Turkish Writing

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012—Writing describe five major levels of proficiency: Distinguished, Superior, Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice. The description of each major level is representative of a specific range of abilities. Together these levels form a hierarchy in which each level subsumes all lower levels. The major levels Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice are divided into High, Mid, and Low sublevels.

The Guidelines describe the tasks that writers can handle at each level as well as the content, context, accuracy, and discourse types associated with the writing tasks at each level. They also present the limits that writers encounter when attempting to function at the next higher major level.

These Guidelines can be used to describe written text that is Presentational (essays, reports, letters) as well as Interpersonal (instant messaging, e-mail communication, texting). Moreover, they apply to writing that is spontaneous (immediate, unedited) or reflective (revised, edited). This is possible because the Guidelines describe the product rather than the process or purpose of the writing.

The written descriptions of writing proficiency are accompanied online by writing samples illustrating the features of each major level.

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012—Writing may be used for non-profit, educational purposes only, provided that they are reproduced in their entirety, with no alterations, and with credit to ACTFL.

DISTINGUISHED

Writers at the Distinguished level can carry out formal writing tasks such as official correspondence, position papers, and journal articles. They can write analytically on professional, academic and societal issues. In addition, Distinguished-level writers are able to address world issues in a highly conceptualized fashion.¹

These writers can use persuasive and hypothetical discourse as representational techniques, allowing them to advocate a position that is not necessarily their own. They are also able to communicate subtlety and nuance. Distinguished-level writing is sophisticated and is directed to sophisticated readers. Writers at this level write to their audience; they tailor their language to their readers.

Distinguished-level writing is dense and complex; yet, it is characterized by an economy of expression. The writing is skillfully crafted and is organized in a way that reflects target-culture thought patterns.² At the Distinguished level, length is not a determining factor. Distinguished-level texts can be as short as a poem or as long as a treatise.

Writers at the Distinguished level demonstrate control of complex lexical, grammatical, syntactic, and stylistic features of the language. Discourse structure and punctuation are used strategically, not only to organize meaning but also to enhance it. Conventions are generally appropriate to the text modality and the target culture.

Writing » Distinguished

"The revolution that choked ideology"

Hasan Bülent Kahraman, Sabah, 22 Ekim 2014
İdeolojiyi boğan devrim
İnsanlığın bir temel çelişkisi var. Baştan beri. Teknoloji, ideolojiyi değiştiriyor. İdeolojiyi en dar manasında, katı bir düşünce sistematiği olarak anlamayınız. İdeoloji sonunda insanın dünyaya dönük tasavvurudur. Evet, Marx ideolojiyi o tasavvurun kısıtlı bir hali olarak değerlendirir, doğrudur, ama bu, nihai gerçeği değiştirmez. İdeoloji belli bir zamanda dünyayı nasıl algıladığımızla ilgilidir. Onun geleceğine ait tahayyüllerimiz de bu algının içinden çıkacaktır. Teknoloji,değişir, gelir, o algıyı da alt üst eder. Ağır, büyük, yaygın bir teknoloji değişikliğinden sonra eğer dünya hâlâ aynı dünyadır demiyorsak, işte o ideolojimizdeki değişikliğin işaretidir.
Son yirmi yılı, son on yılı aklınızdan geçiriniz. Bu süre zarfında "eski dünya"ya dair taş üstünde kalan bir tek taştan söz edilebilir mi? Her şey bir yana elektronik devrim öncelikle ve en geniş ölçüde zaman ve mekân algımızı değiştirdi. Çünkü zamanı ve mekânı birbirinden kopardı. Haydi o kopukluğu da bir yana bırakalım. Mekânın bildiğimiz bütün manaları paramparça oldu. İnsan bugün artık her yerde ve hiçbir yerde değil.
Böyle bir dünyanın sınırsız bir özgürlük çağrısı çıkardığını düşünmemek mümkün mü? Mekândan kopan insan belki, eski bir tabirle "yersiz yurtsuzlaşıyor" ama bu ona aynı zamanda büyük bir özgürlük sağlamıyor nasıl denebilir? Bu kadar özgürleşmiş bir dünya artık sıkı düzenlerle idare edilebilir mi? Yoksa demokrasi artık ekmek ve su gibi midir? Devrim düşüncesi de öyle. Yeni bir "devrim" aranacaksa evvela bu "devrimin" idrak edilmesi gerekiyor. Devrim başladı ve geniş ölçüde yaşandı. Şimdi nereye kadar gideceğiyle ilgiliyiz. Bu devrim yaratıcı zihnin devrimidir. Dünyanın bilinen bütün köklerinden koparılıp yeni bir anlayışla bütünleştirilmesidir.

Rationale for Rating

In this Distinguished-level writing sample titled, “The revolution that choked ideology,” the author presents a highly abstract, sophisticated and persuasive argument about how the technological revolution has forced humanity to reconsider its notions of time, place and belonging. The cultural and historical references in the essay reveal the author’s deep familiarity with Turkish culture (eski bir tabirle yersiz yurtsuzlaşıyor) and Western civilization (Marx). This dense and complex writing sample also demonstrates an economy of expression (yoksa demokrasi artık ekmek ve su gibi midir?). The writing is skillfully crafted and reflects target culture thought patterns: the argument is built up throughout the essay but the resolution does not come until the very last line.

SUPERIOR

Writers at the Superior level are able to produce most kinds of formal and informal correspondence, in-depth summaries, reports, and research papers on a variety of social, academic, and professional topics. Their treatment of these issues moves beyond the concrete to the abstract.

Writers at the Superior level demonstrate the ability to explain complex matters, and to present and support opinions by developing cogent arguments and hypotheses. Their treatment of the topic is enhanced by the effective use of structure,³ lexicon, and writing protocols. They organize and prioritize ideas to convey to the reader what is significant. The relationship among ideas is consistently clear, due to organizational and developmental principles (e.g., cause and effect, comparison, chronology). These writers are capable of extended treatment of a topic which typically requires at least a series of paragraphs, but can extend to a number of pages.

Writers at the Superior level demonstrate a high degree of control of grammar and syntax,⁴ of both general and specialized/professional vocabulary, of spelling or symbol production, of cohesive devices, and of punctuation. Their vocabulary is precise and varied. Writers at this level direct their writing to their audiences; their writing fluency eases the reader's task.

Writers at the Superior level do not typically control target-language cultural, organizational, or stylistic patterns. At the Superior level, writers demonstrate no pattern of error however occasional errors may occur, particularly in low-frequency structures. When present, these errors do not interfere with comprehension, and they rarely distract the native reader.

Writing » Superior

Small/Big City

Büyük ve küçük şehirlerde yaşamanın temel farklılıklarını açıklamaya başlarken 2011-2012 eğitim yılında Yabancı Dil Asistanı olarak bulunduğum Boston ve şu anda yaşadığım şehir olan Kastamonu örnek iki şehir olarak gösterilebilir. Boston gibi büyük bir şehirde yaşıyorsanız yapabileceğiniz sosyal aktiviteler neredeyse sınırsızdır. Yılın 365 günü, 365 farklı aktivite yapmanıza olanak sağlayabilir, ancak Kastamonu gibi küçük bir şehirde yaşıyorsanız alan ve mekan kısıtlılığından kaynaklı bir takım sosyal aktivite eksiklikleri yaşamanız normaldir. Örneğin, Boston’da bir tiyatroya gidip keyifli bir kaç saat zaman harcamak için tek yapmanız gereken internetten hangi saatte ve nerede zevkinize uygun bir oyun sergilendiğini bulmaktır. Ancak Kastamonu’da böyle bir aktivite için öncelikle gezici tiyatro kulüplerinin şehrinize gelmesini beklemek zorunda kalacaksınız ki bu yıllar bile sürebilir ve hatta hiç gerçekleşmeyebilir! Öte yandan küçük şehirlerde yaşamanın da tabii ki büyük şehirlere oranla avantajları vardır. Örneğin Boston gibi büyük bir şehirde zaman planlamanızı ve özellikle bütçenizi sürekli kontrol altında tutmanız, sürekli olarak planlar ve de o planlara uygun davranmanız gerekmektedir. Böyle şehirlerde kat edeceğiniz mesafelerden dolayı zamanınız, aktivite çeşitliliği nedeniyle de paranız küçük şehirlere oranla daha hızlı tükenecektir. Oysa Kastamonu gibi şehirlerde hedeflediğiniz adrese ulaşmanız en fazla 20 dakika sürecek ve aktivite kısıtlılığından dolayı da paranız cebinizde kalacaktır. Şehirlerin genel yaşam işleyişini değiştirmek zordur ancak insanların yaşamlarını kuracakları şehirleri seçmeden önce kişisel önceliklerini belirlemeleri ve ona göre davranmaları gerekmektedir. Örneğin, Büyük bir şehre gidenlerin elinde olasılıkları hesaplanmış bir plan bulunması önemlidir, daha küçük bir şehre gidenler ise beklentilerini düşük tutup bulundukları kısıtlı alanı nasıl değerlendirebileceklerini hesaplamalıdırlar. Bu noktada büyük şehir ya da küçük şehir bir diğerinden daha iyidir, daha güzeldir, daha yaşanılasıdır denilemez. Her şey kişinin dünyayı algılayışında biter.

Rationale for Rating

This sample of Superior-level writing addresses a social topic—comparing life in big cities and small cities—treated both concretely and abstractly. The writer demonstrates the ability to explain and argue complex matters, present, defend and support opinions and create cogent arguments. The sample uses a variety of sentence structures (Büyük ve küçük şehirlerde yaşamanın temel farklılıklarını açıklamaya başlarken 2011-2012 eğitim yılında Yabancı Dil Asistanı olarak bulunduğum Boston ve şu anda yaşadığım şehir olan Kastamonu örnek iki şehir olarak gösterilebilir./ Öte yandan küçük şehirlerde yaşamanın da tabii ki büyük şehirlere oranla avantajları vardır.), and vocabulary (algılayışında/ değerlendirebileceklerini). This Superior- level writer demonstrates a high degree of control of grammar, vocabulary—both general and specialized—and cohesive devices. As is expected of writers at the Superior-level, there is no general pattern of errors in basic structures.

ADVANCED

Writers at the Advanced level are characterized by the ability to write routine informal and some formal correspondence, as well as narratives, descriptions and summaries of a factual nature. They can narrate and describe in the major time frames of past, present, and future, using paraphrasing and elaboration to provide clarity. Advanced-level writers produce connected discourse of paragraph length. At this level, writers show good control of the most frequently used structures and generic vocabulary, allowing them to be understood by those unaccustomed to the writing of non-natives.

ADVANCED HIGH

Writers at the Advanced High sublevel are able to write about a variety of topics with significant precision and detail. They can handle informal and formal correspondence according to appropriate conventions. They can write summaries and reports of a factual nature. They can also write extensively about topics relating to particular interests and special areas of competence, although their writing tends to emphasize the concrete aspects of such topics. Advanced High writers can narrate and describe in the major time frames, with solid control of aspect. In addition, they are able to demonstrate the ability to handle writing tasks associated with the Superior level, such as developing arguments and constructing hypotheses, but are not able to do this all of the time; they cannot produce Superior-level writing consistently across a variety of topics treated abstractly or generally. They have good control of a range of grammatical structures and a fairly wide general vocabulary. When writing at the Advanced level, they often show remarkable ease of expression,⁵ but under the demands of Superior-level writing tasks, patterns of error appear. The linguistic limitations of Advanced High writing may occasionally distract the native reader from the message.

ADVANCED MID

Writers at the Advanced Mid sublevel are able to meet a range of work and/or academic writing needs. They demonstrate the ability to narrate and describe with detail in all major time frames with good control of aspect. They are able to write straightforward summaries on topics of general interest. Their writing exhibits a variety of cohesive devices in texts up to several paragraphs in length. There is good control of the most frequently used target-language syntactic structures and a range of general vocabulary. Most often, thoughts are expressed clearly and supported by some elaboration. This writing incorporates organizational features both of the target language and the writer's first language and may at times resemble oral discourse. Writing at the Advanced Mid sublevel is understood readily by natives not used to the writing of non-natives.⁶ When called on to perform functions or to treat issues at the Superior level, Advanced-Mid writers will manifest a decline in the quality and/or quantity of their writing.

ADVANCED LOW

Writers at the Advanced Low sublevel are able to meet basic work and/or academic writing needs. They demonstrate the ability to narrate and describe in major time frames with some control of aspect. They are able to compose simple summaries on familiar topics. Advanced Low writers are able to combine and link sentences into texts of paragraph length and structure. Their writing, while adequate to satisfy the criteria of the Advanced level, may not be substantive. Writers at the Advanced Low sublevel demonstrate the ability to incorporate a limited number of cohesive devices, and may resort to some redundancy and awkward repetition. They rely on patterns of oral discourse and the writing style of their first language.⁷ These writers demonstrate minimal control of common structures and vocabulary associated with the Advanced level. Their writing is understood by natives not used to the writing of non-natives, although some additional effort may be required in the reading of the text. When attempting to perform functions at the Superior level, their writing will deteriorate significantly.

Writing » Advanced

Grand Canyon’u gördüm

Grand Canyon’u gördüm, ve siz de görebilirsiniz. Bu muhteşem yer Amerika’nın güneybatısındedir. Her yıl binlerce türist oraya gider, bu yüzden bir otel bulmak çok kolay. Hem pahalı hem de ucuz oteller bulunur, yani her şey istediğiniz gibi olabilir. Otellerde yada çevresinde çok güzel yemek var, kesinlikle meksikan yemeği. Acılı yemekleri beğenirseniz, orada çok mutlu olursunuz. Siz de eşekle yada helikopterle kanyonu dolaşabilirsiniz, yoksa sadece yürüyerek bu güzel manzarayı görebilirsiniz. Ayrıca biraz tahrihi de öğrenebilirsiniz. Civarında Amerikan yerlisiler de yaşıyor, ve bazen onların tahrihiyle ilgili sergiler var, bir müzede olabilir. Kesinlikle onlarla konuşmanızı tavsiye ediyorum, çünkü Amerikan okuldaki öğretilen tahrihinden farklı bir versiyon anlatırlar. Fakat o başka bir hikaye...

Rationale for Rating

This piece of Advanced-level writing is a descriptive summary of a tourist destination—the Grand Canyon. The writer presents a complete narration/description in the simple present. The detailed description provides information and offers suggestions about what one can do while visiting the Grand Canyon (Siz de eşekle ya da helikopterle kanyonu dolaşabilirsiniz, yoksa sadece yürüyerek bu güzel manzarayı görebilirsiniz.) using a variety of generic and specialized vocabulary (for example: yer/otel generic and civarında/yerliler specialized). Comprehension is not compromised even though spelling errors exist. The Advanced-level writer is easily understood by those unaccustomed to the writing of non-natives. This Advanced-level writer expresses meaning that is comprehensible to those unaccustomed to non-native writing despite lexical, grammatical, and stylistic errors (Civarında Amerikan yerlisiler de yaşıyor,)

INTERMEDIATE

Writers at the Intermediate level are characterized by the ability to meet practical writing needs, such as simple messages and letters, requests for information and notes. In addition, they can ask and respond to simple questions in writing. These writers can create with the language and communicate simple facts and ideas in a series of loosely connected sentences on topics of personal interest and social needs. They write primarily in present time. At this level, writers use basic vocabulary and structures to express meaning that is comprehensible to those accustomed to the writing of non-natives.

INTERMEDIATE HIGH

Writers at the Intermediate High sublevel are able to meet all practical writing needs of the Intermediate level. Additionally, they can write compositions and simple summaries related to work and/or school experiences. They can narrate and describe in different time frames when writing about everyday events and situations. These narrations and descriptions are often but not always of paragraph length, and they typically contain some evidence of breakdown in one or more features of the Advanced level. For example, these writers may be inconsistent in the use of appropriate major time markers, resulting in a loss of clarity. The vocabulary, grammar and style of Intermediate High writers essentially correspond to those of the spoken language. Intermediate High writing, even with numerous and perhaps significant errors, is generally comprehensible to natives not used to the writing of non-natives, but there are likely to be gaps in comprehension.

INTERMEDIATE MID

Writers at the Intermediate Mid sublevel are able to meet a number of practical writing needs. They can write short, simple communications, compositions, and requests for information in loosely connected texts about personal preferences, daily routines, common events, and other personal topics.⁸ Their writing is framed in present time but may contain references to other time frames. The writing style closely resembles oral discourse. Writers at the Intermediate Mid sublevel show evidence of control of basic sentence structure and verb forms.⁹ This writing is best defined as a collection of discrete sentences and/or questions loosely strung together. There is little evidence of deliberate organization. Intermediate Mid writers can be understood readily by natives used to the writing of non-natives. When Intermediate Mid writers attempt Advanced-level writing tasks, the quality and/or quantity of their writing declines and the message may be unclear.

INTERMEDIATE LOW

Writers at the Intermediate Low sublevel are able to meet some limited practical writing needs. They can create statements and formulate questions based on familiar material. Most sentences are recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures. These are short and simple conversational-style sentences with basic word order. They are written almost exclusively in present time. Writing tends to consist of a few simple sentences, often with repetitive structure. Topics are tied to highly predictable content areas and personal information. Vocabulary is adequate to express elementary needs. There may be basic errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, spelling, and in the formation and use of non-alphabetic symbols.¹⁰ Their writing is understood by natives used to the writing of non-natives, although additional effort may be required. When Intermediate Low writers attempt to perform writing tasks at the Advanced level, their writing will deteriorate significantly and their message may be left incomplete.

Writing » Intermediate

Benim en sevdiğim mevsim kış...

Benim en sevdiğim mevsim kış. Kışta birinciden tatil var, ikinciden ailemde çok doğum günleri var. Kışın havası soğuk, bu yüzden benim hoşuma gidiyor. Ben karı çok seviyorum. Kışın sporlarıda beğeniyorum. Kışın ortasında sıcak yerlere seyahat etmek daha eğlenceli oluyor.

Rationale for Rating

This example of Intermediate-level writing is a response to a simple question: What is your favorite season? The writer produces ideas in a series of loosely-connected sentences composed of discrete sentences and basic vocabulary, primarily in the present progressive. This sample demonstrates the ability of the Intermediate-level writer to create with the language. Despite an evident lack of control in spelling, the writing is comprehensible to those accustomed to the writing of non-natives.

NOVICE

Writers at the Novice level are characterized by the ability to produce lists and notes, primarily by writing words and phrases. They can provide limited formulaic information on simple forms and documents. These writers can reproduce practiced material to convey the most simple messages. In addition, they can transcribe familiar words or phrases, copy letters of the alphabet or syllables of a syllabary, or reproduce basic characters with some accuracy.

NOVICE HIGH

Writers at the Novice High sublevel are able to meet limited basic practical writing needs using lists, short messages, postcards, and simple notes. They are able to express themselves within the context in which the language was learned, relying mainly on practiced material. Their writing is focused on common elements of daily life. Novice High writers are able to recombine learned vocabulary and structures to create simple sentences on very familiar topics, but are not able to sustain sentence-level writing all the time.¹¹ Due to inadequate vocabulary and/or grammar, writing at this level may only partially communicate the intentions of the writer. Novice High writing is often comprehensible to natives used to the writing of non-natives, but gaps in comprehension may occur.

NOVICE MID

Writers at the Novice Mid sublevel can reproduce from memory a modest number of words and phrases in context. They can supply limited information on simple forms and documents, and other basic biographical information, such as names, numbers, and nationality. Novice Mid writers exhibit a high degree of accuracy when writing on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited formulaic language. With less familiar topics, there is a marked decrease in accuracy. Errors in spelling or in the representation of symbols may be frequent. There is little evidence of functional writing skills. At this level, the writing may be difficult to understand even by those accustomed to non-native writers.

NOVICE LOW

Writers at the Novice-Low sublevel are able to copy or transcribe familiar words or phrases, form letters in an alphabetic system, and copy and produce isolated, basic strokes in languages that use syllabaries or characters.¹² Given adequate time and familiar cues, they can reproduce from memory a very limited number of isolated words or familiar phrases, but errors are to be expected.

Writing » Novice

Shopping list for school-related needs

Kitap, defter, gözlük, çanta, silgi,kağıt, sözlük, kalem, masa, sandalye

Rationale for Rating

This example of Novice-level writing is an example of a list of a very limited number of isolated and memorized familiar words. The final two items chair and table do not belong in the list. Novice-level writers often misspell words including letters unique to Turkish: “ç/ı/ ğ/ ö/ ş/ü” or demonstrate other spelling errors due to first language interference in cognates such as telephone instead of telefon or garage instead of garaj.

Turkish Annotations

¹ Writers at the Distinguished level can write documents such as those found in humanities and social science journals such as Tarih ve Toplum, Kebikeç, Milliyet Sanat, and editorials.

² Distinguished level texts may follow a Turkish rhetorical strategy such as building up towards a main idea, which is presented at the end.

³ Superior level writers are at ease using formal and informal registers indicated by the use of suffix combinations such as –mAktAdIr instead of the present continuous suffix –Iyor; or –mIştIr, rather than the simple past tense marker –DI. The writers’ control over the use of the causative and passive separately and in combination contributes to clarity and precision at the Superior level.

⁴ Superior writers will show full control over case markers. They will also differentiate clitics from suffixes such as ben de/bende (I too/on me).

⁵ Advanced level writers may use rhetorical devices such as doubling to make narratives more effective as in paldır küldür (helter skelter) and onomatopoeia i.e. vızır vızır (buzzing).

⁶ The writing at Advanced Mid level is comprehensible to native speakers despite errors in compound sentences. For example: Köpekler kızakta olan insanları hızlı hızlı çekiyordu ve herkes kazanmak herşeyden daha istiyordu is incorrect. The correct sentence should be: Köpekler kızakta olan insanları hızlı hızlı çekiyordu ve herkes kazanmayı herşeyden daha çok istiyordu. (The dogs were rapidly pulling the people on the sled and everyone wanted to win more than anything else.)

⁷ Advanced Low level writers show grammatical roughness when they import structural forms from their native languages into Turkish, for example: Bu adamlar Mehmet için bekliyor rather than Bu adamlar Mehmet’i bekliyor. (These men are waiting for Mehmet.) And by patterns of problems such as uneven control of vowel and consonant harmony, precise control over conjugation and agglutination, and issues with possessive use. For example: adısı vs. adı (his/her name).

⁸ Intermediate Mid level writers may have some problems with the use of question words, and the use of the yes/no question particle mI as in Nereye gidecek misin? instead of Nereye gideceksin? (Where will you go?)

⁹ In addition to the present continuous, Intermediate level writers will show emerging control of the Aorist. For example: Her sabah saat dokuzda uyanırım. (Every morning I wake up at 9:00); Yarın görüşürüz. (See you tomorrow.); İki kere iki dört eder. (Two times two makes four.); Kim bilir? (Who knows?)

¹⁰ Intermediate level writers show partial control over vowel and consonant harmony, and may apply the rules incorrectly: bu kitapda, instead of bu kitapta, (in this book). In addition, occasional errors in the order of suffixes may occur: kitabımlar, instead of kitaplarım (my books).

¹¹ The Novice High writer can use the present progressive with errors in vowel and consonant harmony. The Novice High writer may show errors in the negation of verbal and nonverbal predicates. For example: O film güzel yok rather than: O film güzel değil. (That film is not good); Ben çalış değil, instead of: Ben çalışmıyorum. (I am not working). Turkish word order, Subject-Object-Verb, is not consistently applied: Bu odada masa instead of: Masa bu odada. (The table is in this room.) They are able to elicit basic information by writing formulaic questions: Bu kim? O ne? Adın ne? Nerelisin? (Who is this?/What is that?/What is your name?/Where are you from?)

¹² They are able to write down vowels a,ı,o,u,e,i,ö,ü in familiar words or phrases.