NBPTS English As A New Language (ENL) Assessment Practice Test

Stage 4 Intermediate Fluency involves using language to think deeply about ideas, not just recounting or listing information. The indicators analyze, evaluate, justify, and support map onto that level because they require students to break information apart, judge its quality, argue a position, and back up their claims with evidence. For example, a student might analyze how an author builds a persuasive argument, evaluate the strength of the evidence, justify a conclusion about the author’s message, and support that conclusion with specific quotes or data. Other options lean toward more surface-level or basic tasks. Retell, describe, define, and explain emphasize conveying information and describing what happened or what something means, rather than weighing evidence and making reasoned arguments. Name, list, label, and categorize focus on organizing or labeling information rather than engaging in evidence-based analysis. Describe in detail and debate includes rich language use, but describe in detail is descriptive and debate focuses on argumentation without necessarily requiring the explicit, evidence-backed reasoning that Stage 4 targets.