How do we define the difference between SL and HL for Language B? This is important because we wish to make sure that each student is placed in a course of an appropriate level; and also because teachers wish to be clear about what language, skills and materials are required at each level.

This issue is currently being discussed in working parties devoted to developing the new Subject Guide for Language B and Ab initio. A number of useful observations have been made, and I will try to summarise them.

A starting point is the definitions provided in the current Language B Subject Guide (p.6). These contain quite a few useful details, but in my view, the text is written in a slightly confused way. To start with, the details provided for each level are organised in slightly different ways, and so exact comparison and contrast is a little difficult. It is noticeable that the definitions provided for HL are more precise than those for SL, and in some cases the definition of SL is simply that details provided for HL are not present at SL. To illustrate, under Productive skills, HL students are expected to “…speak and write at length, and with purpose…” – but there is no mention of anything corresponding at SL, so are SL students not expected to write with purpose…?

Also, phrasing is often rather generalised and vague. To illustrate, under Interactive skills, at SL, “…Students use a variety of strategies to negotiate meaning…” while at HL,  “Students are adept in negotiating meaning…”. What exactly is the distinction here, and how should teachers choose what to teach? To be fair, such generalisation is inevitable since we should not forget that the Subject Guide is aimed at more than 20 Languages B, and so cannot be very specific.

Despite those doubts, the overall distinction is fairly clear – HL students should be taught a wider range of language than SL students, and are expected to apply more sophisticated critical thinking than SL students. To illustrate, SL students are expected to “…recognize a straightforward, linear argument.” - whereas HL students should “…analyse arguments, distinguishing main points from relevant supporting details and explanations…”.   

It is worth noting, also, the way that primary skills are defined: in terms of communicative purposes (see the section of this website under ‘Writing’), rather than a list of text types. At HL, students are expected to produce a “…wide range of communicative needs: describing, narrating, comparing, explaining, persuading, justifying, evaluating.” Whereas, at SL, requirements are simpler: students “…write descriptive texts and personal correspondence; they make comparisons, narrate stories, provide detailed accounts, and express their thoughts and opinions on abstract or cultural topics.“ There is some overlap there, but the level of challenge is obviously more basic at SL.

We should note also that the definitions are based on what students can do, and assessment is based on what they can be observed to do. Fair enough – assessment must always be based on clear objective indicators – but it is clear that evaluation of the expectation at each level is more based on performance of skills than on factual knowledge such as vocabulary or grammatical structure

An important issue to be addressed in the new Subject Guide is the distinction between two types of SL/HL definition – what I might call ‘placement definitions’ and ‘exit definitions.’ To explain - ‘placement definitions’ are necessary to help schools put students into the right course at the beginning of the Diploma programme (i.e. the minimum language skills to start with); and ‘exit definitions’ are the target skills and knowledge: in other words, what a good student will learn by the end of the course (which therefore defines what teachers should aim to teach). The definitions in the current Guide seem to be a bit more like ‘exit definitions’ – but that does not really help schools in placing students at the beginning of the course.

Well, we shall have to wait and see what emerges from the development process of the new Subject Guide.

(And for a more detailed analysis of the distinctions between SL and HL, have a look at the page HL & SL differences )