English Diagnostic: Four-skill Baseline and Transfer Record

This is not an exam that pins a person to A1-C2. It is an evidence page for choosing the next action. Choose one real topic, complete listening, reading, speaking, and writing first versions under comparable time and explicit limits, then retest a parallel task after seven days and one real delivery after thirty days.

Copy this card into a private note. Do not include passwords, customer records, identity documents, medical privacy, unauthorised third-party material, or exam content that may not be recorded.

1. Define the Diagnostic Boundary

# English Diagnostic - YYYY-MM-DD

Real context: work / study / job search / life / other
Real topic:
Audience or conversation partner:
Smallest shared delivery across four skills:
Start/end dates:
Material, version, and source:
Shared limits (time, device, environment):
Permitted dictionary / captions / translation / search / AI / human help:
Privacy, copyright, exam, and expert-responsibility boundary:
Day-7 parallel-task date:
Day-30 retest date:
Week-12 real-task date:

The four tasks need not use identical material. Keep topic, difficulty, time, and acceptance standards comparable enough to interpret. For a real role, do not let one overall level replace the language actions in the job description.

2. Four First-version Tasks

Complete the first version without looking things up or asking AI to answer or rewrite. Finish first, then mark where support was needed.

Skill	Suggested first version	Minimum delivery
Listening	Hear a real 2-4 minute clip once	Main point, three certain details, responsibility/next step, and 60-second retelling
Reading	Read a real 600-1000-word text	Five-line main thread, one evidence location, and one challenge or unknown
Speaking	Record an unscripted two-minute explanation, experience, or process	Listener can retell purpose, key facts, and next step
Writing	Write a 180-250-word email, explanation, or argument in 20 minutes	Reader knows conclusion, support, limits, and action

Do not flatten genuine differences to make the four skills look equal. The diagnostic should show where ability works, not manufacture a flattering average.

3. Preserve the First Version and Conditions

Skill	First-version location	Start/end	Tools and cues	Completed?	Main uncertainty
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

What I can still explain independently:
Condition I would most like to change:
Conclusion this first version cannot support:

4. Score Impact, Not Feeling

Score each 0-2: 0=no evidence/not completed, 1=partial, cue-dependent, or unstable, 2=independent under current conditions. Give every number an evidence location.

Skill	Task completion	Comprehensibility	Accuracy/range	Organisation/fluency	Independence/transfer	Evidence reason
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

Scoring Meaning

• Task completion: did information and intention arrive, and can the action continue?
• Comprehensibility: could a real reader/listener understand without excessive guessing?
• Accuracy and range: did vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and detail support the task?
• Organisation/fluency: did structure, order, pauses, or layout obstruct use?
• Independence/transfer: can the task return after recent cues are removed and one condition changes?

Use totals only for your own longitudinal comparison, never as a personality, intelligence, or hiring label. For CEFR direction, combine this with CEFR Goals and Self-check rather than turning one diagnostic into a permanent level.

5. Choose One Primary Barrier per Skill

Skill	Primary barrier	Sample/timestamp	Task impact	Smallest next repair	Evidence card
Listening	vocabulary / sound / syntax / background / attention / device				Listening Evidence Card
Reading	vocabulary / structure / background / evidence / layout / capacity				Reading Evidence Card
Speaking	chunks / pronunciation / organisation / interaction / register / follow-up				Speaking Evidence Card
Writing	task / fact / structure / sentence / register / delivery				Writing Evidence Card

If a barrier cannot be tied to a sample or timestamp, do not treat it as a conclusion yet. A learner may know many words and still fail to segment speech, or be accurate while unable to organise an asynchronous handover.

6. Design One Targeted Repair

One barrier I will repair:
Repair action (25-45 minutes):
Material and source:
Minimum scaffold allowed:
Acceptance standard:
Before/after samples to preserve:
Feedback that would change the plan:

Usually protect meaning and task completion first, then facts and structure, then high-impact vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, or register. Leave style details that do not change the result until later.

7. Delayed Retest and Transfer

Time	Remove	Change	Output	Result/evidence
Day 1	Answers after first version	Original conditions	Repair version
Day 7	Recent cues and old sentences	Parallel topic or audience	Same kind of task
Day 30	Tool conversation and comments	Real source or time pressure	One real delivery
Week 12	Old task and score	Target role, course, or life context	Complete task

What I can still do independently on day 7:
Error that still returns on day 30:
Skill that succeeded only on a familiar topic:
Where extra time would most affect life:
What this retest cannot prove:

8. Record AI, Translation, and Human Feedback

Tool / model / version and date:
Samples that existed before tool use:
What it did: diagnosis / questions / counterexample / transcript / feedback / other
Scope generated or rewritten:
Primary source, dictionary, teacher, peer, or real-audience check:
Suggestions accepted, rejected, or deferred and why:
Independent sample after closing the tool:
Disclosure required by school, client, employer, or exam:

Model answers, speech-recognition scores, and polished final prose cannot independently prove ability. Important judgments return to original material, actual response, and a named accountable owner.

9. Decide the Next Cycle

Current component direction (not a permanent level):
Strongest real evidence:
Weakest evidence with the largest life impact:
Continue:
Downgrade:
Change variable:
Pause or seek help:
Smallest next task:
Next review date:

Related entry points: Learning Principles: Turn Effort into Verifiable Learning | Vocabulary Evidence Card | Grammar Evidence Card | Listening Evidence Card | Reading Evidence Card | Speaking Evidence Card | Writing Evidence Card | Evidence Chain