What term refers to how good a learner is at the language they are learning?

• A. Fluency
• B. Accuracy
• C. Proficiency
• D. Motivation

Answer: (C)

Proficiency refers to the overall level of ability a learner has in using the language, across speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It captures how good someone is at applying vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and communicative skills in real-life tasks, not just how fast they talk or how correct each utterance is. That broader, all-around competence is what’s meant by being proficient in a language. Fluency focuses on the speed and ease of speech, accuracy on grammatical correctness, and motivation on the learner’s drive to study; none of these alone fully describe overall language ability the way proficiency does.