1. (1) At the intermediate level for the interpersonal mode of communication, a language learner expresses oneself and participates in conversations on familiar topics using sentences and series of sentences. A learner handles short social interactions in everyday situations by asking and answering a variety of questions. A learner can communicate about oneself, others, and everyday life. A learner:

   1. (a) can communicate by understanding and creating personal meaning;
   2. (b) can understand, ask, and answer a variety of questions;
   3. (c) consistently is able to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to satisfy basic needs or to handle a simple transaction;
   4. (d) may show emerging evidence of the ability to communicate about more than the "here and now";
   5. (e) is able to communicate in contexts relevant to oneself and others, and one's immediate environment;
   6. (f) may show emerging evidence of the ability to communicate in contexts of occasionally unfamiliar topics;
   7. (g) is able to understand and produce discrete sentences, strings of sentences, and some connected sentences. A learner is able to ask questions to initiate and sustain conversations;
   8. (h) understands straightforward language that contains mostly familiar structures;
   9. (i) has control of language sufficient to be understood by those accustomed to dealing with language learners;
   10. (j) communicates using high-frequency and personalized vocabulary within familiar themes or topics;

   11. (k) uses some of the following strategies to maintain communication, but not all of the time and inconsistently:

       1. (i) ask questions;
       2. (ii) ask for clarification;
       3. (iii) self-correct or restate when not understood; and
       4. (iv) circumlocute; and
   12. (l) recognizes and uses some culturally appropriate vocabulary, expressions, and gestures when participating in everyday interactions. A learner recognizes that differences exist in cultural behaviors and perspectives and can conform in familiar situations.

2. (2) At the intermediate level for the interpretive mode of communication, a language learner understands main ideas and some supporting details on familiar topics from a variety of texts. A learner:

   1. (a) comprehends main ideas and identifies some supporting details;
   2. (b) may show emerging evidence of the ability to make inferences by identifying key details from the text;
   3. (c) comprehends information related to basic personal and social needs and relevant to one's immediate environment such as oneself and everyday life, school, community, and particular interests;
   4. (d) comprehends simple stories, routine correspondence, short descriptive texts, or other selections within familiar contexts;
   5. (e) generally comprehends connected sentences and most paragraph-like discourse;
   6. (f) comprehends information-rich texts with highly predictable order;
   7. (g) has sufficient control of language (vocabulary, structures, conventions of spoken and written language, etc.) to understand fully and with ease short, non-complex texts on familiar topics. A learner has limited control of language to understand some more complex texts;

   8. (h) may derive meaning by:

      1. (i) comparing target language structures with those of their native language; and
      2. (ii) recognizing parallels in structure between new and familiar language;
   9. (i) comprehends high-frequency vocabulary related to everyday topics and high-frequency idiomatic expressions;

   10. (j) uses some or all of the following strategies to comprehend texts:

       1. (i) skim and scan;
       2. (ii) use visual support and background knowledge;
       3. (iii) predict meaning based on context, prior knowledge, or experience;
       4. (iv) use context clues; and
       5. (v) recognize word family roots, prefixes, and suffixes;
   11. (k) for non-alphabetic languages, recognizes radicals; and
   12. (l) generally relies heavily on knowledge of own culture with increasing knowledge of the target culture(s) to interpret texts that are heard, read, or viewed.

3. (3) At the intermediate level for the presentational mode of communication, a language learner communicates information and expresses one's own thoughts about familiar topics using sentences and series of sentences. A learner:

   1. (a) expresses one's own thoughts and presents information and personal preferences on familiar topics by creating with language primarily in present time;
   2. (b) may show emerging evidence of the ability to tell or retell a story and provide additional description;
   3. (c) creates messages in contexts relevant to oneself and others, and one's immediate environment;
   4. (d) may show emerging evidence of the ability to create messages on general interest and work-related topics;
   5. (e) produces sentences, series of sentences, and some connected sentences;
   6. (f) understands that control of language is sufficient to be understood by audiences accustomed to language produced by language learners;
   7. (g) with practice, polish, or editing, may show emerging evidence of advanced-level language control;
   8. (h) produces vocabulary on a variety of everyday topics, topics of personal interest, and topics that have been studied;

   9. (i) may use some or all of the following strategies to communicate and maintain audience interest:

      1. (i) show an increasing awareness of errors and able to self-correct or edit;
      2. (ii) use phrases, imagery, or content;
      3. (iii) simplify;
      4. (iv) use known language to compensate for missing vocabulary;
      5. (v) use graphic organizer; and
      6. (vi) use reference resources as appropriate; and
   10. (j) uses some culturally appropriate vocabulary, expressions, and gestures. A learner reflects some knowledge of cultural differences related to written and spoken communication.

Authorizing statute(s): Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-114, 20-7-101, MCA

Implementing statute(s): Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-2-121, 20-3-106, 20-7-101, MCA

History: NEW, 2025 MAR, 10-53-140, Eff. 7/1/26.