level of comprehension.
  • Can scan through straightforward, factual texts in magazines, brochures or on the web, identify what they are about and decide whether they contain information that might be of practical use.

Spoken Production & Spoken Interaction

  • Can give straightforward descriptions on a variety of familiar subjects within his/her field of interest.
  • Can reasonably fluently relate a straightforward narrative or description as a linear sequence of points.
  • Can express opinions on subjects relating to everyday life, using simple expressions.
  • Can follow clearly articulated speech directed at him/her in everyday conversation, though will sometimes have to ask for repetition of particular words and phrases.

Written Production

  • Can write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within his/her field of interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete elements into a linear sequence.
  • Can write straightforward, detailed descriptions on a range of familiar subjects within his/her field of interest.
  • Can write accounts of experiences, describing feelings and reactions in simple connected text.

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