US 26625 version 7: Actively participate in spoken interactions
Updated October 2024 for version 7.
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Naturally occurring evidence (Guidance information 2)
Evidence for this standard can come from any activity in the candidate’s everyday life, including formative and summative assessments, so long as the main purpose of those assessments is not the one-off assessment of standard 26625.
Interactions of sufficient complexity (Guidance Information 4)
To be of sufficient complexity, interactions must demonstrate the level of complexity described by step 4 of the 'Listen and Speak to Communicate' strand of the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy.
Actively participate in spoken interactions (Outcome 1)
The standard requires evidence from interactions in which the learner actively (in terms of spontaneity and engagement) participates.
Monologues, oral presentations, scripted interactions, directed interviews or role plays may not generate valid evidence if they do not allow learners to demonstrate a level of initiative and impromptu response to the other party/parties.
Natural, unscripted conversation-type interactions are more likely to generate valid evidence.
Verbal and non-verbal behaviours (Performance criteria 1.1)
Verbal behaviours are ‘to do with words’ and non-verbal behaviours are ‘not to do with words’. An example of a verbal behaviour is word choice.
Non-verbal behaviours include:
- facial expression
- gestures
- pitch, tone and/or volume of voice
- body language
- use of personal space
- eye contact
- touch.
Behaviour/behaviours (Performance criteria 1.1/1.2)
Evidence is required for both the candidate’s behaviour and behaviours, and so it is important to distinguish between them:
- ‘behaviour’ (singular) is an overall pattern of how a person acts. It refers to things like showing respect, aggression, being polite, hyperactivity, shyness…
- ‘behaviours’ (plural) refers to specific, observable, individual things that someone does. These are all behaviours: saying hello, using hand gestures, opening a door, asking a question, leaving the room, jumping up and down. Behaviours is the plural word to describe several/many such actions: one such action is a behaviour – and the ‘a’ is very important, to distinguish from behaviour as in the previous bullet point.
Performance criteria 1.1 range is about behaviours, i.e. the individual actions of the candidate.
Performance criteria 1.2 range is about behaviour, i.e. the overall pattern of what the candidate does.
Appropriate language, behaviour and tone (Performance criteria 1.1 and 1.2 range)
This outcome must be met in each of the (minimum of) three interactions on which the assessor has based their final assessment decision for this standard. Refer to Guidance Information 3.
The focus of this evidence needs to be on the appropriateness of what the candidate does and says, and not on the individual behaviours (which are the subject of Performance criteria 1.1 above).