This is the Student Written Language Observation Matrix (SWLOM) which is a product of the California State Department of Education. It can be used as a helpful diagnostic tool, particularly for beginning teachers for a general assessment of group or individual levels of proficiency, and especially for determining broad placement levels for new students. It will clearly identify areas of weakness, and when used longitudinally, it will indicate student progress and development.
Traits 1 2 3 4
Fluency Writes single word with no sentence structure
Writes short sentences with limited sentence structure
Writes complete sentences with developmental sentence structure
Writes paragraphs with fully developed sentence structure
Organization No logical sequence or organization
Lacks logical sequence and organization
Somewhat sequenced to substantially sequenced
Follows standard organization for the genre
Grammar No grammatical relationships
Basic word order problems, uses only present tense form
Minor grammatical errors such as – s on verbs in third person singular
Grammar resembles that of speaker of same age
Vocabulary Insufficient vocabulary to express ideas
Limited vocabulary, relies on 1st language for translation
Knows most words, but lacks vocabulary for finer shades of meaning
Flexible in word choice, similar to native speaker
Genre No concept of form
Does not differentiate form to suit purpose
Chooses form to suit purpose but limited in choice of forms
Knows different genres and makes appropriate choices
Sentence Variety No sentence pattern
Uses one or two sentence patterns
Uses several sentence patterns
Uses a full variety of sentence patterns appropriately
Based on your observation, indicate with an “X” across the block in each category the one that best describes the ELL’s abilities.
SWLOM Phases:
Phase I: Score 1-10 = Non-English Proficient
Phase II: Score 11-15 = Limited English Proficient
Phase III: Score 16-19 = Limited English Proficient
Phase IV: Score 20+ Fully English Proficient (based on a perfect score of 24). To determine the Student Written Language Observation Matrix score as a percentile, use the formula: (SWLOM SCORE + 1) X4
SOLOM Student Oral Language Observation Matrix
This is the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM) which is a product of the California State Department of Education. It can be a useful diagnostic tool, particularly for beginning teachers for general assessment of group or individual levels of competency, and especially for determining broad placement levels for new students. It will clearly identify areas of weakness, and when used longitudinally, it will indicate student progress and development.
Traits 1 2 3 4 5
Comprehension Cannot be said to understand even simple conversation.
Has difficulty what is said, comprehends only “social conversation” spoken slowly with frequent repetitions.
Understands most of what is said at slower- than-normal speed with repetitions.
Understands nearly everything at normal speed, although occasional repetition may be necessary.
Understands everyday conversation and normal classroom discussions without difficulty.
Fluency Speech is so halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible.
Usually hesitant; often forced into silence by language limitations.
Speech in everyday conversation and classroom discussion frequently disrupted by the student’s search for the correct manner of expression
Speech in everyday conversation generally fluent, with occasional lapses as student searches for the correct manner of expression.
Speech in everyday conversation and classroom discussions fluent and effortless, approximating that of a native speaker.
Vocabulary Vocabulary limitations so extreme so as to make conversation virtually impossible.
Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary; comprehension quite difficult.
Student frequently uses wrong words; conversation somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary.
Student occasionally uses inappropriate terms and/or must rephrase ideas because of lexical inadequacies.
Use of vocabulary and idioms approximates that of a native speaker.
Pronunciation Pronunciation problems so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible.
Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problems. Must frequently repeat in order to make self understood.
Pronunciation problems necessitate concentration on the part of the listener and occasionally lead to misunderstanding.
Always intelligible though one is conscious of a definite accent and occasional inappropriate intonation patterns.
Pronunciation and intonation approximate that of a native speaker.
Grammar Errors in grammar and word order so severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible.
Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult. Must often rephrase/ restrict self to basic patterns.
Makes frequent errors of grammar and word order that occasionally obscure meaning.
Occasionally makes grammatical and/or word-order errors that do not obscure meaning.
Grammatical usage and word order approximate that of a native speaker.
Based on your observation, indicate with an “X” across the block in each category that which best describes the ELL’s abilities.
Phase II: Score 12-18 = Limited English Proficient
Phase III: Score 19-24 = Limited English Proficient
Phase IV: Score 25 = Fully English Proficient.
To determine the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix score as a percentile, use the formula: (SWLOM SCORE) X 4
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DETERMINING
WHOLE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (Combined written and oral score as a percentile)
Whole Language Proficiency refers to the assessment of oral language proficiency and written language proficiency for the purpose of describing an ELL’s overall functional capacity in a second language. Whole language proficiency is described as a percentile based on the level that would be expected of a native speaker of the same age. The following formula may be used to determine the whole language proficiency based on the preceding oral and written language matrixes.
(SOLOM SCORE X 2) + [ (SWLOM SCORE + 1) x 2 ] = WLP (as a percentile factor)
Example A student receives a SOLOM assessment of 20 & a SWLOM assessment of 18
(20x2) + [ (18 + 1) x 2 ] = 40 + 38 = 78
This student’s estimated whole language proficiency is 78% of expected native speaker proficiency for the same age, OR, this student could be rated as 78% in the target language.
Disclaimer: This is not a standardized instrument. This is a useful instrument for individual teachers to assess individuals and groups in an informal or categorical way. Because each teacher would tend to evaluate the specifics differently, results can only be considered relevant when compared with observations made by the same teacher or assessor. Therefore, it should not be used as a broad-based administrative tool where several assessors are involved in determining the results.
Source: Courtesy of California State Department of Education.