Abstract
This study aims to revise some different definitions about the concept of communicative and linguistic competence in a foreign or second language in order to understand the criteria and descriptors in level scales. These levels are divided taking into account the communicative skills and they describe in detail the competence that a person can reach in a certain language. Finally, we analyze several level scales from the American (ILR and ACTFL) and European (Council of Europe, DIALANG and ALTE) models. Both the American and the European models share certain common characteristics, for example, the scales are not based on any particular language, which contributes to their applicability to any language. Furthermore, these scales are distributed among different levels in which it is described what a person can do in a target language.