Communication Skills Workshop 2009Tampere, Finland

Kevin Haines & Margaret McKinney

Embedding the CEFR in language provision in Dutch higher education: Bringing teacher and learner perspectives into line?

Embedding the CEFR in language provision in Dutch higher education: bringing teacher and learner perspectives into line?

Contents:

University of Groningen Language Centre: assessment context and vision

CEFR: - implications and challenges for local use- ensuring consistency; the teacher as tester

perspective

CEFR: - research into student participation and awareness- Dialang, reflection and the learner perspective

Relating assessment to the CEFR in Higher Education

“Institutions should foster structured contacts between different local groups… in order to ensure that the interpretation of the CEF levels arrived at is commonly shared. Networking with groups for the same language /educational sector in neighbouring countries to facilitate cross-system linking is also desirable.” (Pilot Manual 2003: 70)

“The aim of the CEFR is to facilitate reflection, communication and networking in language education.” (Manual 2009: 3)

Internationalisation: incoming students

Internationalisation and the Language Centre role at the University of Groningen

Students studying for Bachelors through English:International Business & Management: 250 students 2008-9 International Economics & Business: 175 students 2008-9International Econometrics: 75 students 2008-9International Law: 90 students 2008-9

Students studying for Masters through English:118 Masters programmes, 65 in English (NRC 7 March 2009)

Teaching and support staff: Teaching through English e.g. Economics & Business, Maths, Medicine…Academic staff: Publishing and Presenting in EnglishSupport staff: counsellors, administrators, help desks, service desks: English for service and information

Language Centre vision in response to internationalisation- Scaffolding the educational surround.

- Learner autonomy and feedback.- Learning language in context. - Encouraging learner reflection.- Redesigning courses on the basis of information derived from consistent evaluation.- Relating assessments to the CEFR.

“These concepts are compatible and mutually reinforcing…”Vision Document 2009

The need: Internationalisation and the Language Centre role in English testing at the University of Groningen

A dissemination and advisory role in relation to faculties and administrators:

“the C level “appears to represent … increasing ease and subtlety of communication”

meaning that

“passing from B2 to the C level should enable the learner to access higher education, professional fields of employment and the literary culture associated with a language”

Green 2008

Internationalisation and the Language Centre role in English assessment at the University of Groningen

We require a number of different tests, as no test will be fit for all purposes (see Alderson 2005):

Proficiency tests e.g. LCET Diagnostic & Placement Tests e.g. Dialangwww.dialang.org (see also www.intuitproject.nl)Achievement tests e.g. IB&M

We wish to ground our various tests in a common set of standards upon which to base the judgments we make about the performance of test-takers.

What can the CEFR offer HE language centres in the field of assessment?

CEFR offers a common language and point of reference as a basis for stakeholders.

CEFR use should contribute to increased transparency of processes & procedures, improved quality of provision & outcome comparability.

“If a student is categorised as B1, one has to be quite sure that this student is well characterised by the “Can Do” descriptors for this level. This is the basic question of validity...” (Manual 2009: 36)

Example: Specification of Language Centre English Test

Reading skills Listening skills Writing skills Oral skills

Computer basedCandidate

uses computer

Candidates tested in

pairs

Two assessors

REVISED LCET TEST

Stages of the Standardisation ProcessAdapted from Pilot Manual 2003:70

Familiarisation

Training

Benchmarking performances

(direct tests)Standard-setting

(indirect tests)Samples

(EMBED)

Piloting, Pretesting etc.

CEFR: Opportunities for Partnership

Sharing of expertise/experiences in the application of the CEFR through projects would have the following benefits:

• Embedding the CEFR in domain-specific academic language areas/tasks:

• Sharing/commonality of approaches to standardisation, supported by ICT

• Exchange and moderation of domain-specific samples• Trial and moderation of domain-specific reference

descriptors (see also English Profile Project)

• Research into the experiences/perceptions of the learners themselves

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Re-addressing the learner perspective:

Research informed our formative assessment Dialang. Questions:

How might language providers play a role in building a Higher Education environment in which a community of international students can prosper?

How might the CEFR help language providers to engage with their learners in this context?

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International students…

…inhabit multiple communities and experience increasingly fragmented social and educational structures in which identity is “generally imagined as discontinuous, shifting and polycentric.” Brockmeier 2000: 69

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Language learning communities?

“We can consider second language learners who demonstrate a change from limited to fuller participation in social practices involving their second (or additional) language as giving evidence of language development.” (Zuengler & Miller 2006:41)

In the case of Higher Education, the concept of community is epitomised by the learning community, which “includes learning … at the very core of its enterprise”. (Wenger 1998: 214-215)

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Identification with community

Strength of identification with learning community: size of the cohort and the time they have been together:

“we all identify ourselves with the programme strongly” (Leonie)

“we all have known each other for four years now” (Ilana).

This ‘all-ness’ is reflected by the feeling of being “in the same situation” (Katerina) and in use of the same language:

“Because here I speak English” (Katerina)

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Participation through Interaction: Fellow students

Interaction with fellow students is seen as valuable when it results in the authentic use of language, such as ‘speaking a lot’ or ‘having to listen’. (Leonie)

Participants value other students when they can work efficiently with them and when the other student functions as a linguistic role model. (Ilana)

But:Where participants lack confidence in the language ability or ‘level’ of other students, this is a disincentive which may lead participants to exclude themselves or others from the full learning process. ‘Being drawn back’. (Mark)

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Participation through Interaction: Teachers

Teachers can help students by ensuring that students have the tools with which they can improve their language skills. (Leonie)

Teachers are also valued when students feel they have received individual attention, resulting in useful feedback. (Mark)

A supplementary role for teachers is to provide encouragement in the form of motivation or stimulation to self-critical thinking: “teacher’s insight”. (Simona)

We might conclude that where teachers fulfil these roles, students will feel engaged in the learning process within the learning community. The CEFR has a role to play here.

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Dialang Plus

the start of language learning as

- a reflective process

- a lifelong process

What is Dialang Plus?

Blackboard self-study week assignment

placement test for reading and writing

plus a reflective report

Why Dialang Plus?

CEFR terminology and standards

transparency and consistency of feedback

transparency of student goals

Introduction of formative feedback“I never had real feedback on my English language before. I have now a good picture of my strengths and weaknesses. I have set myself learning objectives to improve my reading and writing.” (Lara)

“I wasn’t really sure what to think about my Dialang score at first. But when I look at the feedback I see this is a good way of finding out more about English language progress and how to improve.” (Martijn)

“This kind of personal feedback is really useful and a big difference with highschool. There we were just good, very good or not good enough.” (Arjan)

Overestimation of fluency

“I was always the best in my class at school but after doing the Dialang test I found out that my English is not as good as I thought.”(Lara)

“I thought my writing skills were higher than B1 because I was always the best in my class at school.” (Wouter)

“Because of this test I got a sort of wake-up call.”

(Lianne)

The academic context 1

“I hope to be a near native speaker because I will be giving a lot of presentations this year and even more when I leave university.” (Leon F.)

“After my study I most probably will be working in an international environment. Therefore I will have to write a lot of reports. This demands that I have to train my writing skills to a C1 or C2 level if possible.” (Wouter)

The academic context 2“If I am to become a manager one day, one of the most important skills that I will have to have is to present in a way that keeps my colleagues or partners interested and maybe even amazed. This is my ultimate goal.” (Thijs)

“I expected university to be very difficult, but when I attended a few classes I came to the belief that a lot of knowledge like basic grammar verbs and where to put time and place was being activated, and I knew a lot more than I thought. I really like this course because we are preparing to do real business. Especially the negotiations and meetings we are learning to cope with all kinds of opponents. At school we were just doing English for the exam. Here it is a real intensity and we are busy with English all the time. Now my goal is to be a near native speaker when I leave university.” (Leon)

Social context “We learn a lot from just talking to each other. Because of the international students we all have to speak English.” (Koos)

“I’d recommend first-year students to make friends with international students. Although we don’t have native speakers on our course, the English spoken is very high and we all can learn a lot from each other. I always think in English now. I sometimes get the impression that learning a language is an unconscious process.” (Ken)

“Learning English has become a more subtle process. I pick up the language on a more unconscious level. Paradoxically enough, I learn most of my English when not actively engaged in learning. Sometimes I hear a word or phrase I haven’t heard before while reading a book or watching a movie. Sometimes I hear a sentence constructed in a way I would never have imagined and try to incorporate this into my speaking and writing.” (Arjan)

Motivation, goals and process“According to Dialang I find it hard to stay motivated when a subject doesn’t fit in my area of interests. When such a situation appears, I stop understanding the text or writing a good report. To improve my reading skills, I will just ask myself the question whether I understand the context of the article and what the main point of each paragraph is.” (Annemijn)

“I have had many holidays and friends where informal English is used. Now, I want to learn academic vocabulary so that I will be at a C2 level by the end of this study.” (Ken)

“My level of vocabulary is sufficient for school but not sufficient for an academic study. I have set myself the guideline of learning at least 5 academic words every week. That makes me learn 20 new words a month and 240 words in a year. In three years this adds up to 720 academic words which I hope will be sufficient .” (Leon H)

Teacher student alignment

“The whole conclusion of my test is that I make a lot of stupid mistakes through carelessness and going too fast. Secondly, I have to change my informal English to formal academic English.” (Lianne)

“I know a lot of academic words when I hear them and I know their translations. However, in some cases I find it hard to activate these academic words. In short, my passive vocabulary should also be a part of my active vocabulary” (Wouter)

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Bringing teacher and learner perspectives into line?

1. Greater transparency regarding learning processes and learner goals, and clarifying the role of language in the broader educational context.

2. Greater inclusion of the student voice: and not just those with a dominant voice. Provides a basis for teacher-learner dialogue and negotiation of learning processes.

3. Potentially provides opportunities for the sharing of students’ linguistic experiences and expertise in such a way that these experiences are beneficial to the learning community as a whole.

The potential long-term social relevance of the CEFR may be lost during its application from the teacher/tester perspective. Recording experiences of the CEFR from the perspective of the student:

- provides curriculum designers with the information needed to embed the CEFR throughout the curriculum, as opposed to the isolated areas of the curriculum that are designated for language provision.- provides evidence that could lead to improvement in the use of the CEFR in higher education and to a more thorough design of language provision in the curriculum as a whole.- highlights the social value of the framework in the context of the learning community.

Embedding the CEFR in language provision in Dutch higher education

Any questions? This is where you can find us:

Kevin Haines: k.b.j.haines@rug.nlMargaret McKinney: m.g.mckinney@rug.nl