an overview of the assessment of language proficiency in a

An overview of the assessment of language proficiency in a sample of bilingual jurisdictions Research Team: Mererid Hopwood, Elin Meek, Lowri Lloyd, Meinir Ebbsworth

on behalf of

Yr Athrofa

University of Wales Trinity St David

for

Qualifications Wales

March 2018

AdroddiadTERFYNOLCymwysterauCymruSaesnegMAWRTH20182

CONTENTS 1. Executivesummary 3

2. Explanatorynotesonsomekeyterms 9

3. TheResearchProject: 15

i. Purposeandscopeii. Approachandrationale

4. EuropeanandWelshContext 19

5. TheBasqueCountry 25i. Schoolingcontextandteacherexpertiseii. Languageteachingandlearning,approachesandmethodsiii. LanguageAssessmentiv. Furthernotes

6. Finland 31i. Schoolingcontextandteacherexpertiseii. Languageteachingandlearning,approachesandmethodsiii. LanguageAssessmentiv. Furthernotes

7. Fryslân 37i. Schoolingcontextandteacherexpertiseii. Languageteachingandlearning,approachesandmethodsiii. LanguageAssessmentiv. Furthernotes

8. Ireland 43

i. Schoolingcontextandteacherexpertiseii. Languageteachingandlearning,approachesandmethodsiii. LanguageAssessmentiv. Furthernotes

9. AssessmentmodelsusedforEnglishasasecondlanguageorEnglishforspeakersofotherlanguages 49

10. Conclusions,reflectionsandrecommendations 55

11. Bibliographyandsources 65

12. Appendices(includingabbreviationsandacronyms) 73


3

SECTION 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Note:

FollowingdiscussionswithQualificationsWalessincebeginningworkonthisresearchproject,thescopewasincreased.Bythetimethisreportispublished,workbyvariousgroupswithinthegovernment,e.e.thosedevelopingthecurriculumandWelshlanguage,hasgoneahead,andthus,someoftherecommendationsinthisreportarealreadybeingundertaken.Whatisclearfromalldiscussionsisthatthereisnotake-awayframeworksuitableforwholesaleadoptionbyWales.ThispresentsanopportunitytodevelopassessmentmethodsthatareuniquelysuitedtothelingusticcontextofWales.


SECTION1.EXECUTIVESUMMARY

ThisreportistheresultofworkcommissionedbyQualificationsWalestolookattrendsinlanguageteachingandassessmentinbilingualjurisdictions,identifyingthosethatmightsuggestaroutefordevelopmentsinWales,withrecommendationsonpossibleareasforfurtherinvestigation.

ThereportispresentedasanorientationexerciseandassuchhasmainlyfocussedontrendsinjurisdictionsthathavelinguisticcharacteristicsthatareinvaryingdegreessimilartoWales,namelytheBasqueCountry,FinlandandFryslân,withIrelandasanadditionalpointofreference.

TheresearchteamconducteddeskresearchandSkypeinterviewswithexpertsinthefieldineachjurisdiction.

Toaccompanytheinternationalaspectofthereport,assessmentscalesusedinlanguageschoolsintheUKhavebeenincluded.AcomparisonofthecurrentlanguageassessmentmodelsinWaleswasalsoexaminedandpreliminaryfindingsofthisworkhavebeensharedwithQualificationsWales(seeRecommendations).

Theoverridingfindingisthatingeneral,themethodsoflanguageteaching,learningandassessmentinthejurisdictionsthatformthebasisofthisoverviewareinflux.ThepolicychangesinEuropeasawholeinrelationtolanguagelearning,combinedwithanincreaseddrivetopromoteminoritylanguages,areleadingtoarevisionofhowlanguagesarepresentedineducationsystems.Thisrevisionincludeslookinganewnotonlyatwhatconstitutesthecorelanguageskillsandthewaytheyaretaughtandassessed,butalsoattheroleoflanguageinsociety.1

Whilewefoundevidenceofthesechangeswithnewmethodsbeingpiloted,therearenoclearindicationsasyetoftheirsuccessorotherwise.Andwhilethereisnosingle‘takeaway’modelthatreadilylendsitselfforWales,therearecertainlyelementsthatareworthexploringfurther.

Context

• Assessmentcannotbeeffectivelydevelopedinisolation,butratherinpartnershipwithcurriculumandpedagogicdevelopment.Inordertounderstandhowitcanbestserveasatooltoencouragepupils’progression,itisnecessarytotakeintoaccountavarietyofconsiderationssuchasnationalandinternationalpolicytrends,schoolingcontextandthestatusandnatureofthesubjectinquestion.

• ThelandscapeoflanguagelearningischanginginWales,asitisinEurope.Politiciansandeducationalistsarerecognisingthevalueofpromotingthelanguageproficiencyofpupils.Aspartofthistrend,thewayweunderstandtheroleoflanguage,andinparticularmultilingualism,isdeveloping,withanincreasingsenseofthevalueoflanguagesasapotentialagentofculturalcohesion.

1Asouroverviewwasdrawingtoaclosetwopaperswerepublished,bothconfirmingthisstateofflux.See:KeyDataonTeachingLanguagesatSchoolinEurope.Availableonlineat:https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/images/0/06/KDL_2017_internet.pdfandthePolicyReview:TheroleofassessmentinEuropeanlanguagepolicy–ahistoricaloverview.Availableonlineat:http://www.meits.org/policy-papers/paper/the-role-of-assessment-in-european-language-policy-a-historical-overview.[AccessedSeptember2017].


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• Inthisstateofflux,emergentthemesinthediscussioninclude:Ø ThevalueoflanguagelearningandskillsØ Multilingualism/PlurilingualismØ MultilingualismandpedagogyØ MultilingualismandassessmentØ ThelanguageskillsetinamultilingualcontextØ Theroleofdigitaltechnology

KeyTerms

Ofthetermsandacronymsthatappearinthereport,oneofthemostsignificantis‘TheCommonEuropeanFrameworkReferenceforLanguages:Learning,Teaching,Assessment’(CEFR).TheCEFRisawidelyusedtoolnotonlyforthearticulationofaprogressionpathwaythroughlanguageproficiency,butalsoasacomparativetoolinthebenchmarkingofattainmentacrosslanguages.Its‘can-do’statementsinfluenceteachingpracticeandassessment,whereitmaybeusedformatively,summativelyandipsatively(seeSection2).Itcanbeeffectivelyadaptedfromcontexttocontext(eitherfordifferentlanguagesordifferentage-groups).Itsillustrativedescriptorsarecurrentlyunderreview.

TheBasqueCountry

• TheBasqueCountryencompassessevenregions;threeinFranceandfourinSpain.OfthefourinSpain,Bizkaia,GipuzkoaandArabaformtheBasqueautonomouscommunity,wheretheBasquelanguageistheco-officiallanguage,butBasqueisalsospokeninNavarre.

• Forthepurposeofthisresearch,the‘BasqueCountry’mainlyreferstotheautonomouscommunityinSpain.

• IntermsoftheBasquelanguageinSpain,33.9%ofthepopulationoftheBasqueCountryandabout10%ofthepopulationofNavarreareBasquespeakers,(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:53).

• Schoolingiscompulsoryfor6–16yearolds.Itcanbedividedinto3categoriesaccordingtolanguagemedium,whereschoolsareclassifiedasA-model,B-modelandD-model.IntheA-model,theinstructionisinSpanish;intheB-model,itismainlyinSpanishbutalsoinBasque;intheD-modelitisentirelyinBasque,withSpanishtaughtasacompulsorysubject.TheD-modelisbecomingincreasinglypopular.

• HavingundergoneaperiodofprovidingintensiveBasquelanguagetuitionforteachers,theeducationsystemnowhasaclearrecognitionofthelevelofproficiencyneededinBasqueinordertoentertheprofession.

• Therearenoformal,externalassessmentsuntil18yearsoldwheretheSelectividadexammustbepassedtogainentrytohighereducation.

• Languagelessonsingeneralatsecondarylevelareorientatedtowardsgrammarandliterature.(Thereis,forexample,nooralelementinlanguagesexaminationsatSelectividad.)

• AstrikingfeatureoftheBasque-mediumschoolsisthedevelopmentoftrilingualcompetence(Basque,SpanishandEnglish)wheretheContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(CLIL)methodisprominentforthetransferofEnglish,withanemphasisoncreatingconfidentspeakers.

• Thereisawell-developedprogrammeofBasqueclassesoutsidetheschoolsystem,withanemphasisonthecommunicativeelementoflanguage.TheseareaccompaniedwithprogressionpathwayexamsknownasthePerfilesLingüísticos(trans:LanguageProfiles)andtheEuskerraGaitasunaAguira(trans:theBasqueCompetenceCertificate).Attainmentintheseexamsislinkedtoofficiallyendorsedobligationswithrespecttosomeprofessions.


• TheCEFRisusedtomeasurecompetenceinSpanishintheOfficialSchoolsofLanguagesandtheInstituteofCervanteswhereSpanishistaughttoforeigners.Nativespeakers,however,cannottaketheseexams.InthecaseofBasque,allstudentswhohavefinishedtheirsecondaryeducationintheD-modelschoolsareconsideredtohavereachedtheCEFRB2level,theC1levelupongraduatingfromBasque-mediumuniversityeducation,andtheC2leveliftheyhavewrittenadoctoralthesisinBasque.Inthenewcurriculumplanfor2020,theCEFRisspecificallyreferredtointhecontextofforeignlanguages.

Finland

• AScandinaviancountry,Finlandhastwomainofficiallanguages,FinnishandSwedish.Ithasseveralotherofficialminoritylanguages.SwedishisthesecondofficiallanguageofFinlandwith5.5%ofthepopulationspeakingSwedishastheirfirstlanguage,(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:97).

• Otherlanguages,whosespeakers’rightsareprotectedbylawincludeSámi,Romani,FinnishSignLanguageandKarelian.

• Schoolingiscompulsoryfor7–16yearolds,and6yearoldscanattendpre-schoolforoneyearfreeofcharge.In2009,about3,200pupilsattendedSwedishpre-schooloutofatotalof57,000pupils,(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:97).

• IntheFinnish-mediumschoolsSwedishiscompulsory,andintheSwedish-mediumschools,Finnishiscompulsory.

• Allpupilslearnatleast3languageswiththe1st‘nonmothertongue’,asitisknowninFinland,usuallyintroducedat9yearsold,andthe2nd‘nonmothertongue’ayearlater.

• Therearenonational,externalexamsuntilthematriculationexamforuniversityentrance.Throughout,emphasisisverymuchonformativeassessment(acrossallsubjectsandages),withaclearfocusonlearningratherthantesting.

• AllteachershaveaMastersdegree,andContinuousProfessionalLearningDevelopment(CPLD)isvalued.Thereisalsorecognitionoftheimportanceofdevelopingteachers’understandingofassessmenttechniques,aswellasanexpertiseinEducationandcurriculumsubjects.

• Aperiodicimmersion-typemethodknownasthe‘shower’isusedtoteachlanguages,andelementsofCLILareinevidencewherethefocusisonbuildingpupils’confidenceasspeakers.

• Anintegratedmethodoflanguagelearning,whereamultilingualaswellasamultidisciplinaryapproachistaken,leadstoanenhancementofpupils’perceptionofculturaldiversity.

• AnadaptedversionoftheCEFRisinusetoarticulateprogressacrosslanguages,andplanstoincreasetargetsandattainmentforboththespeakingandwritingskillscomponentsareinmotion.

Fryslân

• Fryslân(alsoFrieslandorFrisia)isaprovinceinnorthwestNetherlands.Ithasapopulationofapproximately650,000.Frisianisthesecondofficiallanguage,nexttoDutch.About67%ofthepopulationspeakFrisianreasonablywell,about97%understanditandabout15%canwriteitwell,(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:57).

• Schoolingiscompulsoryfor5–16yearolds.• TherearenobilingualormonolingualFrisiansecondaryschools.


7

• Assessmentisablendofinternalandexternaltests,withanaptitudetestavailableattheendofprimaryeducation,andexitpointexamsat16and18yearsold.

• Frisianiscompulsorythroughouttheprimaryandsecondarysectors;however,althoughtheimplementationofFrisianhasbeencompulsoryinthesecondarysectorsince1993,ithas‘notyetachievedtheresultsthatwereexpected’(Mercator,2010:39),andinpracticemostschoolsteachFrisianasasubjectforonlyonehourperweek.

• Inthefinalstagesofsecondaryeducation,whilepupilscanchoosea‘profile’ofsubjects,DutchandEnglisharecompulsorysubjectsregardless.

• ForDutch,reading,writingandsometimeslisteningskillsareassessed,whileforFrisian,onlyreadingcomprehensionisassessed.

• AstrikingdevelopmentintheFrisiansystemisthedrivetowardstrilingualeducation.Aspartofthiswork,awholenewprogrammeofteaching,learningandassessmentmaterialsisbeingdeveloped.ItisbasedontheReferinsjeramtFrysk(FrisianProgressionFramework)whichisaprogressionframeworkrelatedtotheCEFR‘can-do’statementsforthevariouscompetencedomains.TheprogrammeisknownasGRIPandfeaturesinclude:Ø emphasisondigitaltechnologyØ recognitionofa5thlanguageskill(‘conversation’isaddedtolistening,speaking,reading

andwriting)Ø emphasisonself-evaluationandindividualisedprogressionplansØ task-basedlearning.

Ireland

• The2011CensusintheRepublicofIrelandstatesthat41.4%ofthepopulationdefinethemselvesasIrishspeakers(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:79).

• IrishisthenationallanguageofIrelandandassuchisthefirstofficiallanguageofIrelandwithEnglishthesecondofficiallanguage(ibid.).

• Schoolingiscompulsoryfor6–16yearolds,andisdividedintoprimaryandpost-primarysectors.Intermsoflanguage,schoolsarecategorisedas:Irish-medium,English-mediumandschoolswithIrish-mediumstreamsattachedtoEnglish-mediumschools.

• Irishiscompulsoryineachschooltype(fromtheageof6),andaModernForeignLanguage(MFL)isintroducedinthepost-primarysector.

• PlanstoreformtheteachingofIrishareunderwayaspartofa20-yearstrategy(2010-2030).• InApril2017thegovernmentcalledforarevisionofMFLteachingincludingplansto

introduceaforeignlanguageintheprimarysector.• TeachersintheprimarysectorneedsomelevelofIrishproficiency,thoughtheentrance

levelrequirementsintoInitialTeacherEducationarecurrentlybeingrevised.• Irish-mediumschoolsfollowtheimmersionmethodintheprimarysector.• Atthesecondary(post-primary)leveltherearetwosetsofexams:JuniorCertificateand

LeavingCertificate.Thesetooareunderreview.IntermsoftheIrishlanguageassessment,thereiscurrentlyonlyonetypeoflanguageexam,whichisatL2,secondlanguagelevel,whereasEnglishisassessedasL1,firstlanguagelevel.Furthermore,theelementsofliterature,historyandculturalidentityhavebeendiminishedinthecurrentIrishlanguageexam.

• OneoftheproposalsforreformisthatthenewprogrammeshouldincludeanewassessmentoforalskillsforMFLandIrish.

• Intermsofthepotentialofdigitaltechnologytoimprovelanguagelearning,againthisformspartofthe20-yearstrategywitharecognitionthatitisanareainneedofdevelopment.


• ThereisnoobviouscrossreferencetotheCEFRintheschool-system,thoughitisusedtomaptheTeastasEorpachnaGaeilge(trans:EuropeanCertificateinIrish),whichisaseparatesetofexaminationsmainlygearedtowardsadults.

PointsofComparisons:BasqueandIrishTheBasquecountryandIrelandoffertheclosestparallelswithWalesintermsoflinguisticprofiles.ThefollowingarethestrategiesinplaceintheBasqueCountrythatarenotasevidentintheIrishorWelsheducationsystems.

Ø theuseoftheCEFRtomapandindicateprogressionlevels(bothintheschoolsystemandintheadultlanguagelearningsystem)

Ø abalancebetweeninternalandexternalassessmentØ aflexiblemultilingualpedagogywithanemphasisondevelopingplurilingualismØ a rich CLIL pedagogy that ensures a high number of contact hours timetabled for the

promotionoflanguageinstructionØ intensiveteachereducationlanguageprogrammesØ a language curriculum that includes cultural dimensions such as literature across all

languagesØ government-enforced obligations for high-level Basque fluency for public office and other

employmentroutes

AssessmentModelsintheUK• TheCEFRisprevalentasatoolintheteaching,learningandassessmentmodelsforEnglish

(forspeakersofotherlanguages),withmanyadaptationsthereoftosuitparticularcontexts.• IntermsofWelsh,whilequalificationsfor‘WelshforAdults’arereferencedtotheCEFR,in

theschoolsystemthereisatpresentnoclearandreadilyavailabletooltomapcomparisonsbetweenlevelsofattainmentinWelshandWelsh‘SecondLanguage’.

Recommendationsinclude:

• Considerconductingfurtherexploratoryworkbasedontheemergingtrendsidentifiedfromallthesampledjurisdictionstogainamoredetailedunderstandingoftheteachingandassessmentoflanguageproficiency;thismightinclude,amongstothers,examiningtheshiftfromnormtocriterion-referencedassessmentandtoipsativeassessment;itmightalsoincludeananalysisofasampleofexampapersaimedat16yearoldsforeachofthelanguagestaught.

• Considerhowassessmentoflanguageproficiencycouldbeenhancedbyexploringthepossibilitiesandimplicationsofunderstandingandlabellingthelearningoflanguagesasthedevelopmentofaskillsetbeyondthefourtraditionaldivisionsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting,andaconsiderationoftheadvantagesthatmightcomefrommanifestingcombinationsthatcutacrossthese.

• SupportWelshGovernment’sintentiontoestablishacontinuumoflanguagelearning.

N.B.Intermsoftheselasttwopointsinparticular,thereisclearlyapotentialtocombineQualificationsWales’workwiththeworkofthe‘CAMAU’project,ledbyYrAthrofa,UniversityofWalesTrinitySaintDavid(UWTSD)andGlasgowUniversityincollaborationwiththeWelshGovernment(WG).ThisprojectaimstoexplorehowprogressioncanbedescribedandbestdevelopedinrespectofeachoftheAreasofLearningandExperienceofthenewcurriculum.Theprojectisalsoresearchinghowprogressionstepscanbearticulated,describedandusedinordertosupportthelearningprocessinthemosteffectiveway.Aspartofthediscussioninrelationtothe‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’curriculumarea,thegroupisaskinghowgenericprogressiondescriptorscanbedifferentiatedtotakeintoconsiderationtheexperienceoflearnersofvariouslanguages.


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SECTION 2. EXPLANATORY NOTES ON SOME KEY TERMS


SECTION2.EXPLANATORYNOTESONSOMEKEYTERMS

N.B.ForfulllistofabbreviationsandacronymsseeAppendix1.

i.Assessment:Criteria-basedorcriterion-referencedInthisformofassessment,theresultindicateswhetherthelearner(ortest-taker)hasperformedwellornotinthetestinquestion;i.e.itsmainpurposeistoestablishwhetherthelearnerhaslearntthematerial,ratherthantocomparethelearner’sperformanceagainstthatofotherlearners.ii.Assessment:IpsativeInaneducationalcontext,thisformofassessmentgenerallyreferstothepracticeofassessingthelearner’s(ortest-taker’s)presentperformanceagainsthis/herpriorperformance.iii.Assessment:Norm-referencedThisformofassessmentisaprocessthatcomparesonelearner(ortest-taker)againstanother;i.e.theresultranksthelearneraccordingtotheperformanceofotherlearnersinthetestinquestion,indicatingwhetherthetest-takerhasperformedbetterorworsethanothers.iv.TheCommonEuropeanFrameworkReferenceforLanguages:Learning,Teaching,Assessment(CEFR)TheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages:Learning,Teaching,Assessment,usuallyabbreviatedasCEFR,wasestablishedbytheCouncilofEuropein2001.ItistheresultofarangeofprojectsandprocessesdevelopedbytheCouncilofEuropeandtheEuropeanUnionwhichwerecloselyrelatedtolanguageassessment,includingtheAssociationofLanguageTestersinEurope’sItemWriterGuidelines,theMultilingualGlossaryofLanguageTestingTerms,theContentAnalysisChecklistsandtheFrameworkforCriticalLevelsofLanguagePerformance(fordetailsseeGutierrezEugenioandSaville,2017:2).Ithasbecomeastandardtoolnotonlyformappinglanguageproficiency,butalsoforguidinglanguagelearningandteachingacrossEuropeandbeyond.IthassixreferencelevelsfromA1toC2,whereA1indicatesthe‘breakthrough’or‘beginner’levelandC2the‘mastery’or‘proficiency’level.Coincidingwiththeworkonthisoverview,aconsultationonanewandextendedversionoftheillustrativedescriptorsoftheCEFRwasundertakenwithaclosingdateforcommentsonthe15February2017.Thenewversionisdueoutinthesummerof2017,buttodatehasnotbeenpublished.ItwillbeavailableontheCEFRpagesoftheCouncilofEuropeWebsiteinduecourse.2

SomelanguageschoolsandexaminationboardshavedevelopedlevelsleadingintotheA1toaccommodateyoungerlearners(forexamples,seeSection9).

TheCEFRdescriptorsarebasedona‘can-do’approach.Theyarenotprescriptiveandcannotbesimplytranslatedand‘matched’fromonelanguagetoanother.Thusthetool,whileofferingeffectiveinternationalcomparisons,isdesignedtobeinterpretedaccordingtothecharacteristicsofeachlanguage.Forexample,ifabasiclow-levelachievementinEnglishwouldbetoanswera‘yes/noquestion’,theninWelsh,itwouldbeclassifiedasamuchhigherlevelofachievement,giventhatto

2CouncilofEurope.Nodate.CommonEuropeanFrameworkReferenceLanguages.Availableonlineat:http://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages[AccessedAugust2017].


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answerintheaffirmativeinWelshrequiresanunderstandingandknowledgeofmultipleforms,i.e.requiresmoreproficiency.

ThethreemaindimensionsoftheCEFRare:

i) languageactivities,whichinturnaredividedinto:a. reception(listeningandreading)b. production(speakingandwriting)c. interactiond. mediation(translatingandinterpreting)

ii) domainsoflanguageusage,e.g.educational,occupational,social,personaletc.iii) thecompetenciesspeakersapplywhentheyareengagedinlanguageactivities

ManylanguageassessmentbodiesusetheCEFRframeworktodescribeprogressionlevels,e.g.theCambridgeEnglishLanguageAssessment,theCentreInternationald’EtudesPedagogique(CIEP,trans:InternationalCentreforPedagogicStudies)andtheTeastasEoprachnaGaeilge(TEG,trans:EuropeanCertificateinIrish).

ItisimpossibletocalculateexactlyhowmanyteachingandlearninghoursareneededtoreachthevariousCEFRlevels,aseachlanguage,aswellaseachlearner,hasdifferentdemands.However,TablesinAppendix9givesomeindicationofthisfromCambridgeEnglishandthebasiccurriculumforBasque.

Table1showsthestandardnarrative‘can-do’descriptorsforeachlevel.

TABLE1.TheCEFRlevelsasdescribedbytheCouncilofEurope3

3CouncilofEurope.2017.CEFR.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scale.[AccessedAugust17].


v.ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(CLIL)

ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(usuallyabbreviatedasCLIL),isanapproachbasedonanamalgamationofthemethodoflanguageimmersionandcontent-basedinstruction.Itteachescurriculumcontent(specifically,subjectsotherthan‘language’,e.g.geography,historyetc.)throughalanguageotherthanthepupils’home(orschool’smain)language.ItwaspromotedbytheCommissionoftheEuropeanCommunitiesundertheSocratesandEurydiceprogrammesaspartoftheirdrive‘todisseminatenew,specificmethodologiesforteachingsubjectsthroughlanguagesotherthanthelinguafranca’(CommissionoftheEuropeanCommunities,2003:16).vi.Languagetransactionalskills/Languagetransactionalcompetence

Oneofthestatedaimsoftheresearchbriefwastoclarifywhatismeantby‘languagetransactionalskills’or‘languagetransactionalcompetence’.

Innoneofthecountriesexploredwerethesetermscurrent,thoughtherelatednoundoesfeatureasasub-category(‘transactionstoobtaingoodsandservices’)intheCEFRleveldescriptors.4

Whiletraditionallylanguagecompetenceisdividedintofourskills:listening,speaking,readingandwriting(knownthroughoutthedocumentas‘thefourcoreskills’),thebriefestonlinesearchwillindicatethatthecalltoidentifyfurtherlanguageskillsisgainingmomentum.OneoftheintervieweesfromFryslândeemedthatthephrase‘transactionalcompetence’couldbeinterpretedas‘interactionalcompetence’;wherethis,inturn,couldcorrespondtothe5thdomain(orskill)of‘conversationalcompetence’includedinthenewFrisianlanguageframework.(Thisisthedigitallanguage-learningtoolunderdevelopmentinFryslân,knownastheReferinsjeramtFrysk,seeSection7).Thisskillof‘speakinginconversation’isseenasadifferentskillfrom‘speaking’or‘listening’alone;itrequirestheabilitytodigestmeaning,(whichmightbedefinedasthe‘active’dimensionof‘listening’)aswellastheabilityto‘respondinspeech’.Inaddition,anintervieweefromtheBasqueCountry,waskeentoemphasisethepotentialbenefitsofdevelopingrecognitionforbroad‘comprehension’skills,whereacitizenmightbeabletoidentifyhim/herselfasbeingabletounderstandalanguage,thoughnotyetabletoproduceit.

TheUWTSDteamwasalsoabletodiscusswithsomeintervieweesthepossibilityofdevelopingrecognitionfortheskillsetthatisrequiredtocommunicateacrosslanguagesandprocessmultiplelanguages.

vii.Multilingualism

Onthewhole,thistermisusedtodescribetheco-existenceofdifferentlanguagesinsocietyorinthemindofanindividual.Itdenotesthatthereisadiversificationoflanguagesavailablebutthattheyareusedseparately.

4CouncilofEurope.nodate.CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages:Learning,teaching,assessment.ONLINE.Availableat:https://rm.coe.int/168045b15e[AccessedNovember2017]p.17.


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viii.Multiliteracy

TheFinnishcurriculumrefersto‘multiliteracy’.ThistermwascoinedbytheNewLondonGroupofacademicsinthe1990sandreferstothevariouswaysofcommunicatingmeaninginthecontextofasocietythatisusingconstantly-changingtechnology.Ithasdevelopedmanydefinitionsbutisbroadlyunderstoodtorefertotheabilitytonavigatemultimodaltextinfluencesandtobeabletocommunicateandunderstandmeaningnotonlythroughthelinguisticformsbutalsothevisual,audio,spatialandgestural(seeCazden,C.;Cope,B.;etal,1996:60–92).5

ix.Plurilingualism

Plurilingualismemphasizeshowlanguages(andcultures)interrelateandinteractinanindividual’smind.Thisiscloselyassociatedwithinterculturalcompetence.TheexplanationbelowistakenfromarecentCouncilofEuropepublication:

Plurilingualcompetencereferstotherepertoireofresourceswhichindividuallearnersacquireinallthelanguagestheyknoworhavelearned,andwhichalsorelatetotheculturesassociatedwiththoselanguages(languagesofschooling,regional/minorityandmigrationlanguages,modernorclassicallanguages[…]Onceacquired,interculturalcompetencemakesiteasiertounderstandotherness,establishcognitiveandaffectivelinksbetweenpastandnewexperiencesofotherness,mediatebetweenmembersoftwo(ormore)socialgroupsandtheircultures,andquestiontheassumptionsofone’sownculturalgroupandenvironment(Beaccoetal,2016b:10).

x.Transversalcompetencies

OneoftheinterestingtermsthatoccursintheFinnishcurriculumis‘transversalcompetencies’.ThesearedefinedbyUNESCOasbroad-basedskillsthataimtomeetnew,globalchallenges,suchastechnologicaladvancesandinterculturalcommunication.Theyaresometimesreferredtoas‘21stcenturyskills’.ThedomainsandkeycharacteristicsofUNESCO’sworkingdefinitionoftransversalcompetenciesareasfollows:

Criticalandinnovativethinking/Creativity,entrepreneurship,resourcefulness,applicationskills,reflectivethinking,reasoneddecision-makingInter-personalskills/Presentationandcommunicationskills,leadership,organizationalskills,teamwork,collaboration,initiative,sociability,collegialityIntra-personalskills/Self-discipline,enthusiasm,perseverance,self-motivation,compassion,integrity,commitmentGlobalcitizenship/Awareness,tolerance,openness,respectfordiversity,interculturalunderstanding,abilitytoresolveconflicts,civic/politicalparticipation,conflictresolution,respectfortheenvironmentOptionaldomain:(Example)Physicalandpsychologicalhealth/Healthylifestyle,healthyfeeding,physicalfitness,empathy,self-respect

(UNESCO,2003:4–5)

5Notethattheconceptof‘multiliteracy’ispotentiallyparticularlyinterestingfromaWelshstandpoint,giventheway‘Communication’isincludedasadiscreteelementinthe‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’AreaofLearningandExperienceinDonaldson’sSuccessfulFuturescurriculumreforminWales(WG1,2015).


15

SECTION 3. THE RESEARCH PROJECT


SECTION3.THERESEARCHPROJECT

i)Purposeandscope

ThisoverviewwascommissionedbyQualificationsWalestosupportthedevelopmentoftheteaching,learningandassessmentof2(+1)languagesinWales.6Itwaslimitedto25days’worthofresearchoveraperiodoftwomonths.

Itwasdesignedasanorientationexercisetomarkoutthetrendsatworkinlanguageteachingandassessmentinbilingualjurisdictions,identifyingthosethatmightsuggestaroutefordevelopmentsinWales,andofferingacomprehensivebaseofsecondarysourceswithrecommendationsonpossibleareasforfurtherwork(seeSection10).

ItalsoinvitedareflectivecomponentthatlinkedfindingsbacktoWalesandtotheroleofassessmentinthereformedcurriculum.Inthisrespect,whiletheoverviewhasproducedrecommendationsthatQualificationsWalescouldusefullyactuponintheimmediatefuture,ithasalsosuggestedsomeareasthatarebeyondthescopeofQualificationsWales’responsibilities.Thesehavebeenincludednevertheless,recognisingthatdevelopingeffectiveassessmentdoesnottakeplaceinisolation,butratherinpartnershipwithcurriculumandpedagogicdevelopment,whereitsoverallaimistoencouragelearners’progress.

ii)Approachandrationale

TheresearchbriefstipulatedtheneedtoconsiderjurisdictionsthathavelinguisticcharacteristicsincommonwithWales.Ofthefivelistedasexamplesinthebrief,UWTSD’stenderdocumentnotedthatworkwouldmainlyconsiderthree,namelytheBasqueCountry,FinlandandFryslân,withIrelandasanadditionalpointofreference.

TheBasqueCountry,FinlandandFryslânwereofparticularinterestaseachhasengagedwithwhatisknownas‘theBarcelonaobjective’ofdevelopingpupilstobecomespeakersof‘mothertongue+2’languages,orinthecaseofbilingualjurisdictions,of‘2+1’languages.The‘Barcelonaobjective’,(resultingfromameetingoftheEuropeanCouncil[EC]inMarch2002),isastrategythatseeseducationsystemsworktowardsequippingtheirpupilswithtrilingualcompetence(forbackground,seeGutierrezEugenioandSaville,2017:3,alsoEC,2002:19para.44).ThisisinkeepingwiththeWelshGovernment’sambitionsetoutintheGlobalFuturesdocumentin2015(WG3,2015).

IrelandandtheBasqueCountryofferanobviousparallel,giventhatthesearebilingualjurisdictionsinaminority/majoritycontextwherethelanguages(BasqueandSpanish/GaelicandEnglish)donotsharethesamelinguisticroot.

Fryslânissomewhatdifferent,forwhileittooisabilingualjurisdictionwithaminority/majoritycontext,thelanguagesinquestion,FrisianandDutch,arederivedfromacommonrootandarecloselyrelated.Nevertheless,becauseofrecentdevelopmentsinFryslân,particularlyinthefieldofdigitalassessmentoflanguage,thatattempttotailoranindividualised,digitalprogressiontool,itwasconsideredtobeaworthwhileareatoincludeinoursurvey.

Finlandoffersadifferentmodel,whereFinnishandSwedisharethetwomainofficiallanguages,withseveralofficialminoritylanguagesincludingSámiandRomani.OfthetwomainofficiallanguagesinFinland,Swedishistheminoritylanguage,yetitisthemajoritylanguageofneighbouringSweden.ThisputsitinaverydifferentpositionfromWelsh,Basque,FrisianandIrish,

6For‘2(+1)’see2ndparagraphunder‘Approachandrationale’below.


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asthesearenotmajoritylanguagesinanycountry.(Foranoverviewofthelinguisticprofileofthecountriesinoursurvey,coupledwithanindicationoftheiruseoftheCEFR,seeTable5,Appendix2).

Asoutlinedinthetenderdocument,theresearchteamconducteddeskresearch,andphoneandSkypeinterviewswithexpertsinthefieldineachofthejurisdictionsinquestion.

Itshouldbenotedthatwithintheconfinesoftheresearchproject,ithasclearlynotbeenpossibletoexhaustthevastfieldandaccessallrelevantarticlesandstudies;furthermore,asalreadymentioned,itshouldalsobenotedthatnewanddifferentinformationisconstantlyemerging.Animportantsourcehasbeenthephone/Skypeinterviewswithexperts,whichaccountsfortheanecdotalnatureofsomeofthestatementsinthereport.Asafirstportofcall,theintervieweeswereabletoorientatetheteam,pointingoutanysignificantareasofinterest;insomecasestheywerealsoavailabletosteerfurtherenquiryalongtheway,dependingonanyquestionsthedeskresearchmighthaverevealed.

Theexpertintervieweesandrespondentsarelistedattheendofthisdocument.Theywerechosenasspecialistsinaspectsoflanguageeducation,andasexpertstheresearchteamwereabletocontactinthetimeavailable.Inthankingallintervieweesandcontributorsforgivingtheirtimetorespondtoqueries,theauthorsnotethattheresponsibilityforconclusionsreachedandviewsexpressedlieswiththeauthorsalone.

ThelinesofenquirywereestablishedindiscussionwithQualificationsWalesandaimedtoprobesevenmainthemes(withaninevitabledegreeofoverlapbetweenthem),namely:

i. Thelanguageskillsassessedandclarificationonterminologyusedii. Theuseofexternalandinternalassessmentiii. Therelationshipbetweenassessmentandteaching/learningstrategiesiv. Themechanismsofmappingtheprogressionoftheindividuallearnerv. Therelationshipbetweentheassessmentofthetwo(ormore)languagesinquestionvi. Theroleofdigitaltechnologyinassessmentoflanguageskillsvii. Anyrecentsuccessful/unsuccessfulinterventionsinassessmentmethods.7

Thevariationindetailbetweenthereportingonthefourcountriesreflectsthenatureofthematerialavailablewithintheconfinesoftheproject.AgooddealoftheFinnishdocumentationwasavailableinEnglish,whichhasenabledustoincludedirectquotationsfromthesesources.ThepublicationsfromtheBasqueCountryandFryslânarealmostexclusivelyinBasque/SpanishandFrisian/Dutch,whichaccountsforthefewerdirectquotations.TheIrishsectionwasanadditiontothescopeagreedoriginally,andmoredetailscanbefoundifneededonthewebsitesreferencedinthebibliographyinSection11andintheappendicesinSection12.

Toaccompanytheoverviewoflanguageassessmentintheinternationalcontext,itwasagreedthatthereportshouldestablishanoverviewofassessmentscalesusedinlanguageschoolsintheUK(seeSection9),aswellasconsideringthecurrentlanguageassessmentmodelsinWalesandthelinkagebetweentheLiteracyFrameworkandotherprogressionpathways(thishasbeensubmittedtoQualificationsWales).

Inadditiontotheabove,duringthecourseofourresearchitbecameclearthatanydevelopmentsinthefieldoflanguageassessmentwouldhavetotakeintoaccountthechanginglandscapeof

7Fortheframeworkoftheinterviewquestions,seeAppendix8.


languagesineducationingeneral.Asignificantbodyofrecentpublicationsdrawsattentiontothecurrentdrivethatisredefininghowtheroleoflanguagesinschoolandsocietyisperceivedandwhatitsvaluebeyondthepurelycommunicativemightbe.ThisdiscussionisheardonbothaEuropeanandWelshplatform.Thisredefining,bringingwithitasuggestionthatitistimetochangehowweclassifythefourcorelanguageskills,willinevitablyleadtotheneedtodevelopnotonlyhowlanguageisassessed,butalsowhat.


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SECTION 4. EUROPEAN AND WELSH CONTEXT


SECTION4.CONTEXT

EUROPE

GutierrezEugenioandSaville(2017),inarecentpaperontheroleofassessmentinEuropeanlanguagepolicy,usefullysummarisehowtheCouncilofEurope(CE)andtheEuropeanUnion(EU)haveledEuropeanlanguagepolicyoverthepast40years.Theydescribehowthedevelopmentinthefieldcanbecategorisedintothreedifferentperiods.8

Thefirstperiod(1989–2002)culminatesinthelaunchoftheCEFRandtheestablishmentoftheEU’sgoalof‘mothertongue+2’(developedinbilingualjurisdictionsas2+1).

Thesecondperiod(2002-2015)isconcernedwith‘theneedtomeasureprogressinthedevelopmentoflanguagecompetences,withlanguageassessmentasthecentralinstrumentforpolicymaking’(ibid:1),andaspartofthis,theEuropeanSurveyonLanguageCompetences(ESLC)waslaunchedtocollectrelevantdata.

Inthissecondperiod,in2012,theEC’sRethinkingEducationCommunication:Languagecompetencesforemployability,mobilityandgrowthsuggestedthecreationofaEuropeanbenchmarktomonitorthedevelopmentoflanguagecompetencesintheEU;thisincludedtwogoals:

• by2020,atleast50%of15year-oldsshouldattainthelevelofindependentuserofafirstforeignlanguage(comparedtothepresent42%)

• by2020,atleast75%ofpupilsinlowersecondaryeducationshouldstudyatleasttwoforeignlanguages(comparedtothepresent61%)9

Thethirdperiod(startingin2015)seesmovementtowardspromotingintegratedapproachestolearning,teachingandassessment,andin2015theEClaunchedthreestudies:

i. anoverviewofnationallanguagetestsacrossEurope(bytheEC’sEurydiceNetwork)ii. anassessmentofthecomparabilityoftheresultsfromthesenationallanguagetests(by

CambridgeEnglishLanguageAssessmentsupportedbyALTEmembers)iii. aninvestigationoftherelationshipsbetweenlanguagecompetencesandtheemployability

acrossEUMemberStates(bytheCentreforResearchonEducationandLifelongLearning:CRELL).

(Formoredetail,seeGutierrezEugenioandSaville,2017:4–5.)

Inshort,thisworkconcludedthatbecauseofthewidediversityinlanguageassessmentsystemsacrossEuropeandinthewayresultsarepresented,meaningfulcomparisonisalmostimpossible.Thisrecognitionledto‘animportantshiftfrommeasuringprogressinlanguagecompetencestofacilitatingthedevelopmentofstudents’language-learningskills’(ibid.,5).

Withafocusonthis,theauthorsofthepolicyreviewnotehowtheEuropeanSurveyonLanguageCompetencesshowedthat‘languagelearningatschoolisnotprovidingstudentswiththelanguageskillsneeded.ThefocusinmostlanguageeducationacrossEuropeanschoolsremainsonaspects

8Thoughbeyondtheimmediatescopeofthisreview,aninterestingsisterpolicypaper,alsopublishedin2017,outlinestrendsinlearningforeignlanguagesinprimaryschools;seeMyles.2017.TrendsinLearningForeignLanguagesinPrimarySchools.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.meits.org/.[AccessedAugust17].9Europa.2012.RethinkingEducation:Languagecompetencesforemployability,mobilityandgrowth.P.5[ONLINE]Availableat:http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012SC0372&rid=1.[AccessedAugust2017.]


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thatareeithertoodifficultornotuseful,whichnegativelyaffectslearners’motivation’(ibid.,6).Theythendrawattentiontotheconceptof‘linguisticrepertoires’(ibid.,6),andremarkthatthisis‘especiallyusefulsinceitdoesnotfocusonmasteringisolatedlanguages,butratherondevelopingdifferentlevelsofabilityinanumberoflanguageswhichareusedindifferentspheresoflifeandfordifferentpurposes’(ibid.,6).

TheyfindthatEuropeanpolicymakersneedtoembrace‘multilingualismagendasaimedatchangingattitudesandbehaviourstowardslanguagelearning’(ibid.,6)andseearolefordigitallearningtoolsto‘enablethebreakingdownofbarriersbetweenschoolandlanguagelearning,andhaveauniquepotentialtoconnectwhathappensinlanguageclassroomswithlearners’everydayrealities’.(GutierrezEugenioandSaville,2017,6).

Thepolicyoverviewconcludesbystatinghow,inthiscontext,‘languageassessmentcanplayanimportantrolebyfacilitatinglearningmoreeffectively,especiallyifitisappropriatelybuiltintothelearningtoolstomonitorprogressionandtoproviderelevantandtimelyfeedback’(ibid.).

However,inanimportantpublicationbytheCEunderthetitle:GuidefortheDevelopmentandimplementationofcurriculaforplurilingualandinterculturaleducation,whileittooencouragestheneedtorevisehowlanguagesaretaughtinschoolsandimpressestheneedtoestablishpointsofconvergencebetweenlanguages,itseeshowassessmentshouldmovefromarticulating‘levels’ofattainmenttostating‘competenceprofiles’.Fromthisitexplains:

Summativeorcertificationassessmentispossible,usingstringentmethods,butmostassessmentwillbeformative,andemphasiseself-assessment.Itmaybebasedonexerciseswhichareaimedataspecificlanguage,butcanhighlightcross-cuttingcompetenceswhensimilartestsareusedindifferentlanguagesortheabilityoflearnerstoswitchbetweenlanguagesinanappropriatemannerismobilised(Beaccoetal,2016b,10).

Itdevelopsthecaseforplurilingualeducationandexplainshowthemainlanguageoftheschoolingshouldbelinkedmorecloselywiththeforeignlanguagestaught.Itarguesthatthisshouldnotonlybebecauseoftheinterculturalunderstandingitbringswithit,butalsobecauseofthewayitdevelopsa‘linguisticreflexivity’thatenhancespupils’understandingoflanguage.Thisistheresultoftheway‘thedecentringprocessbringsouttheworkingsofthedifferentlanguagesbycontrast’(ibid.,11).

Thepointabouttheroleoflanguageasanagentforinterculturalunderstandingisdevelopedinmanyspheres.TheGutierrezEugenioandSaville’spolicyreviewpaperalsonoteshowtheEUandtheCEconsiderlanguagestobemuchmorethananeducationalmatter,andseeitas‘atransversalskillwithrelevancetomanyobjectives,suchassocialintegration,employment,mobilityorminorityrights’(2017:6),drawingattentiontohowtheCE‘promoteslinguisticdiversityandlanguagelearningasawaytoachievegreaterunityamongEuropeancitizens’(ibid.,2).MuchismadeofthisinanotherinsightfulpublicationfromtheCE,AHandbookforCurriculumDevelopmentandTeacherTraining,TheLanguageDimensioninallSubjects(Beaccoetal,2016a).Itdrawsattentiontotheneedfor‘language-sensitive’teachingandexplainsinpracticaltermsthelinksbetweenlanguageteachingandthepromotionof‘socialinclusion,socialcohesion,equityandrespectfordiversity’(ibid.,113).Itcallsforareconsiderationofhowlanguageeducationisconceived,andgoesontostatethat‘languageeducationshouldalwaysembracediversityandplurilingualism,respecting,butalsoseekingtoextend,thelanguagerepertoiresthatpupilsbringtoschool’(ibid.).


WALESInthesummerof2016,withthepublicationofitsconsultationdocumentonastrategytoreachamillionWelshspeakersby2050,theWelshGovernment’spolicytowardstheWelshlanguageadoptedamorepronouncedpromotional,ratherthanprotective,standpoint.Atthetimeofresearchingthisoverview,thefindingsofthatconsultationwereunknown.Nevertheless,itwasevidentthattheeducationsystemwouldhaveaprominentroletoplayinachievingthegovernment’sambition,giventhatithaslongbeenrecognisedthatthetraditionalinter-generationallanguagetransfermethodsalonearenotgoingtobeenoughtocreateasignificantincreaseinnumbersofWelshspeakers.

Bythetimeofthepublicationofthisoverview,theWelshGovernment’sstrategyhasbeenannouncedand,asanticipated,educationdoesindeedplayaprominentroleinit(WG1,2017;WG2,2017).

Thestrategyhasbeeninfluencedbythe2013UnIaithiBawb/OneLanguageforAll(WG,2013)reportthatdemonstratedtheweaknessesofthecurrenteducationsystemintermsofproducingconfidentandfluentWelshspeakers.BeyondWelsh-mediumschools,despitethevalianteffortsofteachers(andtheexceptionalsuccessofsome),generallyspeaking,itfoundthatat16yearsold,onlyveryfewofthosepupilswhoattendEnglish-mediumschoolsmakegoodprogresstowardsbecomingfluentspeakersofWelsh(ibid.,17).ThishasledtoaninequalitywherebyonlypupilswhoattendWelsh-mediumschoolscanbesureofbecomingfluentspeakersofboththeofficiallanguagesofWales.

Asalientrecommendation(Recommendation6)fromtheUnIaithiBawb/OneLanguageforAllreportwasthatthenotionoftwo‘types’ofWelshlanguageshouldbeabolished.Insteadofthisamoreunifiedapproachshouldbeadopted,withonecontinuumoflearningforWelsh,and‘asaconsequencetheWelshsecondlanguageelementoftheWelshprogrammeofstudywouldberemovedalongwiththetermWelshsecondlanguage’(ibid.,25–26).

WiththepublicationofthenewGCSEspecificationsin2016,andthecontinuationofthetwooptionsof‘Welsh’and‘WelshSecondLanguage’(albeitrevised),arenewedcallforasingle‘continuum’approachtoWelshassessmentwasheard;(thoughacleardefinitionofwhatismeantbythistermisyettobearticulated).

GCSEexaminationsandotherassessmenttoolshoweverdonotexistinavacuum.Theygohandinhandwithpedagogyandcurriculumcontent.Themethodsofassessment,teachingandlearninginfluenceoneanother,andchangingonemustimplementchangesintheothers.

Intermsofcurriculumdevelopment,2016sawschoolsactivelyprogressingtheimplicationsofthereviewundertakenbyProfessorGrahamDonaldsonaspublishedinSuccessfulFuturesandsubsequentlyinACurriculumforWales,ACurriculumforLife.(WG1,2015;WG2,2015).

Asfaras‘languages’areconcerned,thesecurriculumreformdocumentsaresignificant.SuccessfulFuturesproposesasoneofitssix‘AreasofLearningandExperience’thegroupingtogetherof‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’.Thisisofconsequenceandindicatesapotentiallyradicalchange.Theinsistenceonseparatelylistingthethreecomponents,‘languages’,‘literacy’and


23

‘communication’,drawsattentiontothedifferencebetweenthem,andopensthedoortoamorecreativeapproachtohowthesemightbedelivered–andassessed–inschools.10

Furthermore,theplural–‘languages’–indicateshowinfuture,schoolswillneedtoreconsiderthetraditional‘silo’approachwhereWelsh,EnglishandMFLaretreatedascompletelyseparatesubjects;thisisperhapsafurtherindicationoftheneedofnewpedagogicmethodsandassessmentmechanisms.

OthersignificantpublicationsinrecentyearsintermsofthedevelopmentoflanguagesinWalesistheWelshGovernment’sGlobalfutures:AplantoimproveandpromotemodernforeignlanguagesinWales2015–2020,(WG3,2015),the2016EstynreportModernForeignLanguagesinWales,andtheBritishCouncil’s2016LanguageTrendsWalesreport,allofwhichpointtotheneedtorevisetheteachingoflanguages(intheseinstances,ModernForeignLanguages)inWalesandtochangethemodelsofdeliveringlanguagesinschoolsinWales.

Thus,weseehowitisagainstabackgroundofpolicychange,onethathascalledforanewapproachtohowweunderstandlanguage,andfromthat,howlanguagesaretaughtandassessed,bothinabroadEuropeancontextandinaspecificWelshcontext,thattheresearchteamrespondedtotheQualificationsWalestenderforthisreview.

Whileitisrecognisedabovehowpedagogy,curriculumcontentandassessmentinfluenceoneanother,theresearchteamisoftheviewthatitisfairtoclaimthatinthecurrenteducationsysteminWales,wheresomuchemphasisisplacedonmeasuringschoolsagainstperformanceinexaminationresults,ofthesefactors,assessmentcarriesaparticularlyforcefulpotentialasadriverofchange.

10Separatinglanguagesfromtheothertwoelementssuggeststhepossibilityofunderstanding‘language’asascienceorrationalsetofrules;italsooffersthepossibilityofexploringlanguageasanagentthatdevelopsasenseofbelongingandidentitythroughitscreativeexpressioninidiosyncraticsyntaxanduniqueconcepts.


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SECTION 5. THE BASQUE COUNTRY


SECTION5.THEBASQUECOUNTRY

TheBasqueCountryencompassessevenregions;threeinFranceandfourinSpain.OfthefourinSpain,Bizkaia,GipuzkoaandArabaformtheBasqueautonomouscommunity,wheretheBasquelanguageistheco-officiallanguage,butBasqueisalsospokeninNavarre.Forthepurposeofthisresearch,the‘BasqueCountry’mainlyreferstotheautonomouscommunityinSpain.IntermsoftheBasquelanguageinSpain,33.9%ofthepopulationoftheBasqueautonomouscommunityspeaksBasque(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:53)andabout10%ofthepopulationofNavarre.

i.Schoolingcontextandteacherexpertise

IntheBasqueCountry,pupilsmayattendpre-schoolbetween2and6yearsold.Schoolingiscompulsorybetween6and16yearsold,andcanbecontinueduntil18.Thosewholeaveat16,takewiththemacertificatethatliststhecourses(notexaminations)theyhave‘passed’.Nomarksarespecified.Noexternalexaminationsaretaken.

SchoolsarecategorisedasA-model,B-modelandD-modelaccordingtolanguageofinstruction.

• IntheA-modelschools,theinstructionisentirelythroughthemediumofSpanish.Basqueistaughtfor3hoursaweek,where(accordingtosome)thelanguagetransferisdeemedunsatisfactory.

• IntheB-modelschools,aswellasreceivinginstructioninBasqueasasubject,between30%and40%ofthecurriculumistaughtthroughthemediumofBasque.

• IntheD-modelschools,instructionisthroughthemediumofBasquewithSpanishasacompulsorysubject.

ItshouldbenotedthattheA-modelschoolsarebecominglesspopularasparentsandpupilsareincreasinglychoosingB-andinparticularD-modelswhereBasqueismoreprominentandlanguagetransferthusmoresuccessful.11

Studentscanstayonatschooluntiltheyare18,andmaystudyforwhatisgenerallyknownastheSelectividadcertificate,whichistheuniversities’entranceexam.Thisconsistsoftwoparts,the‘common’or‘general’partwith‘core’subjects(whichincludesaBasquelanguageelement),andthe‘specific’partwherestudentscanchoosefromarangeofspecificsubjects.Thefinalmarksforeachpartareexpressedasasinglecombinedscorebasedonanaverageofthescoresachievedonarangeof0—10.Togainadmissiontouniversity,themarksareweighted,with60%appliedtothesubject-specificelementsand40%tothegeneralpart,andfurtherconsiderationgiventothemarksinthesubjectsrelatedtotheuniversitycourseinquestion.

Intheearly1980s,theBasqueGovernmentestablishedarangeofintensiveBasquelanguagecoursesforpractisingteachers.Thesevariedfromfull-timecoursestopart-timecourses.Atthetimeofwritinghisstudy,LanguagePolicyforBasqueEducation,itwaspossibleforNicholasGardnerin2002tostatethatteacherscouldbereleasedonfullpayforaperiodofuptothreeyears.Thoughthisisgenerallynolongerthecase,teachersarestillabletoattendthreetofour-weekBasquerefreshercoursesofferedbyIRALE(IrakasleenEuskarazkoPretakuntzaZerbitzua,theagencyto11Formoreinformationseehttp://www.eustat.eus/elementos/ele0008400/not0008480_c.html#axzz2gUMlAdfU


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promoteteacherliteracyandBasquelanguagecompetence)followingwhichtheycontinueforafurthertwomonthspreparingteachingmaterial(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:30).ThelevelofBasquelanguagecompetencerequiredofteachersdependsonthepostandvariesfromprimarytosecondary.Jobdescriptions,asamatterofcourse,includethelanguageprofilerequired.Fromabriefoverviewofvacanciesinrecentyears,themostcommonrequirementhasbeenthePerfilLingüístico2(trans:‘LanguageProfile2’;seeiiibelow);allvacanciesrequireatleastthePerfilLingüístico1(trans:‘LanguageProfile1’;seeiiibelow.)ThegoldstandardqualificationistheEGA(seeiiibelow).NotethatthePerfilesLingüísticos1and2fortheteachingprofessionareofhigherstandardthanusual(seeiiibelowandTable2).

ii.Languageteachingandlearning,approachesandmethods

Withinthelanguagelessonsatsecondarylevelingeneral,instructionisorientatedtowardsgrammarandliterature.SpanishattheSelectividadlevelplacesemphasisontextcommentariesandparsing,withsomeappreciationandanalysisofliterarytexts.

However,aninterestingdevelopmentintermsoflanguageteachingintheBasqueCountryistheincreasingsupportgivenfortheCLILapproach.ThishasbeenenthusiasticallyadoptedattheD-modelIkastolaschoolstobringthirdlanguagefluencytopupils.12Ithasbeenfoundtoyieldpositiveresultsinproducingtrilingualspeakers,namelyofBasque,SpanishandEnglish.

TheCLILprojectintheIkastolaD-modelschoolsisacarefullyplannedsystemwithtimetabling,trainingandclassroomresourceimplicationsalltakenintoaccount,andappliedinvariousdegreesfromtheyoungesttotheoldestyeargroups,primarilywiththeaimofincreasingpupils’English-languagecompetence.TheyaretaughtEnglishasasubject,butexposuretoEnglishisstrengthenedbyarangeofsubjectstaughtthroughthemediumofEnglish.AteamofdedicatededucationalistsisemployedtodevelopmaterialstosupportteachersandschoolsinordertomaketheCLILapproachpossible.AswiththeFinnishmodel(seeSection6iibelow),thepupils’individualinterestsaretakenintoaccountwhendevelopingcontentforlanguagelearning.

WhilethereisnooralelementtotheEnglishexternalexamination(apparentlyduetopracticalandbudgetaryconsiderations),theCLILapproachtoEnglishintheD-modelschoolsensuresthatpupilsgainplentyofpractice(andthusconfidence)inspeakingEnglish.

N.B.PupilsintheD-modelIkastolaschoolsarealsotaughtSpanishasasubject,butthisdoesnotformpartoftheCLILapproachasitisdeemedthatexposuretoSpanishissufficientlystrengthenedbydintofbeingthelanguageofmuchoftheextra-curricularlivesofthepupils.

WhileitistheresponsibilityofschoolsinthecompulsoryeducationsystemtoteachBasquetotheunder16yearolds,theover16sandadultscanaccessBasquelanguagetuitionthroughthegovernment’sBasquelanguageschools,theEuskaltegiak,leadingtoprogressionthroughthePerfilesLingüísticos(seeiiibelow).ThebodyresponsibleforthisistheHelduenAlfabetatzeetaBerreuskalduntzerakoErakundea,(HABE,trans:OrganizationfortheLiteracyand‘Re-basquification’ofAdults).Itoverseesanetworkof44municipaleuskaltegis,runbythelocalcouncils.Inadditiontothese,thereare‘officiallanguageschools’connectedtotheDepartmentsofEducation(14inthe

12Formoreinformationsee:http://www.ikastola.eus/.


BasqueAutonomousCountryand1inNavarre).Boththesetypesofschools‘offerin-classandself-learningoptions’.13ThefocusoftheEuskaltegiak’scurriculumisoncommunicativecompetence;itunderlinestheroleofthespeaker(herethelanguagelearner)asasocialagentandtheroleoflanguageasadynamictool.Therelationshipbetweentext(theproduced/neededlanguage)andthe‘context’(thecircumstancesunderwhichthelanguageisproduced/needed)drivesthelessons.Theimpossibilityofcoveringallpotentialandeventualtextsandcontextsinanyclassroomisrecognized,andthegoalthereforeisdescribedasbeingtocreateindependentspeakers,equippedwithstrategiestoenablethemtocommunicateinthenewlanguage.Thecurriculumisdeliveredthroughmixedmedia,includingface-to-face,interactiveclassroom-basedteaching,coursebookguidanceandindependentlearning.14ItiscloselyalignedwiththeCEFR,withlevel1correspondingtoCEFRB1,level2toCEFRB2,level3toCEFRC1andlevel4toCEFRC2.Table11inAppendix9notesthelearninghours(guidedandindependent)suggestedforeachlevel.

Eachlevelisassessedaccordingtoproficiencyintermsofadequateandcorrectdevelopmentofthecommunicativeact;thiswillinclude:comprehension;register;coherenceofideas;organizationalskills;connectionandcohesioninconversation;andwhatisdescribedas‘prosody’(i.e.thepatternsofstressandintonationinalanguage);grammar;vocabulary;punctuationandspelling.15

iii.Languageassessment

Selectividad

• theSpanishlanguageexaminationthatformspartoftheSelectividadbearsnoofficialcorrelationtoanyprogressionscale,suchastheCEFR.

• theBasquelanguageexaminationatSelectividadhoweverisrankedascomparabletotheCEFRB2levelandassesses‘reading’and‘writing’skills,butnoaural/oralskills.

• theEnglishlanguageexaminationatSelectividaddoesnotincludeaural/oralskillseitherandhasnostatedCEFRranking.

PerfilesLingüísticos(PL):the‘LanguageProfiles’suiteofexaminations

Outsidetheschool-basedsystem,aparallelsuiteofBasquelanguageexaminationsisonoffertoallBasquecitizens.TheseareknownasthePerfilesLingüísticos(PL)which,asalreadyexplained,canbetranslatedas‘LanguageProfiles’andarerunbythe‘municipality’(whichcorrespondstothetowncouncilorlocalauthority).Theseexaminationsaretakenonavoluntarybasis.Broadlyspeaking,PL1(LanguageProfile1)correspondstoCEFRB1,andPL2correspondstoCEFRB2.Eachmunicipalityreceivesfundingtopreparestudentsfortheseexaminations,andtoadministerthem.Theyrunatcertaintimesoftheyear(usuallyNovemberandJune)andstudentspayasmallandheavilysubsidisedfeetositthem.

13Etxepare.Nodate.LearnBasque[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.etxepare.eus/en/learn-basque.[AccessedAugust2017].14Formoredetailssee:www.habe.euskadi.eus.15Laadministracionaldia.2017.LanguageAssessment.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://laadministracionaldia.inap.es/noticia.asp?id=1143650.[AccessedAugust2017].


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EuskerraGaitasunaAguira(EGA):theBasqueCompetenceCertificate

However,themostsignificantBasquelanguageexaminationistheEuskerraGaitasunaAguira(EGA)(theBasqueCompetenceCertificate).ThiswasoriginallyplannedtoreachtheCEFRC2levelbutisgenerallyconsideredtobeclosertoCEFRC1.ItisrunbythemunicipalityandonoffertoallBasquecitizens.ItisessentialtoobtaintheEGAforanyprofessionalworkat‘functionary’level(e.g.civilservice).Forthisexamination,youcannotproceedtosittheaural/oralexamwithouthavingfirstsucceededinthereading/writingelement.

NotethatthePerfilLingüístico4(PL4)isanevenhigherqualificationthantheEGA,andisrequiredforsomeprofessions(seebelow).

Progression

Asalreadyexplained,intheBasqueCountry,theexaminationsassociatedwiththePerfilesLingüísticosaretakenoutsidetheschool-basededucationsystemandareonoffertoallBasquecitizensregardlessofage.Theexaminationsthemselvesarenotaged-defined,thoughaccordingtoourinterviews,thePL1isgenerallynotsatbystudentsyoungerthan14yearsold.TheEGArequiressomematurityandisgenerallynotsatbystudentsyoungerthan18yearsold.

Interestingly,apupilwhohasbeeninstructedintheD-modelschools(i.e.throughthemediumofBasque)intheprimaryandsecondarysectorscanautomaticallyclaimtohavereachedCEFRlevelB2competenceinBasque.Similarly,astudentwhohasbeentaughtatuniversitythroughthemediumofBasqueisconsideredtohavereachedaCEFRC1levelofcompetence.ApostgraduatestudentwhohaswrittenadoctoralthesisinBasquecanclaimCEFRC2competence.

However,thisdoesnotobviatetheneedtopasstheEGAcertificateforanyoneseekingarangeofofficialpositions.Anevenhigherdegreeofcompetenceandfluencyisrequiredforpositionssuchasdoctorsandthehighest-rankingservantsoftheBasqueInstituteofPublicAdministration(IVAP:InstitutoVascodelaAdministraciónPública).ThisisrankedasaCEFRC2competence,whichthePL4achieves.

IntheBasqueCountry,therearenoformal,stateexaminationsatagovernmentallevelforanylanguageotherthanBasque,andatnopointinthesystemistheexitlevelofastudent’sSpanishcompetence(Selectividadorotherwise)mappedagainsttheCEFR.AsinthewholeofSpain,therearemanyexternaltestsavailableintheBasqueCountryforEnglish(e.g.theCambridgeEnglishtests),whichpupilsenteronaprivatebasis.Therearealsolocalofficiallanguageschools,butmostgothroughcommercialchannelssuchastheCambridgeEnglishtests.


TABLE2.AcomparisonoftheEGA,PerfilesLingüísticos,HABEandCEFRlevels.16

Glossary:MarcoComúnEuropeodeReferenciaparalaslenguas: CEFRNivel: LevelPérfilLingüístico: LanguageProfileDocentes: Teachersiv.FurthernotesThenotionofdevelopingplurilingualpupilshasbeengivenclearexpressionintheHeziberri2020,thenewcurriculumandpedagogyplan,launchedin2014bytheDepartmentofEducation,LanguagePolicyandCultureandduetobeimplementedin2020.17ItsaimistoensurethatpupilsleaveformalschoolingabletocommunicateadequatelyandeffectivelyinBasqueandSpanish,intermsofbothspeakingandwriting,andtobeabletocommunicateadequatelyinatleastoneotherlanguageinpersonal,socialandacademiccontexts.Itspecificallyincludestheteachingofliteratureunderthisheadingandembracesanunderstandingofdevelopingplurilingualismasaculturallyandsociallyenrichingprocesswherelanguagesinterrelate.Theaimisthustodeveloptheplurilingualrepertoireofeachpupil(ibid:33–35).Intermsofassessment,whiletheplandoesnotspecifylanguageassessment,thegeneralmovementistowardsaformativeratherthansummativeapproach,wherethecompetenciesaretobedevelopedthrough‘feedback,orientationandreflection’(ibid:45).

Accordingtoourinterviewees,thereiscurrentlysomeexperimentingwiththeuseofmoredigitaltechnologyinassessmentanditispossibletositpartsofthelanguageexaminationsonline,butbecauseofsecuritylogistics(encryptionetc.),thisiscurrentlyseenasanexpensiveoption.16HABE.2010.ConvalidacionesentrelostítulosycertificadosqueacreditanlosconocimientosdeEuskerayadecuaciónalmarcocomúnEuropeodereferenciaparalaslenguas.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.habe.euskadi.eus/s234728/es/contenidos/informacion/tituluen_baliokidetza/es_titbalio/tituluen_baliokidetza.html.[AccessedAugust2017].17Heziberri2020MarcodelModeloEducativoPedagógico.2014.[ONLINE}Availableat:http://www.hezkuntza.ejgv.euskadi.eus/r43573/es/contenidos/informacion/heziberri_2020/es_heziberr/adjuntos/Heziberri_2020_c.pdf.[AccessedSeptember2017]


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SECTION 6. FINLAND


SECTION6.FINLAND

AScandinaviancountry,Finlandhastwomainofficiallanguages,FinnishandSwedish.Ithasseveralotherofficialminoritylanguages.SwedishisthesecondofficiallanguageofFinlandwith5.5%ofthepopulationspeakingSwedishastheirfirstlanguage(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:97).Otherlanguages,whosespeakers’rightsareprotectedbylawincludeSámi,Romani,FinnishSignLanguageandKarelian.18


Schoolingiscompulsoryfor7–16yearolds,and6yearoldscanattendpre-schoolforoneyearfreeofcharge.In2009about3,200pupilsattendedSwedishpre-school,outofatotalof57,000pupils(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:97).Thereisalsoprovisionforearlychildhoodeducationandcare,whichisguidedbytheNationalCoreCurriculum.This‘pre-primary’provisionleadsto‘basiceducation’for7–16yearolds;thenthepathsplitsandpupilscanchoosetofolloweitherthe‘matriculationexamination’routeleadingontouniversitydegrees,orthe‘vocationalqualifications’routeleadingontouniversitiesofappliedsciences.TheFinnishNationalAgencyforEducationclearlystatesthat:‘Thefocusineducationisonlearningratherthantesting.TherearenonationaltestsforpupilsinbasiceducationinFinland.Instead,teachersareresponsibleforassessmentintheirrespectivesubjectsonthebasisoftheobjectivesincludedinthecurriculum’.19Itgoesontoexplainthat:‘Theonlynationalexamination,thematriculationexamination,isheldattheendofgeneraluppersecondaryeducation.Commonly,admissiontohighereducationisbasedontheresultsinthematriculationexaminationandentrancetests’.20

Whiletheprocessforadmissionto‘basiceducation’isnon-selective:

theselectionofstudentsforuppersecondaryschoolisbasedontheirgradepointaverageforthetheoreticalsubjectsinthebasiceducationcertificate.Entranceandaptitudetestsmayalsobeused,andstudentsmaybeawardedpointsforhobbiesandotherrelevantactivities.21

AllteachershaveuniversityMastersdegrees.AclassteacherwillhavestudiedEducationastheir‘major’subject,withanoptiontospecializeinacurriculumsubject.Asubjectteacherwillhavestudiedthecurriculumsubjectastheir‘major’,butwillalsohavecompletedsubjectstudiesinEducation.Whilethefirstsixyearsofeducationisusuallyprovidedbyaclassteacher,foreignlanguagesarequiteoftentaught,evenatthisearlystage,bysubjectteachersiftheclassteacherhas

18Kotus.InstitiutefortheLanguagesofFinland.Nodate.Onlanguage.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://www.kotus.fi/en/on_language[AccessedSeptember2017].19OPHFinnishNationalAgencyforEducation.Nodate.EducationSystem.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.oph.fi/english/education_system.[AccessedAugust2017].20Ibid.21OPHFinnishNationalAgencyforEducation.Nodate.EducationSystem.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.oph.fi/english/education_system/upper_secondary_education_and_training.[AccessedAugust2017].


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notspecializedintheforeignlanguage.Duringthelastthreeyears(grades7–9)separatesubjects,includingforeignlanguages,aretaughtbysubjectteachers.

Thecontinuingeducationofteachersisvalued,andimprovedpupils’performanceisatleastinpartattributedtothis(seeiiibelow).


Thereisadegreeofflexibilityintermsofwhenpupilscanbegintostudytheirfirstnon-mothertonguelanguage(knownastheLG1)inFinland,butthisusuallytakesplaceingrade3ofbasiceducationattheageof9,andpupilsusuallybegintheirsecondnon-mothertonguelanguage(knownastheLG2)ingrades4or5.Thethirdnon-mothertonguelanguage(knownastheLG3)isintroducedingrade6;pupilswhohavenotchosentheothernationallanguage(SwedishorFinnish)mustdosoatthispoint.IntheFinnish-mediumschools,Swedishiscompulsory(typicallyitstartsingrade6,thoughearlierinsomeschools),intheSwedish-mediumschools,Finnishiscompulsory(typicallyitstartsearlier,inthefirstfouryears,asitisthemajoritylanguageinFinland).TheNationalCoreCurriculumencouragesthatinstructionofthelanguage(s)otherthanFinnish(e.g.English,anotherforeignlanguageand/ortheSámilanguage)maybeprovided‘inconnectionwithlessonsinothersubjects,aspartofmultidisciplinarylearningmodules,orduringspecificallyallocatedlessonsorteachingperiods’(FinnishNationalBoardofEducation,2014:13.4.2).

Thecurriculumguidelinesplaceconsiderableemphasisnotonlyontailoringthelanguageinstructionsothattopicsareselectedbasedonthepupils’interests,butalsoonprovidingpupilswithopportunitiesformakingindividualprogress,includinggivingsupporttothosepupilswhodemonstratecapacityforfastadvancement,orthosewithpreviousproficiency.

Intheearlystagesofprimaryeducation,amethodknownasthe‘shower’isusedtointroduceandtransferlanguagethroughsongs,play,games,andphysicalactivities.Thismethodisrepeatedatlaterstagesofeducationwithadaptedage-appropriatecontent.

TheCLILmethodismuchinevidence,especiallyintheprimaryandlowersecondarygrades,thoughitisnotascommonintheuppersecondarygradeswhereitisonlyimplementedbyafewpioneerteachersatthislevel(andusuallyinthecaseofEnglish).ThisisprobablyonaccountofthefactthatthetestsintheMatriculationExaminationcannotbetakeninthetargetlanguage(Pöyhönen,2009:164).

Throughout,thefocusforlanguageinstructioninFinlandisonbuildingpupils’confidenceasspeakersoflanguage.Moreover,theinstructionofthesecondandthirdlanguagesisdesignedtoimprovepupils’confidenceintheirfirstlanguageasitsearchesforopportunitiestomakeconnectionsbetweenlanguages.This‘integrated’approachtolanguagelearningdevelopsintoamultilingualandmultidisciplinaryapproach.Furthermore,languageinstructionisalsousedtoenhancepupils’perceptionofculturaldiversityasdifferentvalue-basedphenomenarelatedtolanguagecommunitiesarediscussed.Inthereportonthe2013resultsforSwedishinFinland,it’sworthnotingthatakeycontributionintheimprovedperformancelevelsofpupilswasdeemedtobethecontinuingeducationofteachers.


Itwasalsoshownthattheapplicationofauthenticteachingmethodsimprovedpupils’successinreadingcomprehension.Moreover,itwasshownthat:‘ThemoretheteachersappliedauthenticworkingmethodsthemoretheirpupilsenjoyedtheSwedishlanguageandfoundituseful’(HildénandRautopuro,2014:13).22Itwasperhapsnotsurprisingtoreadthatthe‘enjoymentofSwedishlanguageandstudieswasrelatedtothenumberofopportunitiesteachersofferedduringlessonsforspokenandwrittencommunicationandplanningandassessinglearning:themoreopportunitiesoffered,thebetterthepupilslikedtheSwedishlanguage’(ibid.,14).

Fromthecorrespondingreportonthe2013resultsforEnglish,it’snoteworthythatfactorslistedasthoseinfluencingpupils’performanceincluded‘aninterestintheEnglishlanguageoutsideschool(forexample,listeningtomusic,watchingfilmsandvideoclips,joininginonlinediscussionforums)andtheperceivedusefulnessoftheEnglishlanguage’(Härmälä,Huhtanen,andPuukko,2014:12).Incontrasthowever,thereportnotesthat‘aclearconnectioncouldnotbeestablishedbetweenthefrequencyofpracticesusedduringEnglishlessonsthatpromotelearning(suchasICT,self-assessment,recordingofspokenexercises)andthelanguagelearningoutcomes’(ibid.).Itgoesontosaythat‘regularhomestudy’didnot‘affecttheresultstoanysignificantdegree’(ibid.).


WehavealreadyseenhowtheFinnishNationalAgencyforEducationplacesemphasison‘learning’,ratherthan‘testing’.ItisthusnotsurprisingtofindthatintheeducationsysteminFinland,onthewholetherehasbeenashiftfromthetraditionalapproachofnorm-referencedassessmenttocriterion-basedgrading.Astheemphasisisonformativeassessmentandindividualfeedback,thisbecomesanintegralcomponentoftheday-to-dayteachingandlearningpractice.Feedbackisprovidedaspartofinstructionandteachersarerequiredtocreatesituationswhere‘feedbackthatpromotesandmotivateslearningisgivenandreceivedthroughjointdiscussions’(FinnishNationalBoardofEducation,2014:6.4.1).Theteacherpaysparticularattentiontothe‘competenceobjectives’thatplayakeyroleforthepupil’slearningprocess.23Intermsoflinguisticcapabilities,thisismoreparticularlyfocussedonskillsinaskingquestionsandlistening,aswellasinteractionskillsandskillsinexpressingoneselfbydifferentmeans(ibid:6.4.4).

Asummativeelementisseenattheendofthelearningprocess,theresultsofwhicharecommunicatedtothepupilsinreports,certificatesorassessmentnotes;andaccordingtotheBasicEducationDecreeitisobligatorytoprovideanendofyearschoolreport(ibid.,6.4.2).

Sincetheearly2000s,aCEFR-basedscalehasbeenusedfortheteaching,learning,assessmentandtargetsettingoflanguages,whichmeansthattargetshavebeendefinedintermsof‘levelsofproficiencyinsteadoflistsofdescriptorsordescriptivetextsaboutthenatureofthelanguageskillsanduseoflanguage’(Huhta,2015:266–301).24

22i.e.lessonsbasedontheuseofauthenticmaterials,whicharedesignedfornative(L1)speakers;i.e.‘real’texts,designednotforlanguagestudents,butforthenativespeakersofthelanguage.23ForUNESCO’sworkingdefinitionof‘TransversalCompetencies’,seeSection2vi.24AriHuhtaoftheUniversityofJyväskylä,Finland(andintervieweeinthisstudy)haswrittenanimportantstudyentitledUsingtheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceintheevaluationofeducationalachievementinforeignandsecondlanguages.ItshowshowtheCEFRcanenablemeaningfulcomparisonsoftheresultsfromdifferent‘studiesoflanguageproficiency,suchastheEuropeanandtheFinnishevaluationstudies,becauseofthetransparent,criterion-referencednatureofthatFramework’.Thisisasyetunpublished,thoughappt.presentation(2015)isavailableonline–seebibliographyforfullreference.


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Ourinterviewssuggestedthatthischangeinpractice,coupledwiththeneedtocombinelevelsofproficiencywiththetraditionalgrading,hasbeenchallengingforteachers.IntheMatriculationExamination,gradingisstillnorm-referenced,andthedistributionof13differentgradesremainsthesameacrossdifferentsubjectsandexaminations.

In keepingwith the original intention of adapting the CEFR to suit the specific languagecontexts in which it operates, it’s worth noting that the framework in Finland has beenmodifiedaslistedbelow:

A1.1FirststageofelementaryproficiencyA1.2DevelopingelementalproficiencyA1.3FunctionalelementaryproficiencyA2.1FirststageofbasicproficiencyA2.2DevelopingbasicproficiencyB1.1FunctionalbasicproficiencyB1.2FluentbasicproficiencyB2.1FirststageofindependentproficiencyB2.2Functionalindependentproficiency

CEFR proficiency levels at age 15 are noted in the table in Appendix 3 (Table 6), whereexpectedteachingtimeisalsolisted.(ForacomparisonofsomeoftheCEFRlevelsattainedinEnglishbypupilsfromtheScandinaviancountrieswithEUaverageseeAppendix3,Table7).

InFinland,differentcurricula,assessmentmethodsandexpectationsexistforlanguagesstudiedasmothertongue,1stor2ndnon-mothertonguelanguages(includingFinnishandSwedish),asreflectedintheNationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducation.(Thisisincontrasttothecurriculum,assessmentmethodsandexpectationsforEnglishinWales,whicharethesameinWelsh-mediumschoolsandEnglish-mediumschools.)

InFinland,thegoalsforEnglishasanon-mothertonguelanguagearehigherthanforothernon-mothertonguelanguages,whichisexplained‘bythefactthatinformallearning–mediaandpopularculture–issignificantlysupportingformallearning’(Pöyhönen,2009:157).ItshouldalsobenotedthatthegoalsforFinnishasLG1orLG2arehigherthanforSwedish,andthisispresumedtobethecaseonaccountofthedominantroleofFinnishinsociety(ibid.).

Thereportonthe2013resultsforEnglishsuggeststhatadifferentlevelofcompetenceiscurrentlyexpectedacrossthefourskills,butthatconsiderationshouldbegiveninfuturetoincreasingthetargetsforlanguageproduction(i.e.‘speakingandwriting’),inordertoharmonise‘thelevelofgoodproficiencyacrosstheskillset’(Härmälä,HuhtanenandPuukko,2014:13).

iv.Furthernotes

OurinterviewsestablishedthatthereisnoparticularemphasisontheroleofdigitaltechnologyintheassessmentoflanguageskillsinFinland.However,thereisanon-goingmovetocomputerisetheentireMatriculationExaminationbythelate2010s,whichasyethasnotbeenachieved.


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SECTION 7. FRYSLÂN


SECTION7.FRYSLÂN

Fryslân(alsoFrieslandorFrisia)isaprovinceinnorthwestNetherlands.Ithasapopulationofapproximately650,000.Frisianisthesecondofficiallanguage,nexttoDutch.About67%ofthepopulationspeakFrisianreasonablywell,about97%understanditandabout15%canwriteitwell(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:57).


IntheNetherlands,pupilsusuallystartschoolat4yearsold,thougheducationisnotcompulsorybeforetheageof5.Pupilsmayleavefull-timeeducationattheageof16butmustattendpartialcompulsoryeducationinsomeform,generallyuntiltheageof18.

Primaryeducation(4—12yearsold)isdividedintoyeargroups(1—8),anditisinGroup7or8thatchildrenmostlystarttolearnEnglish.

Therearethreetypesofsecondaryschools:VMBO(VoorbereidendMeddelbaarBeroesponderwisjs,trans:preparatorysecondaryvocationaleducation)whichlastsfouryears;HAVO(HogerAlgemeeenVoortgezetOnderwijs,trans:seniorsecondarygeneraleducation),whichlastsfiveyears;andVWO(VoorbereidendWetenschappelijkOnderwijs,trans:pre-universityeducation)whichlastssixyears.Cross-overroutesbetweenthesethreestreamsarepossible.25

InboththeHAVOandVWOsystems,pupilschoosea‘profile’ofsubjectsattheendofthethirdyear.The‘CultureandSociety’profileteachestheartsandforeignlanguages(usuallyFrenchandGerman).InFryslân,Frisianisalsotaughtunderthis‘profile’.(DutchandEnglisharecompulsorysubjectsregardlessofthe‘profile’chosen).

IntermsofFrisian,AlexRiemersma,whoheadsthe‘FriesianandMultilingualisminEducationandParenting’ResearchGroupatStendenUniversity,notesinhisdiscussionpaperFrom‘weak’BilingualEducationto‘strong'TrilingualEducationinFryslân(2014)thatthoughtheteachingofFrisianiscompulsoryinFryslân,‘inpractice,mostschoolsteachFrisianasasubjectforonlyonehourperweek’.26

AccordingtotheEU-funded‘LanguageDiversity’website,therearenobilingualschoolsandnomonolingualFrisianschoolsinthesecondarysectorinFryslân.27Furthermoreitnotesthat:‘IntheschoolsthathaveFrisianintheircurriculum,mostteachersdonotdifferentiatebetweenmothertonguespeakersandthosestudentswholearnFrisianasaforeignlanguage’(ibid.).Italsodrawsattentiontothelackof‘exchangeofinformationbetweenprimaryandsecondaryschoolsasregardscurriculum,teachingmethodsortheresultsoflanguagelearning’(ibid.).

25SSB.NoDate.TheDutcheducationalsystem.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://www.s-bb.nl/en/education/dutch-educational-system.[AccessedAugust2017].26Stenden.Nodate.AlexRiemersma(ProfessorofAppliedSciences).[ONLINE]Availableat:https://stenden.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documenten/research/fries_en_meertaligheid_in_onderwijs_en_opvoeding/2014-10-12_From_Bilingual_to_Trilingual_education__Fryslan.pdf[AccessedAugust2017].27LanguageDiversity.2013.TheFriesiansintheNetherlands.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://language-diversity.eu/en/knowledge/regions-of-europe/die-westfriesen-in-den-niederlanden.[AccessedAugust2017].


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InFryslân,accordingtooneofourinterviewees,thecurrentsystemdoesnotrequirepupilstolearnspecificFrisianlanguageskillsbutratherhave‘anopenmindandpositiveattitude’towardsFrisian(withnoobviousandavailabletoolformeasuring‘anopenmindandpositiveattitude’).

Animportantdevelopmentinrecentyearshowever,hasbeenthedevelopmentoftrilingualeducation.ThisinitiativeissupportedbyaresearchprojectattheUniversityofStendenwhichaimstoeasethetransitionfromtrilingualprimaryeducationtomultilingualsecondaryeducation,focusinginparticularon:

• developingEnglishandFrisianasthelanguagesofinstruction(i.e.beyond‘subject’languages)insecondaryeducationandinteachertrainingprogrammes

• continuouscurricularstrands(i.e.curriculumandteachingwithdifferentiation)• cleareralignmentbetweenthereferencelevelsandtargetlevelsoflanguagemasteryinthe

varioustargetlanguages28

Aspartofthisdrivetofostertheuseofthreetargetlanguagesinsecondaryschool,acollaborativeprojectknownasthe‘MySchoolsNetworkforTrilingualPrimaryEducation’(whichcooperateswithschoolsinWalesandtheBasqueCountry)aimstosupportpupilstoacquireanduseallthreetargetlanguages,‘basedonequalityandwiththeintentionofusingtheminotherareasintheirsecondaryeducation’(ibid.).

Theambitionofrollingouttrilingualeducation,coupledwithanewassessmentframework(theReferinsjeramtFrysk-RRF),isintricatelylinkedwiththeintroductionofnewteachingandlearningstrategiesandasetofevaluationtoolsknownas‘GRIP’(forboththeRRFandGRIP,seeiiibelow).

Theassessmentframework,intheinterestofconsistency,hasoneshared,Fryslân-widecurriculum.Itisaccompaniedbyasuiteofteachingmaterials,whichleadsthelearningbyworkingonsetgoals.(Ourinterviewsestablishedthatthisisessentiallya‘task-basedlearningmethod’,whichisanewpedagogyfortheteachingofFrisianandisanentirelydifferentsystemfromtheformerlanguageinstructionmodels.)Theactivitiesare‘random’inthattheyarebasedonthemesbutdonotdevelopthematically.Thelanguagecriteriaarelinked.Anexamplemightbea‘nature’theme,wherethepupilsaretaskedwithvisitingafarmandinterviewingthefarmer,askinghimaboutsubjectsrelatedtothefarmingbusiness.PupilswouldneedtoholdaconversationinFrisianwiththefarmer,askquestions,interpretanswers,aswellaswritethequestionsandanswers.


IntheschoolsysteminTheNetherlandsingeneral,theemphasisisonablendofinternalandexternalassessment.Inthefinalyearofprimaryeducationanaptitudetestisavailable,thoughthisisnotmandatory,andtheteacher,pupilandparentwillallcontributetomakingthechoiceregardingwhichtypeofsecondaryschoolisbestsuitedforthepupil.Secondaryschoolleaverssitavarietyofpapersbasedonamixtureofinternalandexternalassessmentacrossavarietyof

28Stenden.Nodate.Friesianandmultilingualismineducationandparenting.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://stenden.com/en/why-stenden/research/friesian-and-multilingualism-in-education-and-parenting.[AccessedAugust2017].


assessmenttechniques,frommultiple-choicetypequestions,topracticalwork,coursework,writtenandsometimesoralexams.29ItispossibletositaFrisianexamatthesepoints(i.e.at16and18yearsold),butthisisnotcommon,andwhileforDutch,reading,writingandoccasionallylisteningskillsareassessed,thecentralexaminationforFrisianconsistsofreadingcomprehensiononly.However,attherequestoftheProvinceofFryslân,amulti-agencypartnershiphasrecentlyconductedaFrisian‘evaluationsystem’withtheaimofdevelopinga‘comprehensivedigitaltestingandclassroomenvironmentwithastudentmonitoringsystemforthesubjectofFrisianatprimaryandsecondaryschools’.30(ThepartnershipconsistsofAfûk,thedepartmentsof‘FrisianandMultilingualisminEducationandParenting’and‘LanguageUseandLearning’,NHLUniversityandStenden,andtheeducationservicesproviderCedin.)

Itstartedin2013,andsince2016theteaching,learningandassessmenttoolshavebeenavailableforuseinschools.Asnotedabove,thisisknownbytheterm‘GRIP’andissupportedbyalivelywebsiteexplainingitsaimsandfunctions.31

Thisisanentirelynew,digitalsystemrelatedtotheReferinsjeramtFrysk(RRF)andwaspilotedlastyear.(TheRRFisaprogressionframeworkwherethelevelsarebasedontheCEFRandcontainallofthe‘can-do’statementsforthevariousdomainsfromA1–C2.)32Aspartofthenewframework,asetofobservationandevaluationinstrumentshavebeendeveloped,alongsidespecificlearningmaterialsthatlinkthe‘ICAN’statementsateverylevel.

TheresultingnewteachingmethodisentirelydigitalandpupilsaccessitviadevicessuchasiPads.Fromourinterviewswelearnthow,inthenewlanguageprogramme,thegrammarandspellingaspectsoftheformercoursehavebeentakenoutandmadeintoaseriesofdigital‘games’,whichthepupilsundertakeattheirownpace.(This,itwasexplained,iscomparabletotheDuolingoprogramme,inthatitisinteractiveandindividualised,butismore‘playable’asthecontentisdesignedas‘games’ratherthan‘exercises’).33Progressismonitoredonanindividualbasisenabledbydigitaltechnology.Theframeworkisaccompaniedbyasetofself-evaluationtoolsforthepupilsandaseparatesetofobservationtoolsfortheteachers.Thesetoolsaskthepupils,e.g.‘howconfidentandhowcompetentdoyoufeelyouhavecarriedoutthetask?’;andtheteachersfillinanobservationformtorecordtheirviewsonthepupils’progress.

29WWUMunster.2014.DasSchulsystemderNiederlande.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.uni-muenster.de/NiederlandeNet/nlwissen/bildungforschung/vertiefung/bildungforschung/examen.htm.[AccessedAugust2017]. 30Stenden.Nodate.Friesianandmultilingualismineducationandparenting.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://stenden.com/en/why-stenden/research/friesian-and-multilingualism-in-education-and-parenting.[AccessedAugust2017].31Thiscanbeaccessedvia:http://www.grip.frl/.32GRIP.2015–16.Referinsjeramt.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.grip.frl/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Referinsjeramt_feb2016_web.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017].33Duolingoisalanguage-learningapp.Duolingo.Nodate.LearnaLanguageforFree.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://www.duolingo.com/[AccessedAugust2017].


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Thishasnotbeenevaluatedasyet,buttheresponsefromteachershasbeenpositiveand thelearningmaterialshaveproventobemotivational.iv.Furthernotes

Ofallthemodelsexamined,thenewdevelopmentinFryslânoffersthemostinnovativeapproachtoensuringpupilprogressalonganindividualpathway.Itisacompetency-basedframeworkandnotage-relatedassuch,thoughithasan‘8Track’componenttothemodelwhichislooselyconnectedto8agegroups.ThisisdesignedasonecontinuumoflearningfromCEFRA1toC1levels.TheprimaryschoolfocusesonCEFRA1andA2,andsecondaryschoolonCEFRB1andB2.CEFRC1isachievedatuniversitylevel.ItrelatesonlytoFrisianandthereisnocorrespondingprogrammeforthedevelopmentofDutch.

Particularlyinterestingishowthenewreferenceframeworkmeasuresprogressagainst5skills,with‘inconversation’addedtothetraditionalfourof‘listening’,‘speaking’,‘reading’and‘writing’.34

34ColleaguesinFryslânengagedinthisinitiativehaveexpressedawillingnesstocommunicatefurtherwithQualificationsWalesofficersandanexchangevisitfollowingthisyear’sassessmentcycleisrecommended.


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SECTION 8. IRELAND


SECTION8.IRELAND

The2011CensusintheRepublicofIrelandstatesthat41.4%ofthepopulationdefinethemselvesasIrishspeakers(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:79).IrishisthenationallanguageofIrelandandassuchisthefirstofficial,withEnglishthesecondofficiallanguage(ibid.).


Intermsoflanguage,thereareessentiallythreetypesofschoolsinIreland:English-medium,Irish-mediumstreamsattachedtoEnglish-mediumschoolsandIrish-mediumschools(alsoknownasGaeltachtschoolsiftheyarelocatedintheGaeltachtareas,i.e.areaswhicharedesignatedasIrishSpeaking).IneachofthethreethestudyofIrishiscompulsoryforallpupilsfromtheageof6andthiscontinuesuntiltheendofsecondaryschool.

AMFLisintroducedinthesecondarysector,thoughinastatementinApril2017thegovernmentannouncedastrategyaimedatbringingabouta‘significantchangeofmind-setaboutlanguagelearning’,wheretheintroductionofMFLintheseniorclassesoftheprimarysectorwillplayarole.35ItdrawsattentiontoCLILasaneffectivemethodoflanguagetransfer,andindicatesthataspectsoftheprimarycurriculumshouldbetaughtthroughbothIrish(presumablyinEnglish-mediumschools)andforeignlanguages.ItalsocallsforawiderdiversificationoftheMFLsonofferinschoolsinIrelandandseesthefactthatIrishisalreadytaughtinschoolsasa‘majorasset’onwhichthelanguagesstrategycanbuild(ibid.).

AccordingtotheComhairlenaGaelscolaíochta(CnaG)theIrish-mediumsectorhasbeengrowinginrecentyearswith‘Irish-mediumEducationbecomingthepreferredchoiceofanincreasingnumberofparentsthroughoutIreland’.36

Thereare:

• 143Irish-mediumprimaryschoolslocatedoutsidetheGaeltachtthatteachallsubjectsthroughIrish.Englishisintroducedintheseschoolsafter2years.

• 40post-primary(i.e.secondary)Irish-mediumschoolsoutsidetheGaeltachtteachingallsubjectsthroughIrish.

• 126primaryschoolsintheGaeltacht.• 22post-primaryschoolsintheGaeltacht.• NumbersattendingIrishmediumeducationincludingGaeltachtare41,486inPrimary=8%

oftotal,and12,806pupilsatPostPrimary=3.5%oftotal.• 10English-mediumschoolswithanIrish‘stream’andafurther5wheresomesubjectsare

taughtthroughthemediumofIrish.3738

35TheDepartmentofEducationandSkills.Nodate.TheInspectorate.PressReleases.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2017-Press-Releases/PR17-04-19.html.[AccessedAugust2017].36ThisistherepresentativebodyforIrish-mediumEducation.Establishedin2000bytheDepartmentofEducationtopromote,facilitateandencourageIrish-mediumEducation.Itsthreemainareasofworkare:theprovisionofteachingresources;theprovisionofsupportservices;research.Seewww.comhairle.org/english.37FromcorrespondencewiththeGeneralSecretaryofAnForasPátrúnachta.AnForasPátrúnachtawasfoundedin1993tosupportIrish-mediumschoolsinIrelandatbothprimaryandsecondarylevel.Formoredetailssee:AnForasPátrúnachta.2017.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.foras.ie/en/[AccessedAugust2017].NBvanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk(2017:79)statethatthereare247Irish-mediumprimaryschoolsinthewholeofIrelandwith41,961pupilsintotal,and15Irish-mediumsecondaryschoolsand3English-mediumsecondaryschoolsthatoffermultiplesubjectsinIrish,with5,917studentsfromthe2014/2015cohorteducatedfullyorpartiallythroughthemediumofIrish.


45

Irish,alongwithMathematicsandEnglish,islistedasan‘essentialsubject’forentrytoPrimaryInitialTeacherEducationprogrammes,andprospectivestudentteacherscurrentlyneedtoproveproficiencytoaminimum‘Higher5’level(ca.55%)intheLeavingCertificateexaminations,witharangeof‘inlieu’acceptableequivalencequalifications.39However,followingproposalstoraisethelevelfromca.55–59%intheLeavingCertificateto70%,entryrequirementsarecurrentlyunderrevision,andareportonthismatterbytheEconomicSocialandResearchInstituteisduetobesubmittedsoon.40

Forpost-primaryteacherswhowanttoteachIrishasasubject,theymustprovideevidenceoflinguisticcompetenceinthelanguage.ThiscanbedemonstratedbyprovidingevidenceofachievingaminimumlevelofB2.2ontheCEFRorequivalent.(Itshouldbenotedthatthisisthesamestandardrequiredforteachersofotherlanguages,e.g.GermanorEnglish.)Alternatively,applicantscangainaccessuponsuccessfulcompletionofanindependentlanguagecompetencytest.41


Irish-mediumschoolsfollowtheimmersionmethodofeducationthatallowschildrentoacquirethelanguagenaturallythroughdailyexperienceofanIrish-languageenvironment.IrishistheprimarylanguageofinstructionandcommunicationwithinIrish-mediumschools,butthereisalsosignificantemphasisontheformalteachingofEnglish.

Attentionshouldbedrawntothe20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010–2030.The2015progressreportonthisnotesthatsupportmaterialhasbeenpreparedtoassistEnglish-mediumschoolstodevelopIrishthrough‘partialimmersion’andCLILinprimaryschools,andrecommendsthattheteachingofEnglishinIrish-mediumschools‘maybepostponeduntiltheendofseniorinfants’classsubjecttotheapprovaloftheschool’sboardofmanagement’etc.42


TheDepartmentofEducationandSkillsrequiresallprimaryschoolstoadministerstandardisedtesting.English-mediumschoolsarerequiredtoadministerstandardisedtestinginEnglishreadingandMathematicsduringtheperiodMay/Juneforallstudentsinthe2nd,4thand6thclassesannually.

38NotethataslightlydifferentsetofnumbersispresentedinthevanDongera,R.,etalreport(2017)p.80.39EducationIreland.Nodate.PrimaryEntryRequirements.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Teacher-Education/Initial-Teacher-Education/Entry-to-Initial-Teacher-Education[AccessedAugust2017].40TheDepartmentofEducationandSkills.Nodate.TheInspectorate.20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030ProgressReport:2010to2015.P.5[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-2010-2015.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017];andforthestrategyitself,see:20-yearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2015/07/20-Year-Strategy-English-version.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017].41TheTeachingCouncilofIreland.2015.TeacherEducation.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/Registration/Documents/Curricular-Subject-Requirments-after-January-2017.pdf.[Accessed:August2017].42TheDepartmentofEducationandSkills.Nodate.TheInspectorate.20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030ProgressReport:2010to2015.P.3[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-2010-2015.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017].


Irish-mediumschoolsarerequiredtoadministerstandardisedtestinginIrishreading,EnglishreadingandMathematicsonthesamebasis.43

Atthesecondarylevel,therearetwosetsofstateexaminations.TheseareadministeredbytheStateExaminationCommission.ThesearetheJuniorCertificate(satatca.15yearsold)andtheLeavingCertificate(satatca.17/18yearsold)whichmost(70%)teenagerstake.IrishistheonlycompulsorysubjectfortheLeavingCertificate(Englishisnot).TheJuniorCertificateandLeavingCertificate(whichcanbetakenataHigherorOrdinarylevel)arebothexternallyassessed.

TheJuniorCertificateiscurrentlyassessedasawrittenexamattheendoftheprogramme(i.e.inJuneattheendofthethirdyear)withauralandoralexamsinIrishandMFLundertakensometimeduringthethirdandfinalyear.44TheJuniorCertificateiscurrentlybeingphasedouttobereplacedbyaJuniorProgramme,whichwillbebasedoncontinuousassessment.Weunderstandthatthismovehasnotbeenwelcomedbytheprofession,resultinginindustrialaction.IntermsoftheIrishlanguage,themaincriticismisthatthereisonlyonetypeofexaminationanditisatL2level,withnorealdistinctionbetweenL1andL2speakers.EnglishistestedasL1.45AcertainnumberofstudentsintheGaeltachtareasareL1Irishspeakers,butevenintheGaeltachtareas,thelanguageisassessedasanL2language,whileEnglishisassessedasanL1language.

OurinterviewsrevealedthattherehasbeenasignificantchangetotheLeavingCertificatesyllabus(examinedin2012forthefirsttime)whereagreatdealofliteraturecontentwasremovedfromthecurriculumforIrish(includingculturalelements,languageidentityandhistoryetc.)withaviewtoenhancingcommunicativeconfidence.Itwasexplainedthatthefourskills(‘listening’,‘speaking’,‘reading’and‘writing’)areassessed,witha40%weightinggiventotheoralelement.46However,thegeneralconsensusisthatthetestingispoor,withstudentsgivenalistoftopicsandpictures18monthsinadvanceoftesting.Thesearememorisedandthen‘regurgitated’.

IntermsofMFLattheJuniorCertificatelevel,thereisanoraloptionthatisrarelytaken.Itisproposedthatthenewprogramme,whichwillhaveablendofcontinuousassessmentandwrittenexaminations,combininginternalandexternalassessment,willincludetheassessmentoforalskillsforMFL.

43NationalCouncilforCurriculumandAssessment.Nodate.StandardisedTesting.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Early_Childhood_and_Primary_Education/Primary-Education/Assessment/Standardised_Testing/.[AccessedAugust2017].44Citizen’sInformation.2017.JuniorCertificate.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/state_examinations/junior_certificate_programme.html[AccessedSeptember2017].45ForL1,L2:Language1,Language2etc.seelistofabbreviations.46FormoredetailsseeTheDepartmentofEducationandSkills.Nodate.TheInspectorate.20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030ProgressReport:2010to2015.P.4[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-2010-2015.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017];andforthestrategyitself,see:20-yeasrStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030.[ONLINE]Availabeat:http://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2015/07/20-Year-Strategy-English-version.pdf.[AccessedAugust2017].


47

FortheLeavingCertificateatthehigherLevelintheMFLexaminations,theoralelementismarkedat25%,andat20%fortheOrdinaryLevel.FortheMFLoralassessments,aswiththeIrish,externalexaminersvisitthecentresandrecordallsessions.

Thereisnooral/auralcomponentforEnglish,andthereisnocross-referencingofthelanguagepaperstoascalesuchastheCEFR.

AseparatesetofIrishlanguageexaminationsareorganisedbytheTeastasEorpachnaGaeilge(TEG),butthesearemainlygearedtowardsadults.ThesearemappedagainstsixlevelsalongaprogressionpathwaythatislinkedtotheCEFR(seeAppendix2andAppendix9,Table12).Theyaregeneralproficiencyteststhatlookatthefourtraditionalskills.Eachelementneedstobepassedinordertogaina‘fullcertificate’ateachlevel.Progressiontothenextleveldependsonconvincingevidenceofproficiencyinthepreviouslevelacrossallskills.Itishoweverpossibletotaketheoralexamonlyandgain‘partialcertification’.47Itisavailabletosecondaryschoolstudentsbutisseparateanddifferentfromtheschooleducationsystem,andisatahigherlevelthantheLeavingCertificateExaminationforIrish.

ThetestingfromlanguagetolanguageinIrelandisverydifferent.TheEnglishassessmentinvolvesthestudyofliteraturebutsince2010,theIrishmodelhasnoemphasisonhistory/culturewithonlyonetext(in70pagesoftext)placinganyemphasisonliterature.Oneviewexpressedwasthatthememorizationoftextspecificallyforassessmentpurposesmeansthat‘deculturisation’hastakenplaceandnotedthat30—40yearsago,6novelswerestudiedaspartoftheIrishassessment.

Digitaltechnologydoesnotfeatureaspartoftheassessment.Asforsupportmaterials,someappshavebeenindependentlycreatedbutnothinghasbeencentrallyfunded.However,theInspectorateoftheDepartmentofEducationandSkills,inits2015reportonIrish-mediumeducationprovisioninGaeltachtschools,recognisedtheneedtoexploreandfullyrealisethe‘potentialfortheuseofICTtosupportteachingandlearning,developlinkages,andshareresourcesandexamplesofeffectivepedagogicalpractice’(2015:40).48ItshouldalsobenotedthatIrishDuolingohas2.3millionusersandisthe9thmostpopularlanguageintheDuolingorange.Accordingtoourinterviews,itissuspectedthatahighnumberofLeavingCertificatestudentsusethisapp.

Anycentrally-fundedresourcesmaybefoundviatheAnChomhairleumOideachasGaeltachtaagusGaelscolaíochtawebsite.(SeeadditionalinformationinAppendix3).49

iv.Furthernotes

ChangesareplannedintheIrishsystembutasyettherearenoindicationsofthesuccessorotherwiseoftheseproposals.Atthetimeofwriting,the2016progressreportonthe20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010–2030wasunavailable.

47TEG.2017.TEGLevels.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.teg.ie/.[AccessedAugust2017].48https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Events/Gaeltacht-Education-Policy-Proposals/Case-Study-Primary-and-Post-Primary-Gaeltacht-Schools_Irish-medium-Educational-Provision_2015.pdf.49http://www.cogg.ie/.


49

SECTION 9.

ASSESSMENT MODELS USED FOR ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE OR ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES


SECTION9.ASSESSMENTMODELSUSEDFORENGLISHASASECONDLANGUAGEORENGLISHFORSPEAKERSOFOTHERLANGUAGES

InthemanylanguageschoolsthatoperateintheUKofferingvariousscalesofqualificationsinEnglishforSpeakersofOtherLanguages(ESOL),progressisroutinelymappedbylinkingtheassessmentsandexaminationsagainsttheCEFR.TobecomeaUKcitizen,alongwiththe‘LifeintheUk’test,immigrantsareaskedforEnglishcompetenceonly,whichismeasuredsummativelyagainsttheCEFRandbasedonexamperformance.50

ForqualificationsintheWelshlanguage,theCEFRgradesaremostclearlyinuseinthefieldofWelshforAdults(seeAppendix7).

TheBritishCouncillistsarangeofbodiesofferingEnglishlanguagequalificationsincluding:

Ascentis

CambridgeEnglish

C&G CityandGuilds

EnglishSpeakingBoardInternational

IELTS InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem

LCCI LondonChamberofCommerceandIndustryInternationalQualifications

(wheretheEnglishprogrammesarespecificallywork-related,e.g.‘EnglishforBusiness’etc.)

PasswordEnglishLanguageTestingLtd

PTE PearsonLanguageTests

TKT TeachingKnowledgeTest

TOLES TestofLegalEnglishSkills

TCL TrinityCollegeLondon

TheseandotherscanbefoundontheBritishCouncil’swebsite.51

Toserveasillustration,belowaresomedetailsfromtheprovisionofferedbythreeoftheabove:

i. CambridgeEnglishii. InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem(IELTS)iii. PasswordEnglishLanguageTests

Ineachcase,wewillfindthatthereisevidenceofconsistencyintermsoftheterminologyused,aswellasasharedsenseofhowtheprogressioncontinuummaybedefined.

50Formoreinformationseehttps://www.gov.uk/browse/citizenship/citizenship.51Availableat:https://www.britishcouncil.org/exam/uk-boards-overseas/english-language.


51

i.CambridgeEnglish

CambridgeEnglishisapopularroutetogaugelevelsofcompetenceandisrecognisedbyuniversities,employersandgovernments.Muchemphasisisplacedon‘communication’anditissaidthattheexaminationsarespecificallydesignedtoassess‘howlearnersuseEnglishtocommunicateinreal-lifesituations’.52

Amongstthesevenreasonsthecompanyoffersforchoosingitsprogrammesarethat:

• studentspreparingfortheexaminationsareprovidedwithcommunicationskillsusefulineverydaylife,workandstudy,and

• theexaminationsarealignedwiththeCEFR53

It’sworthnotinghowCambridgeEnglishemphasisesthattheassessmentsaresupportedbyafullsetofteachingandlearningmaterials,andfurthermorethattheyofferarangeofprogrammesthatcanequipteacherswithprofessionally-recognisedqualifications,suchastheCELT–P(CertificateinEnglishLanguageTeaching–Primary)orCELT–S(CertificateinEnglishLanguage–Secondary).These,itisclaimed,enablestudentstocombineimprovingtheirpersonallanguageskillswithimprovingtheirlanguagepedagogy.

ii.TheInternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem(IELTS)

IELTSisanothercommonmethodofmeasuringthelanguagecompetenceofpeoplewhowishtoliveorstudyinacountrywhereEnglishisthemainlanguageofcommunication.54Thissystememploysa9-pointscaletoidentifycompetencylevels.Ascoreisgivenforeachtestcomponent.Theindividualscoresarethenaveragedandroundedtoproduceanoverallbandscore.Theyaredescribedasfollows:

9. Expertuser8. Verygooduser7. Gooduser6. Competentuser5. Modestuser4. Limiteduser3. Extremelylimiteduser2. Intermittentuser1. Non-user0. Didnotattemptthetest

Forafulltableandleveldescriptors,seeAppendix6,Table8.

52Forthisandmoredetails,see:http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/.53ibid.54Fordetails,seetheIELTSwebsite,availableat:https://www.ielts.org/.


The9pointshavebeencalibratedtomatchtheCEFRprogressionpathwayasillustratedinTable3below.

TABLE3.HowtheIELTSmaptheprogressionlevelsagainsttheCEFR.55

PasswordEnglishLanguageTests

ApopularonlineseriesoftestsareofferedbyPasswordEnglishLanguageTests,launchedin2008anddevelopedbytheCentreforResearchinEnglishLanguageLearningandAssessment(CRELLA).Accordingtotheirwebsite,theyhavebeendeveloped‘tosupportschools,collegesanduniversitiesbyprovidingaccurateandreliablegoldstandardEnglishlanguageassessment’.56ThesetooarealignedwiththeCEFR(asseeninTable4below)andhaveaseriesoftestssuitableforyoungerlearners.

55IELTS.2017.Cefr-Ielts.[ONLINE].Availableat:https://www.ielts.org/~/media/images/resources/cefr-ielts-300px.ashx[AccessedAugust2017].56www.englishlanguagetesting.co.uk.


53

TABLE4.HowthePasswordEnglishLanguageTestsmaptheirlevelsagainsttheCEFR.57

PasswordScore CEFR

Password7.0andabove C1andabove

Password6.5

B2

Password6

Password5.5

Password5

B1

Password4.5

Password4

Password3.5

A2Password3

Pre-password

CEFRfortheyoungerESOLstudents.58

TheBritishCouncilalsodrawsattentiontoarangeoflanguagecoursesaimedspecificallyatyoungpeople.Thisrangeofprogressionstepsisloosely‘age-specific’inthatitusescontextsappropriatefortheprimaryandearlysecondarypupil.ThesestepstooarelinkedtotheCEFRwiththreelevelsspecificallyfortheyoungerleaners:Starters,MoversandFlyers;whereStartersaresetat‘preA1’,Moversat‘A1’andFlyersat‘A2’,eachcoveringthefourcoreskills.

Thesecoursesexpectthattheyoungstudentstake‘anactiveroleintheirownlearningandreflectontheirprogress’,andwhiletheycoverallaspectsofcommunication,theemphasisison‘developingconfidenceinspeakingtoequipstudentswiththeEnglishtheywillneedforfutureacademicstudy,employmentandsocialsituations’.59

57CouncilofEurope.2017.CEFR[ONLINE].Availableat:http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Cadre1_en.asp.[AccessedAugust2017].58TheCEhascollatedrepresentativesamplesofdescriptorsoflanguagecompetencesdevelopedforyounglearnersaged7–10years,drawnfromEuropeanlanguageportfoliosandothersourcesandmappedtotheextendedsetofillustrativedescriptorsofCEFR.TundeSzabo.2016.PreliminaryconsultativeeditionResourceforEducators[ONLINE].Availableat:https://rm.coe.int/1680697fca.[AccessedAugust2017].59Examplescanbefoundone.g.BritishCouncil.2017.Qatar.[ONLINE]Availableat:www.britishcouncil.qa/en/english/courses-children/levels.[AccessedAugust2017].


Itissaidthatstudentsonthecoursesfor7—10yearolds,forexamplewill:

• covertopicsofinteresttochildrenandrelatethesetotheirownexperiences• increasetheirconfidenceandinterestintheEnglishlanguage• learnandpractiseawiderangeoflanguagefunctions• areexposedtonaturallanguagethroughactivitiesgivingthemarealpurposetocommunicateinfamiliarandmeaningfulsituations• extendtheirknowledgeoftheworld• developthinkingandproblem-solvingskillsandmodeluniversalvaluesandbehaviour

Ofthestudentsonthenextstageofcourses(for11—17yearolds),itissaidthattheywillnotonlydeveloptheskillsandknowledgelistedabovebutalso‘engageinavarietyofactivitiessuchasinterviews,surveys,role-plays,givingpresentations,writingbookreviewsetc.tofacilitateanddeveloparichandeffectiveuseofEnglish’.60ParticularattentionispaidtohowthecoursewilluseICTandauthenticmaterials.61

CambridgeEnglishhasalsodevelopedarangeofprogrammesspecificallyforschools:

Key(KeyEnglishTest:KET)forSchoolsabletocommunicateinsimplesituations (A2)Preliminary(PreliminaryEnglishTest:PET)forSchoolsmasteredthebasicsofEnglishandnowhaspracticallanguageskillsforeverydayuse (B1)First(FirstCertificateofEnglish)forSchoolshavethelanguageskillstheyneedtocommunicateinanEnglish-speakingenvironment (B2)

Hereagain,eachexaminationdealswitharangeoflanguageskills,andaninitialimpressionsuggeststhatthesemodelsareperhapssimplerandmoreaccessiblethanthecurrentlevelsoftheLiteracyFrameworkusedinWales.

60ibid.61ibid.


55

SECTION 10. CONCLUSIONS, REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS


SECTION10.REFLECTIONS,CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONSTheoverridingfindingisthatingeneral,themethodsoflanguageteaching,learningandassessmentinthejurisdictionsthatformthebasisofthisoverviewareinflux.

ThepolicychangesinrelationtolanguagelearninginEuropeasawhole,combinedwithanincreaseddrivetopromoteminoritylanguages,areleadingtoarevisionofhowlanguagesarepresentedineducationsystems.Thisrevisionincludeslookinganewnotonlyatwhatconstitutesthecorelanguageskillsandhowtheyaretaughtandassessed,butalsoattheroleoflanguageinsociety.62

Whilewefoundevidenceofthesechangeswithnewmethodsbeingpiloted,therearenoclearindicationsasyetoftheirsuccessorotherwise.Andwhilethereisnosingle‘takeaway’modelthatreadilylendsitselfforWales,therearecertainlyelementsthatareworthexploringfurther(see‘Recommendations’below).

Inconclusion,theemergentthemesofthereviewcanbegroupedunderthefollowingheadings:

Ø ThevalueoflanguagelearningandskillsØ Plurilingualism/MultilingualismØ MultilingualismandpedagogyØ MultilingualismandassessmentØ ThelanguageskillsetinamultilingualcontextØ TheroleofdigitaltechnologyØ ParticularparallelswithWales

The‘value’oflanguagelearningandskills

Theeducationalvalueoflanguagelearning,wherestated,isseenasmuchintermsofdevelopingthepupils’ cognitive and cultural understanding as on developing a skillset aligned to increasing theiremployability. Pöyhönen’s article shows clearly the two sidesof this ‘language coin’when it asks:‘Whatarethecostsforthesocietyifitscitizensdonotknowlanguages?’(2009:149).Itanswersonthe one handwith a further set of questions pointing to the utilitarian value of languages: ‘Howmuchwillweneedto increasetranslationand interpretationservices?Howmuchwill it cost ifanindividual cannot get employment because of her/his inadequate language skill?’(ibid.); beforeturningtopresentanotheranswerthatrevealsanunderstandingofthe‘value’oflanguagebeyondtheworkplace:

However,whenanalysingtheeffectsoflanguageeducation,otherthanfinancialfactors,socialfactorsmustalsobetakenintoaccount.Languageeducationmayalsobeseenasanationalvaluechoice:thevaluebasisofasocietycanbeeducatingitscitizenstobecomeindividualswhohavegoodlanguageskillsandwhounderstandandrespectothercultures(ibid.).

62Asouroverviewwasdrawingtoaclosetwopaperswerepublished,bothconfirmingthisstateofflux.See:KeyDataonTeachingLanguagesatSchoolinEurope.Availableonlineat:https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/images/0/06/KDL_2017_internet.pdfandthePolicyReview:TheroleofassessmentinEuropeanlanguagepolicy–ahistoricaloverview.Availableonlineat:http://www.meits.org/policy-papers/paper/the-role-of-assessment-in-european-language-policy-a-historical-overview.[AccessedSeptember2017].


57

This echoes theCouncil of Europe’s statement that sees thepromotionof ‘linguisticdiversity andlanguagelearningasawaytoachievegreaterunityamongEuropeancitizens’(inGutierrezEugenioandSaville,2017:2).

SuchanunderstandingofthevalueoflanguageisparticularlyinterestingintermsofthefourpurposesofthenewcurriculuminWales,wherethediscourseisverymuchintunewiththesekindsofideals:

ThepurposesofthecurriculuminWaleswillbethatchildrenandyoungpeopledevelopas:

• ambitious,capablelearners,readytolearnthroughouttheirlives• enterprising,creativecontributors,readytoplayafullpartinlifeandwork• ethical,informedcitizensofWalesandtheworld• healthy,confidentindividuals,readytoleadfulfillinglivesasvaluedmembersofsociety.

(WG1,2015:29)

ItisalsointerestingintermsofhowthenewcurriculuminWaleshasbroughttogether‘languages’,‘literacy’and‘communication’(withinoneAreaofLearningandExperience)asthreedistinctsub-headings.Explicitlyreferringto‘languages’apartfrom‘literacy’and‘communication’notonlyaffordsanunderstandingof‘language’asascienceorrationalsetofrules,butalsothepossibilityofexploringlanguageasanagentthatdevelopsasenseofbelongingandidentitythroughitscreativeexpressioninidiosyncraticsyntaxanduniqueconcepts.Whilethisisadiscussionbeyondthescopeofouroverview,itwillevidentlybenecessarytoconsiderhowanynewassessmenttoolswillencourageandgaugeprogressinallthethreeelementsofthisAreaofLearningandExperience.63

Plurilingualism/Multilingualism

Theinsistenceof‘languages’,intheplural,inthenewcurriculuminWales(seeabove)alignsuswiththeothereducationsystemsthatareendeavouringtoproducespeakersofmultiplelanguagesanddeliveringa‘1+2’or‘2+1’languagepolicy.

Asschoolsinthejurisdictionsweconsideredareattemptingtorealisethisambition,wefoundhowtheyarebeginningtoembracean‘integrated’approachtolanguage.Sometimesthis‘integration’appearsintermsofthepresentationofmultiplelanguages,aswellasintermsofcombininglanguageteachingwithothersubjects,andintermsofdevelopingassessmenttoolsthatallowcomparisonsacrosslanguages.InFinland,wefoundthatthisintegratedapproachwasinkeepingwiththeCouncilofEurope’sambitiontousetheteachingandlearningoflanguagesinordertodeveloparepertoireofresourcesthatenablespupilstogainaninterculturalcompetencethatleadstoabetterunderstandingofotherness.

InFinlandinparticular,whereallpupilslearnatleast3languages(theirmothertongue+2),wefoundthatcomparisonsandconnectionsaremadebetweenlanguageswheretheknowledgeofonelanguageisusedtosupportthelearningofanother,whichinturndevelopsthepupils’understandingofhowlanguageworks(i.e.thegrammaroflanguage).Pupilsarealsoencouragedtouseallthelanguagestheyknowtoaccessinformationtodeveloplearningacrosssubjects.This‘integrated’approachtolanguagelearningisthusbothmultilingualandmultidisciplinary.Moreover,63Notethattheconceptof‘multiliteracy’ispotentiallyparticularlyinterestingfromaWelshstandpoint,giventheway‘Communication’isincludedasadiscreteelementinthe‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’‘AreaofLearningandExperience’inDonaldson’sSuccessfulFutures(WG1,2015)curriculumreforminWales.


inFinlandinparticularwefoundthatlanguagesarealsousedtoenhancepupils’perceptionsofculturaldiversity,developingtheirunderstandingandrespectforculturaldifferences.

Multilingualismandpedagogy

ThemoststrikingexampleofintegratingthetransferoflanguagewiththeteachingofothersubjectswasfoundintheBasqueCountry,wheretheCLILapproachisdevelopingtobeapopularmethodofincreasingpupils’motivationinspeakingnonmother-tonguelanguages(Lasagabaster,D.andLopezBeloquiR,2015).Thispedagogyhasthebenefitofincreasingpupils’contacthourswiththelanguage(notonlyintermsofnumberbutalsofrequency)withouthavingtoaddhourstothelanguageclassesattheexpenseofothersubjects.Anyotheropportunitiestousethelanguageoutsidetheclass/schoolarealsoseenaseffectivetoolstoincreasepupils’engagementandconfidence.

Inalljurisdictionswefoundlanguagetransfermethodsintheearlystagesofschoolingcomparabletothe‘immersion’methodcommoninnurseryandreceptionclassesinschoolsinpartsofWales,(cfthe‘shower’methodinFinland,forexample).

InFryslânandFinlandwefoundevidenceoftask-basedlearningandtheuseofauthenticmaterial.Therearereports,fromFinlandatleast,thatthemoretheteachersappliedauthenticworkingmethods,themoretheirpupilsenjoyedlearning,andthebettertheirperformanceinreadingcomprehension.

Ingeneral,wefoundthatareadyacceptanceofpupils’potentialasspeakersofthreelanguagesseemstobebringingwithitpossibilitiesofapedagogy(andcurriculum)thatplacesemphasison:

• comparinglanguagesandusingtheknowledgeofonelanguagetosupportthelearningofanother

• understandinghowlanguageworks(i.e.thegrammaroflanguage)• developingconfidentspeakersofmultiplelanguages• usinglanguagetodevelopunderstandingandrespectforculturaldifferences• usingalllanguagesavailabletoaccessinformationaboutothersubjects

Multilingualismandassessment

Ingeneral,wefoundhowintheschoolsystemsinFinland,theBasqueCountryandFryslân,externalassessmentisbalancedwithformative,internalassessment,andonthewhole,theexaminationsdealwiththefourcoreskills,withtheexclusionattimesoftheoralelement.

Innoneofthecountriesconsideredwasthereparitybetweentheassessmentofthetwoofficiallanguagesinquestion,(orindeedbetweentheseandfurtherlanguagestaught).However,wealsofoundthatonlyinFinlandwasanyonelanguageassessedindifferentwaysdependingoncontext(e.g.languagemediumofschool),wheredifferentcurriculaandassessmentmethodsexistforlanguagesstudiedasmothertongue,1stor2nd‘foreign’language.ThisisofparticularinteresttoWalesaswehaveparitybetweentheassessmentofthetwoofficiallanguages(minorityWelshandmajorityEnglish)insomecontextsbutnotothers(seefinalparagraphofthissection).

Finland,inparticular,placessignificantemphasisoninternal,formativeassessmentandthishasanimpactontheexpectationofteacherexpertisethatgoesbeyondthatofexpertsubjectknowledgetoincludeanunderstandingofassessmenttechniques.


59

Ingeneral,thereisevidenceofashiftfromnormtocriterion-basedassessment,andtheconceptofipsativeassessment,thoughnotarticulatedassuch,seemstobepartofthedriveinFryslânandFinland,asincreasinglyindividualisedlearningplansthatincludeself-assessmentarebeingdeveloped.

Ineachofthefourjurisdictionsconsidered,wefoundthattheCEFRisusedtomapprogression,thoughnotalwayswithinthestateschoolsystem.

InFinland,theBasqueCountryandFryslân,theCEFRisusednotonlyforFinnish,Swedish,BasqueandFrisianbutalsoforEnglish.InIreland,theCEFRhascurrencyonlyinthefieldofadultlearnersofIrish.

TheBasqueCountrymapstheprogressofBasquelanguagelearnersonaseriesofqualificationsknownasthePerfilesLingüísticos(PL,trans:LanguageorLinguisticProfiles).TheseareaccessibleoutsidetheschoolsystemandcanbelinkedtolevelsontheCEFR.

WesawhowtheCEFR,abenchmarkthatisusedinmanycountriesformanylanguages,isflexibleenoughtobeadaptedwherenecessarytosuittheneedsoflearnersacrossage-groupsandaccordingtothenatureofthelanguagesassessed.

WefoundthatintheUK,theCEFRiscommonlyusedtomaptheprogressionpathwaysforESOLstudents,andinWales,asinIreland,theCEFRisusedinthecontextofWelsh/(Irish)forAdults.

InWalesingeneral,intheabsenceoftheCEFR(orsimilarstandardisedtool)wefoundthatthevarietyinthemodesofmeasuringtheprogressoflearners’languagecompetencemakescomparisonsacrosslanguagesdifficult.Inotherwords,apartfromwithintheWelsh-mediumsecondaryschoolsystem,wherepupilssitparallelWelshandEnglishGCSEexams,learners(andothers)cannoteasilyrelateonesetoflanguagequalificationsandlevelsagainstthoseinanotherlanguage.

AparticularconfusionemergesinWaleswiththedivisionoftheWelshlanguageinto‘Welsh’and‘WelshSecondLanguage’.ThisoriginallycameaboutinordertogivelearnersfromnonWelsh-speakingbackgroundsanopportunitytogainaqualification.Butoneoftheunfortunateresultsofthiswastocreatetwotypesoflanguages,onefor‘learners’andoneforfirstlanguagespeakers;oratleast,someperceivethatthetwogroupsspeakdifferenttypesofWelsh.Whileitmustbeconcededthatthereareasmanyvariationsofanylanguageastherearespeakersthereof,essentially,asan‘officiallyrecognisedlanguage’,thereisonlyone.Innoothercasedidwefindthatanylanguagewasdividedinto‘twotypes’,quiteasisthecaseinWales.Ofthecountriesweconsidered,Finlandwastheonlyonethatrankstheindigenouslanguages(Finnish,Swedish,Sámi)asfirst,second,thirdetc.However,itisabletoovercomethekindofconfusionwehavebyusingtheCEFRscale,thusensuringameaningfulreadingandcomparisonofstudents’competencesacrosslanguages.

Thelanguageskillsetinamultilingualcontext

Wefoundthatasideeffectofthe1+2or2+1languagepolicy,thoughtheconnectionisnotexplicitlymade,isthateducationsystemsworkinginamultilingualcontextarefacedwithatraditional‘core’skillsetthatisinadequate.Inadditiontothetraditionalfourskills,wehaveseentheFrisiansystemacknowledgingtheskillof‘conversing’asaspecific5thskillseparatefromtheoral/speakingskill,(whichmaycomeclosetothe‘transactionalcompetence’referredtoinSuccessfulFutures,WG1,2015:60).


Wehavealsofoundcallsforacknowledgingthemorenuancedskillsof‘comprehension’and‘workingacrosslanguages’,whicharevitalbothintermsofencouragingamoreinclusiveunderstandingofbi-andmultilingualism,andofacceptingthecomplexityofthelinguisticcompetencesneededtosurviveinabi-,multi-andevenplurilingualcontext.

Addressingthesecallsandrecognisingtheneedtodevelopsuitableteachingmethods,aswellasassessmenttools,willbeaparticularchallenge.ThisiswhatGorterandCenozsuggestintheirstudyoftheBasqueCountryandFryslân,whentheyseetheproblemsofevaluatingbilingualandmultilingualsagainstthe‘yardstickoftheidealmonolingual’,ratherthan‘evaluatingthemasmultilingualspeakerswhohavealinguisticrepertoirewhichisdifferentfromthatofmonolinguals’(2011:659—669).Theyrecognisethat‘aholisticviewofmultilingualproficiencyasareferenceismorechallenginganddifficulttoputintopracticeinsyllabusdesign,teachingpracticeandassessment,butitapproachestheteachingofdifferentlanguagesfromamorerealisticperspective’(ibid.).

Theroleofdigitaltechnology

Intermsofdigitaltechnology,wefoundthatallfoureducationsystemsaredevelopingaspectsofdigitaltechnologyintheirassessmentmodelsinvariousdegrees.ThemostradicalistheFrisianmodelthatisdevelopingitsdigitalprovisioninanintegratedwayacrossitsnewteaching,learningandassessmentprogramme.However,allthedigitalassessmentprogrammesencounteredduringtheresearchareintheirinfancyandthuscannotbefullyevaluatedatpresent.

ParticularparallelswithWales

Ofthefourjurisdictionsexplored,thosewiththelinguisticprofilesclosesttoWalesaretheBasqueCountryandIreland,wheretheminority languageexistsalongsideamajority language,andwherethetwolanguagesarenotcloselyrelated.GiventhatthemostrecentBasquecensusreturnsshowan increase in the number of Basque speakers, it is worth noting the differences between theBasqueandtheIrishandWelshmodels.64SomeoftheaspectsevidentintheBasquesystem,butnotsoevidentintheIrishandWelshsystems,include:

i) theuseoftheCEFRtomapandindicateprogressionlevels(bothintheschoolsystemandinthe‘adult’languagelearningsystem)

ii) abalancebetweeninternalandexternalassessmentiii) aflexiblemultilingualpedagogywithanemphasisondevelopingplurilingualismiv) arichCLILpedagogythatensuresahighnumberofcontacthourstimetabledforthepromotion

oflanguageinstructionv) intensiveteachereducationlanguageprogrammesvi) alanguagecurriculumthatincludesculturaldimensionssuchasliteratureacrossalllanguagesvii) government-enforced obligations for high-level Basque fluency for public office and other

employmentroutes

64Eustat.EuskalEstatistikaEraundea/InstitutoVascodeEstadística,trans:BasqueInstituteofStatistics.2013.MásdeseisdecadadiezresidentesenlaC.A.deEuskaditienealgúnconocimientodeeuskera[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.eustat.eus/indice.html.[AccessedSeptember2017].


61

RECOMMENDATIONS

Ofthequestionsthatformedthebasisofourenquiry,thetwothatmeritfurtherexaminationare:‘therelationshipbetweenassessmentandteaching/learningstrategies’and‘themechanismsofmappingtheprogressionoftheindividuallearner’.BelowaresomerecommendationsforhowthiscouldbedonetohelpinformdevelopmentsinWales.Intakingforwardtheserecommendations,wewouldencourageQualificationsWalestoworkwithkeystakeholdersinthefieldincludingWelshGovernment,WJEC,EstynandRegionalConsortiaaswellasothersinvolvedindevelopingthenewcurriculumforWalesRecommendation1Considerconductingfurtherworkasoutlinedbelowtogainamoredetailedunderstandingabouttheteachingandassessmentoflanguageproficiency:

i)FromtheBasqueCountry

• Explorethe‘PerfilesLingüísticos’,includinganyaccompanyingcurriculumandassessmentmaterials

• MeetwithrepresentativesoftheIkastolaCLILgrouptodiscusscurriculumandassessmentmaterials,methodologyandanyevidenceofimpact

ii)FromFinland

• Explorethepotentialbenefitsandchallengesoftheshiftfromnormtocriterion-referencedassessment

• Examinetheroleofipsativeassessmentprocessesinthecontextoflanguagelearningandteaching.

iii)FromFryslân

• MeetwithstaffinvolvedintheRRJ/GRIPtodiscusscurriculumandassessmentmaterials,methodologyandanyevidenceofimpact

iv)FromIreland

• AnalysetheTEGcurriculumandassessmentmaterials

v)FromWales

• ProduceatooltomapcomparisonsbetweenlanguageframeworksandassessmentmodelscurrentlyusedinWalestogaugevariationsinlevelsandproficiencydescriptors.

vi)Fromacrossallthesampledjurisdictions

• Conductasystemicanalysis,includingaconsiderationofskillsandlevels,ofasampleofexampapersaimedatthe16yearolds

i) fromtheBasqueCountry:Basque,Spanish,Englishii) fromFinland:Finnish,Swedish,English,Sámi,iii) fromFryslân:Frisian,Dutch,Englishiv) fromIreland:Irish,French,Englishv) fromWales:Welsh(WelshandWelshSecondLanguage),Englishand

MFL


Recommendation2Considerhowassessmentoflanguageproficiencycouldbeenhancedbyexploringthepossibilitiesandimplicationsof:

• assessingandrecognisingconversation/interactionand/or‘cross-languaging’(i.e.themultilingualskillsof,e.g.translating,paraphrasing,interpreting,translanguagingetc.)asskillsthatarespecificallyseparatefromthetraditionalcoreskills,65

• (further)developingassessmenttoolsforthe‘traditional’fourcorelanguageskills:Ø Listening,(whereemphasisisclearlybothonpassiveandactivelistening–i.e.

‘listeningcomprehension’)Ø Reading(whereemphasisisclearlybothonpassiveandactivereading–i.e.

‘readingcomprehension’)Ø WritingØ Speaking

• developinga‘ComprehensionCertificate’,perhapsaimedmainlyattheadultlanguage

learner,basedonreading/listeningthatenablescitizenstoidentifythemselvesonthebilingualcontinuum,withtheaimofencouragingprogressionfrompassivetoactivelanguageusers.

Recommendation3

SupportWelshGovernment’sintentiontoestablishacontinuumoflanguagelearningby:

• conductingacomparativeanalysisofthecontent,assessmentandperformancestandardsintheWelshLanguageandWelshSecondLanguageGCSEs,toestablishcrossoversandpossiblepointsofcomparison

• carefullymappingthespecification,assessmentsandcandidateworkforthecurrentGCSEWelshLanguageandWelshSecondLanguageagainsttheCEFR

• takingadvantageofthenewprogressionmodelsoutlinedintheDonaldsonSuccessfulFuturesreviewtoexplorehowbesttoestablishone‘ProgressionPathway’foralllanguages.Inthiscontext,considertheappropriatenessoftheCEFR(oranadaptationthereof)asaframeworkthatharmonisesthecurrent(complex)comparisonsbetweenLevelDescriptors,LiteracyFrameworkandexternalgradessuchasGCSEandAlevel.TheaimwouldbetoenableWelshcitizens(schoolpupilsandadultsalike)tocitetheirown‘LinguisticProfile’againstallthelanguagestheyspeak(e.g.‘Welsh:C1’,‘English:B2’;‘Spanish:A2’etc.).

• workingwiththeCAMAUproject(seebelow)toexplorehowprogressioncanbedescribedandbestdeveloped

• consideringtheassessmentimplicationsofintroducingaCLILapproachtolanguageteachingandhowthismightbeexploredthroughthedevelopmentofthenewcurriculum

• consideringresponding(orworkingwithrespondents)totheCE’sinvitationtoeducationalinstitutionsinterestedinexploringtherelevanceofthenewdescriptorstotheireducationalcontextintheacademicyear2017–18.66

65Wehavedeliberatelyavoidedtheterm‘translanguaging’becauseoftheelementofconfusionitgeneratesinsomeacademicdiscourse.66ProjectcoordinatorBrianNorth.CouncilofEurope.CommonEuropeanFrameworkReference.[ONLINE].Availableat:http://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages.[AccessedAugust2017].


63

Furtherareasofcollaborationmightinclude:

WorkingwithTeacherEducationtodevelopContinuousProfessionalLearningandDevelopment.

Asassessmentmethodsplacemoreemphasison‘individuallearningplans’,teachersneedtobeconfidentinusingcriterion-basedscalessuchastheCEFR.

WorkingwithWG,PioneerSchoolsandConsortia;inparticularthegroupforthe‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’AreaofLearningandExperience,toestablishanetworkof‘LeadersinLanguageLearning’,whereorganisationalandpracticalaspectsofimplementingtheabovecanbepilotedimmediately,e.g.establishingaCLILpedagogyinthetimetable.

WorkingwiththeCAMAUproject,whichisthepartnershipbetweenUWTSDandtheUniversityofGlasgowthatiscollaboratingwithWGtoexplorehowprogressioncanbedescribedandbestdevelopedinrespectofeachoftheAreasofLearningandExperienceofthenewcurriculum.Theprojectisalsoresearchinghowprogressionstepscanbearticulated,describedandusedinordertosupportthelearningprocessinthemosteffectiveway.Apartofthediscussioninrelationtothe‘Languages,LiteracyandCommunication’curriculumareaisaskinghowgenericprogressiondescriptorscanbedifferentiatedtotakeintoconsiderationtheexperienceoflearnersofvariouslanguages.

WorkingwithWJECtoestablish:

i) aWelshLanguageAssessmentGroup,whichwillincludeWelshintheWelsh-mediumsector,(currentlyWL1);WelshintheEnglish-mediumsector(currentlyWL2)andWelshforAdults,andbringtogetherandbenefitfromtheexpertisewithinineachsector.

ii) ALanguagesAssessmentGrouptoincludetheWelshLanguageAssessmentgroupaswellasEnglishandMFL.


65

SECTION 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES


SECTION11.BIBLIOGRAPHYANDSOURCES

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• Huhta,Ari(2015)pptUsingtheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceintheevaluationofeducationalachievementinforeignandsecondlanguages.Availableonlineat:http://ica.qiyas.sa/Presentations/Presentation%20-%20Ari%20Huhta.pdf


• IrishInspectorate(2015)AReportonIrish-mediumEducationalProvisioninGaeltachtSchools:PrimaryandPost-PrimaryCase-Studies.Availableonlineat:https://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Events/Gaeltacht-Education-Policy-Proposals/Case-Study-Primary-and-Post-Primary-Gaeltacht-Schools_Irish-medium-Educational-Provision_2015.pdf

• IrishInspectorate(2017)MinisterBurtontoprioritiseteachingofforeignlanguages.Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2017-Press-Releases/PR17-04-19.html.[AccessedAugust2017]

• IrishInspectorate(2015)20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030ProgressReport:2010to2015Availableat:http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/20-Year-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Language-2010-to-2030-Progress-Report-2010-2015.pdf

• Kotus.InstitutefortheLanguagesofFinland.Nodate.Onlanguage.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://www.kotus.fi/en/on_language

• KuuselaJ.(2006)Thematicviewstotheequalityofbasiceducation.Helsinki:NationalBoardofEducation

• Lasagabaster,D.andLópezBeloqui,R.(2015)TheImpactofTypeofApproach(CLILVersusEFL)andMethodology(Book-BasedVersusProjectWork)onMotivation,PortaLinguarum23,January,41–57

• Mercator(2005)TheBasquelanguageineducationinSpain(2ndEdition)MERCATOREuropeanResearchCentreonMultilingualismandLanguageLearningRegionaldossiersseries2005.TheNetherlands:FryskeAkademy

• Mercator(2010)TheFrisianlanguageineducationintheNetherlands(4thedition).TheNetherlands:FryskeAkademy

• Myles,F(2017)Learningforeignlanguagesinprimaryschools:isyoungerbetter?Multilingualism:EmpoweringIndividuals,TransformingSocieties,PolicyPapers.Availableonlineat:http://www.meits.org/policy-papers/paper/learning-foreign-languages-in-primary-schools-is-younger-better

• Pöyhönen,S.(2009)‘ForeignlanguageteachinginbasicandsecondaryeducationinFinland’

in:PlurilinguismoeinnovazionediSistema,SandraLucietto,(ed.)Trento145–173.Availableonlineat:http://try.iprase.tn.it/prodotti/materiali_di_lavoro/alis2008/download/Alis_2008.pdf

• Riemersma,A.(2104)From‘weak’BilingualEducationto‘strong'TrilingualEducationinFryslân.Availableonlineat:https://stenden.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documenten/research/fries_en_meertaligheid_in_onderwijs_en_opvoeding/2014-1012_From_Bilingual_to_Trilingual_education__Fryslan.pdf

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• TarnanenM.,HuhtaA.&PohjalaK.(2007)‘Whatisproficiency?AnswersfromlanguageAssessment,inPöyhönenS.andLuukkaM-R.(eds.)Towardsfuturelanguageeducation.FinalreportoftheprojectonFinnishlanguageeducationpolicies.Jyväskylä:CentreforAppliedLanguageStudies,381–412

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WEBSITES

AmericanCouncilontheTeachingofForeignLanguages

https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/reports/Assigning_CEFR_Ra

tings_To_ACTFL_Assessments.pdf

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Afûk http://afuk.frl/

BritishCouncil http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/cef-levelshttp://www.britishcouncil.qa/en/english/courses-children/levelshttp://www.britishcouncil.qa/en/english/courses-children/ielts

CambridgeEnglish http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/

CouncilofEuropeCEFR http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf

DutchEducationSystem https://www.s-bb.nl/en/education/dutch-educational-system

EGA http://www.euskara.euskadi.eus

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introduction/sigma-documents/Finland.pdf

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http://www.oph.fi/english

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HABE http://www.etxepare.eus/en/learn-basque

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hung/vertiefung/bildungforschung/examen.html

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71

PerfilesLingüísticos http://www.gabrielaresti.com/mas-info/perfiles-

linguisticos?lang=es

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development/Core-skills/6.Understanding-skills-levels.pdf

StateExaminationsIreland http://www.examinations.ie

TEG http://www.teg.ie


EXPERTINTERVIEWEESANDRESPONDENTS

TheBasqueCountry

JasoneCenoz ProfessorofAppliedLinguisticsintheDepartmentofResearchMethodsinEducationattheUniversityoftheBasqueCountry.

PhilBall TheIkastolaLanguageProject

InmaMunoa TheIkastolaLanguageProject

FryslânJanDouwes ProjectleaderatAfûk

EabeleTjepkema ITElecturerwithspecialinterestintripleliteracyattheUniversityofStenden,TheNetherlands

Ireland

AnnaNíGhallachair CentreDirector,UniversityofMaynooth

CaoimhínÓhEaghra GeneralSecretaryoftheAnForasPátrúnachta

Finland

AriHuhta Professor,CentreforAppliedLanguageStudies,UniversityofJyväskyläHennaTossavainen Projectresearcher,NationalCertificatesofLanguageProficiency,University

ofJyväskylä


73

SECTION 12. APPENDICES


SECTION12.APPENDICES

1. Acronymsandabbreviations

2. Thelinguisticprofileofthecountriesinoursurvey,+indicationoftheuseoftheCEFR(Tables6aand6b)

3. Additionalinformation,Finland(Tables7and8)

4. Additionalinformation,theBasqueCountry

5. Additionalinformation,Ireland

6. IELTSscaleandleveldescriptors(Table8)

7. Welshlanguageexaminationsavailable(Table9)

8. Questionsforinternationalinterviews

9. LearninghoursandtheCEFR(Tables10,11and12)


75

APPENDIX1

Acronymsandabbreviations

AFûk AlgemieneFryskeÛnderrjochtKommisje(trans:generalFrisianeducationcommission)

ALTE AssociationofLanguageTestersinEurope

CE CouncilofEurope

CEFR CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguage

CELT–P CertificateinEnglishLanguageTeaching–Primary

CELT–S CertificateinEnglishLanguage–Secondary

CIEP CentreInternationald’EtudesPedagogiques(trans:InternationalCentreforPedagogicStudies)

CLIL ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning

CnaG ComhairlenaGaelscolaíochta(trans:TheCouncilforIrishlanguage/mediumeducation)

CPLD ContinuousProfessionalLearningDevelopment

CRELL CentreforResearchonEducationandLifelongLearning

CRELLA CentreforResearchinEnglishLanguageLearningandAssessment

EC EuropeanCommission

ECMRL EuropeanCharterforRegionalorMinorityLanguages

EGA EuskerraGaitasunaAguira(trans:theBasqueCompetenceCertificate)

ESLC EuropeanSurveyonLanguageCompetences

ESOL EnglishforSpeakersofOtherLanguages

EU EuropeanUnion

FourCoreSkills Thefourtraditionallanguageskillsof‘listening’,‘speaking’,‘reading’and‘writing’

GRIP NameusedfortheFrisianEvaluationSystem

HABE HelduenAlfabetatzeetaBerreuskalduntzerakoErakundea,(trans:OrganizationfortheLiteracyand‘Re-basquification’ofAdults)

HAVO HogerAlgemeeenVoortgezetOnderwijs(trans:seniorsecondarygeneraleducation)

IELTS InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem

IRALE IrakasleenEuskarazkoPretakuntzaZerbitzua:theagencytopromoteteacherliteracyandBasquelanguagecompetence

ITE InitialTeacherEducation

IVAP InstitutoVascodelaAdministraciónPública(trans:BasqueInstituteofPublicAdministration)

LlC LlywodraethCymru

L1 Firstormainlanguage


L2 Secondlanguage

L3 Thirdlanguage

LG1 UsedinFinlandtorefertothefirstnon-mothertonguelanguagelearnt

LG2 UsedinFinlandtorefertothesecondnon-mothertonguelanguagelearnt

LG3 UsedinFinlandtorefertothethirdnon-mothertonguelanguagelearnt

MFL ModernForeignLanguage

NHL NoordelijkeHogeschoolLleuwarden(trans:UniversityofAppliedSciences)

PL PerfilesLingüísticos(trans:LanguageProfiles;systeminuseintheBasqueCountry)

RRF ReferinsjeramtFrysk(trans:FrisianReferenceFramework)

TEG TeastasEorpachnaGaeilge(trans:EuropeanCertificateinIrish)

Trans. Translated

UWTSD UniversityofWalesTrinitySaintDavid

VMBO VoorbereidendMeddelbaarBeroesponderwisjs(trans:preparatorysecondaryvocationaleducation)

VWO VoorbereidendWetenschappelijkOnderwijs(trans:pre-universityeducation)

WG WelshGovernment


77

APPENDIX2

ThelinguisticprofileofthecountriesinoursurveyandanindicationoftheuseoftheCEFR

Table5a.Thelinguisticprofileofthecountriesinoursurvey,+indicationoftheuseoftheCEFR

Country/Jurisdiction

MajorityLanguage

MinorityLanguageexamined

Otherofficiallanguage(s)

L3ModernForeignLanguage(s)mostcommonlytaught

AretheCEFRlevelsappliedascompetenceindicators?

Spain*

Spanish

Basque

CatalanGalicianValencian

English Yes(butmainlyforBasqueandEnglish)

TheBasqueCountry

Spanish(French)

Basque

Finland Finnish

Swedish

Sámi,alsorecognized:Karelian,Finnish-Romani,Finnish-signlanguage

EnglishGermanFrenchRussian

Yes(foralllanguages)

Netherlands

Dutch Frisian

English Yes(foralllanguages)Fryslân Frisian Dutch

Ireland English Irish various Yes(butonlyforIrishforadults)

*N.B.TheBasqueCountrycoversareasofFranceaswellasSpain;howeverinFrance,theBasquelanguageisnotrecognisedasanofficiallanguage.ThismakespinpointingcomparativepercentagesacrossthewholeBasqueCountrydifficult,andiswhythisreport’sfocusisontheBasqueCountryofSpain.

FormoreinformationseeEuropeanCommission,2012,Eurobarometer386report:Europeansandtheirlanguages


Table5b.

ThelinguisticprofileofthecountriesinoursurveywithpositionundertheEuropeanCharterforRegionalMinorityLanguages(ECMRL),notesonbestpracticesandchallenges.

N.B.thisisanadaptationofTable1inMinorityLanguagesandeducation:bestpracticesandpitfallsreport(vanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:13–14).(Originaltableincludeskeystatisticaldataofthe13casestudiesinvolvedinthereport.)LanguageVitalityasdefinedinUNESCO’sTheAtlasoftheWorld'sLanguagesinDanger(Moseley,2010,invanDongera,vanderMeerandSterk,2017:16).Languages Demographics

(mostrecentnumbers)

PositionunderECMRL

Languagevitality

BestPractices Challenges

Basquein Spain

33.9% of the population of the Basque Country and about 10% of the population in Navarre are Basque speakers

Ratified (2001) Basque is covered under Part III.

Vulnerable Language models - Refresher course for teachers

- Non-native Basque speaking teachers

- Teaching material for vocational education not commercially available

Fris ian in the Netherlands

67% of the total population in the province of Fryslân are Frisian speakers

Ratified (1996)

Frisian is covered under Part III.

Vulnerable Trilingual education

- Quality of teachers - Continuity of Frisian in secondary education is needed

I r ish in Ireland

41.4% of the total Irish population are Irish speakers

Not signed Definitely endangered

- Large amount of teaching material - Students results

Language skills of teachers

Swedish in F inland

5.5% of the total Finnish population are Swedish mother tongue speakers

Ratified (1994) Swedish is covered under Part II.

Not listed Total immersion programme

- Availability of textbooks - Students’ results

Welsh in the United Kingdom

21.8% of the total Welsh population can speak, read and write Welsh

Ratified (2001) Welsh is covered under Part III.

Vulnerable

- Wide variety of educational material - FE colleges Welsh education strategy

- Matching the school needs and material provided

- Teaching resources


79

APPENDIX3

Additionalinformation,Finland(Source:NationalCoreCurriculumforBasicEducation,2014)

ObjectivesoftheinstructionofEnglish/otherforeignlanguage/theSámilanguageingrades1–2

At school, studies in the first foreign language or the second national languageusually start in the third grade.However, instruction in theA syllabusmaybeginbeforethethirdgrade. Inthatcase,theinstructionfollowsthecorecurriculumofthe A syllabus, taking the pupils’ age into account. Pupils may be given apreliminary introduction tocertain languages, suchasEnglish, theSámi language,orsomeotherlanguage,evenbeforetheinstructionintheAsyllabusbegins.Inthisapproach, called a language shower, the pupils learn the basics of a language orlanguages bymeans of songs, play, games, and physical activities. The topics areselectedtogetherwiththepupilsbasedontheir interests.The instructionmaybeprovided in connectionwith lessons inother subjects, aspartofmultidisciplinarylearning modules, or during specifically allocated lessons or teaching periods.Languageshowersmayalsobeorganisedinhighergrades.

Objectives of the instruction of English / other foreign language / the Sámilanguageingrades3–9

Theteachingandlearningstrengthenthepupils’confidenceintheirownlanguagelearning skills and in using languages confidently. The pupils are provided withopportunitiesformakingprogressindividuallyandreceivingsupportforlearningifneeded. The instruction is organised to support also the progress of thoseadvancing faster than others or those with previous proficiency in the language.Multiliteracy is developed and diverse texts are discussed in the teaching andlearningoflanguages.Thevaryinginterestsofchildrenandyoungpeoplearetakenintoaccountintheselectionoftexts.Theinstructionalsoconnectsandmakesuseof different languages as well the pupils’ language use in their leisure time. Thepupilsareguidedtoseekinformationusingallthelanguagestheyknow.

Englishasaforeignlanguage,Asyllabusingrades3–6

Ingrades3–6,allpupilsreceiveinstructionofmothertongueandatleasttwootherlanguages:acoreA1languageandaB1language,andpossiblyalsoanA2language,whichisanoptionalsyllabusoftheAlanguage.ManypupilsincreasinglyuseEnglishintheirfreetime.Thiscompetenceacquiredbypupilsthroughinformallearningistakenintoaccountintheplanningofinstructionandwhenselectingcontents.

English,Asyllabusingrades7–9

Thepupils are encouraged touse the English language in diverse interaction andinformationacquisition.Theobjectiveof the instruction is to support thepupil inenhancing the proficiency acquired in grades 3–6 and in developing his or herlinguistic reasoning skills while promoting language-learning skills. The pupil’sperception of cultural diversity is enhanced by discussing different value-basedphenomena related to language communities. There is also room for processing


emotions, and, if necessary, difficult issues may be discussed in the school’slanguageofinstruction.ManypupilsincreasinglyuseEnglishintheirfreetime.Thiscompetenceacquiredbypupils through informal learning is taken intoaccount intheplanningofinstructionandwhenselectingcontents.TheinstructionofEnglishmay be integratedwith different subjects andmultidisciplinary learningmodulesand vice versa. Thepupils are encouraged to search for information in English indifferentsubjects.

Table6belowshowstheadaptedCEFRlevels(seeSection6iii)attainedinFinlandbypupilsattheendofsecondaryschoolbasedoninformationfromPöyhönen(2009,Appendix3,pp.172—173).Thefinalcolumnshowsthetotalnumberofhourstaughtduringprimaryandsecondaryeducationcombined.InFinland,itcanbeseenthathigherlevelsofattainmentinEnglisharegenerallyexpectedandachievedinthepassiveskillsoflisteningandreading.ItshouldberememberedthatLG1iscompulsory,whereasLG2isoptional,whichmayaccountforthelowernumberofhoursrequiredtoachievethelevelsshown.ForakeytoCEFRlevelsasadaptedinFinland,seethelistbeneaththetable.

TABLE6.CEFRProficiencylevelsattainedinfirstnon-mothertonguelanguage(LG1)andsecondnon-mothertonguelanguage(LG2)inFinlandbytheendofcomprehensiveschool(grade9,age15/16),withtotalminimumteachinghours.67ScoresarerelatedtoanaverageofLG1andLG2.

Note

i) asexemplifiedinthekeybeneaththetable,ascoreofBishigherthanAii) intheFinnishNationalCoreCurriculuminordertogainanawardof‘Excellent’attheendof

grade9,pupilsmusthaveachievedB1.1/A2.2

Language Listening Speaking Reading Writing Total

minimumteachinghours

(primaryandsecondarycombined)

English

ExcellenttargetofB1.1

(achievedby67%ofpupils)

ExcellenttargetofA2.2


Excellenttargetof

B1.1(achievedby62%ofpupils)

ExcellenttargetofA2.2


LG1:456hrsLG2:342hrs

A1.1FirststageofelementaryproficiencyA1.2DevelopingelementalproficiencyA1.3Functionalelementaryproficiency

67FromaWalesperspective,table6mightsuggesttousthepotentialattainmentlevelsforlanguagelearnersinWalesandanindicationofthecontacthoursrequiredtoachievethoselevels.


81

A2.1FirststageofbasicproficiencyA2.2DevelopingbasicproficiencyB1.1FunctionalbasicproficiencyB1.2FluentbasicproficiencyB2.1FirststageofindependentproficiencyB2.2Functionalindependentproficiency

Table7belowcomparestheattainmentofCEFRlevelsinEnglishbypupilsinSweden,Estonia,Netherlands,FinlandandtheEUaverage.WeseethattheresultsinFinlandsurpasstheaverageresultsfortheEU.ItissaidthatthepupilswithSwedishasmother-tonguehaveanadvantageoverthosewithFinnishasmother-tonguegiventhatSwedishisanIndo-Europeanlanguage(asisEnglish,butnotFinnish).ItisalsointerestingtonotethatSwedishmother-tonguespeakersinFinlandachievemarginallyhigherlevelsthantheSwedishmother-tonguespeakersinSweden.ThissuggeststhattheapproachtakenbyFinland,involvingCLIL,highly-trainedteachers,anemphasison‘learning’ratherthan‘testing’andtheemphasisonformativeassessmentandindividualfeedbackleadstohigherachievement.

TABLE7.ComparisonoftheattainmentofCEFRlevelsinEnglishbypupilsinSweden,Estonia,Netherlands,FinlandandtheEUaverage.

(Thistable)hasbeencompiledfromthepublishedresultsofboththeESLCstudy(EuropeanCommission,2012a)andtheEnglishsub-studyoftheFinnisheducationalevaluationstudy(Härmäläetal.,2013).Tomakethecomparisonoftheresultseasier,themorefine-tunedresultsoftheFinnishstudyarepresentedasfullCEFRlevels,sincethatwashowtheESLCresultswerereported.ThefigureshowsthedistributionoftheresultsforwritinginEnglish

6

18

10

23

15

4

20

1632

24

28

17

4630

4730

37

49

28 32

11 14 1731

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Sweden Estonia NetherlandsEUaverage Finland(Finnish)

Finland(Swedish)

WritinginEnglish

B2

B1

A2

A1

<A1


asaforeignlanguageforthreeEuropeancountries(Sweden,EstoniaandtheNetherlands)thatparticipatedintheEuropeanCommission’sESLCstudyin2012,aswellastheaverageresultforallthe14countriesorareasinvolvedinthestudy.ThetwocolumnsontherightdisplaytheresultsofthestudyinFinlandin2013fortwopopulationsoflearners:thoseintheFinnish-mediumschoolsandthoseintheSwedish-mediumschools.

From(asyetunpublished):UsingtheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceintheevaluationofeducationalachievementinforeignandsecondlanguages,AriHuhta,UniversityofJyväskylä.

ThehigherlevelsachievedinFinlandsuggestthatacloserexaminationofthevariousstrategiesatworkinFinland,inparticulartheblendofteaching/learningmethodsandassessment,iswarranted.


83

APPENDIX4

Additionalinformation,theBasqueCountry

Translationandsummaryofaspectsconcerningthedevelopmentofplurilingualismintheproposalsforthe2020Basquecurriculum(Heziberri,2014:33-35).68

PupilsshouldleavecompulsoryeducationabletocommunicateinSpanishandBasque‘adequatelyandeffectively’inboththespokenandwrittenform.

Inaddition,theyshouldalsobeabletocommunicate‘adequately’inatleastoneforeignlanguageinpersonal,socialandacademicsettings.Likewise,theyshouldhavealiteraryeducationthatwillhelpthembetterunderstandthemselvesandtheworldaroundthem.

Thefocusondevelopingplurilingualpupils,takesintoaccountthatplurilingualpupilsdonotkeepdifferentlanguagesandculturesinseparatementalcompartments,butratherthattheydevelopacommunicativecompetencetowhichalltheirlinguisticknowledgeandexperiencescontributeandinwhichthevariouslanguagesinteract.

Fromthispointofview,thepurposeofteachingandlearningalanguageisentirelymodified.Itisnolongeracaseofsimplysucceedingintwoorthreelanguages,eachonetreatedseparately.Quitetheopposite,theaimistodevelopalinguisticrepertoireinwhichalllinguisticabilitiesplaytheirpart.

Thishasimplicationsfortheteachersoflanguagesinthattheyneedtopayspecialattentiontotheintegrationoflanguages.Thismustbereflectedintheobjectives,contentandmethodologyoftheirlessons.

Teachersoflanguageneedtobeaware:

• thatatanygivenmoment,bilingualorplurilingualstudentshaveattheirdisposalthedifferentlanguagestheyknow,andtheknowledgeacquiredthroughthem,aspartoftheircognitiveandemotionalendowment;

• oftransferabilityoflanguagelearningfromonelanguagetoanother;• ofthesimultaneouspresenceofdifferentlanguagesinthespeaker’senvironments.

Teachersofsubjectsotherthanlanguagesalsosharetheresponsibilityofworkingtowardsthedevelopmentofthecommunicative-linguisticabilityofstudents,anabilityrequiredbyeachstudentforadequateandeffectiveproblemsolvingineachsubjectarea.

Thesuccessofbasic,disciplinarycompetenceinthesubjectareasrequiresthatstudentsnotonlylearnthecontentofthelesson,butalsothecorrectformsofexpressionineachareaandthattheyusetheseinanintegratedmannerwhensolvingsituationsandproblemsineachsubject.

Integratingcontentandlanguagebringswithitthedevelopmentoflinguistic-communicativecompetence.

68Heziberri2020MarcodelModeloEducativoPedagógico.2014.[ONLINE}Availableat:http://www.hezkuntza.ejgv.euskadi.eus/r43573/es/contenidos/informacion/heziberri_2020/es_heziberr/adjuntos/Heziberri_2020_c.pdf.[AccessedSeptember2017].


Planningforthesuccessofplurilingualabilitiesinthetwoofficiallanguagesaswellasinatleastonefurtherforeignlanguagebymeansofanintegratedcurriculumforlanguagesandallothersubjectareas,demandsthatthefollowingprinciplesareunderstoodandaccepted:

• Theteachingoflanguagesshouldbebasedoninclusion,i.e.itshouldprovidestudentswiththeopportunitytofullydeveloptheirplurilingualcompetence,regardlessoftheirmother-tongue.

• Theteachingoflanguagesshouldbebasedontheiruse,i.e.,thelanguagesshouldbelearnedthroughbothsocialandacademicuse,thesebeingthepragmaticnecessitiesforcommunication,guidinglanguagelearningandcontributingtocommandingthelinguisticcode.

• Theteachingoflanguagesshouldbebasedoncommunicativefocus,i.e.classroomsshouldbeturnedintospecialspacesforcommunicationthatfavourstheeffectiveparticipationindiversecommunicativepractice.

• Theteachingoflanguagesshouldbebasedonthedevelopmentofpositiveattitudestowardsthelanguagesandthespeakers,takingintoconsiderationthelanguages’importancetosocialconnectionsandtotheemotionaldevelopmentofindividuals.

• Inschool,themostfrequentandnaturalenvironmentsandsituationsforusingthelanguageareproducedduringtheteachingandlearningprocessesincurricularareas,whereitisfittingtoadopttheintegrationoflanguageandcontent.

Theseprinciplesdealwithamethodologythat:

• assumesalearningprocessguidedbymeaningfulcommunicationprojectswhichdrawfundamentalcommunicativeunityfromtexts;

• structureslearningindidacticsequencesorientatedtowardssucceedinginconcretecommunicativetasks;

• prioritizesproceduralcontent;the‘knowinghow’notthemeresuperficialknowing.


85

APPENDIX5

Additionalinformation,Ireland

(Source:TEGwebsite,availableat:http://www.teg.ie/)

TeastasEorpachnaGaeilge(TEG)providesaseriesofgeneralIrishlanguageproficiencyexaminationsandqualificationsforadultlearnersofIrish.TEGexamsgivecandidatesanopportunitytoshowtheirabilityinspeaking,listening,readingandwritingIrishatdifferentlevels,fromabsolutebeginnertointermediateandadvancedlevels.

Examsareofferedatfivelevelsatpresentandaretakeneachyearbycandidateswithvariouslevelsoffluency.Thesehaveincluded:

• AdultlearnerstakingpartinaDublineveningcourse,returningtothestudyofIrishforthefirsttimesince1970

• IrishlanguagetutorsatanIrishuniversity• CountycouncilstafffromKerry,Galway,TipperaryandClare,tonamebutafew• Irish-languagejournalists• TeachersofIrishatprimaryandsecondaryschoollevel• StudentsataCanadianuniversitylearningIrishforthefirsttime

Candidatesalsohavetheoptionoftakingtheoralexamonly,withaviewtogainingspecificcertificationinthespokenlanguage.

ExamstakeplaceinAprilandMayeachyearintencentresinIrelandandinfourcentresabroad.SeveralhundredlearnerstakeTEGexamseachyear.

TEGsyllabusesandexamsprovidebothteachersandlearnerswithclearlearningobjectivesandastructuredstep-by-steppathtofluencyinIrish.

Aswellasbeingthepreferredmethodforlearnerstomakeprogressinthelanguage,anumberoforganizationsnowuseTEGexamsinrecruitmentandselectionproceduresasameansofensuringthatpotentialemployees/studentshavetherequiredlanguageskills.

TheseexamsarebroadlybasedontheCEFR.


APPENDIX6

InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystemScale(IELTS)andLevelDescriptors

TABLE8.IELTSScaleandLevelDescriptors69

Bandscore Skilllevel Description

9 ExpertuserThetesttakerhasfullyoperationalcommandofthelanguage.TheiruseofEnglishisappropriate,accurateandfluent,andshowscompleteunderstanding.

8 Verygooduser

Thetesttakerhasfullyoperationalcommandofthelanguagewithonlyoccasionalunsystematicinaccuraciesandinappropriateusage.Theymaymisunderstandsomethingsinunfamiliarsituations.Theyhandlecomplexanddetailedargumentationwell.

7 Gooduser

Thetesttakerhasoperationalcommandofthelanguage,thoughwithoccasionalinaccuracies,inappropriateusageandmisunderstandingsinsomesituations.Theygenerallyhandlecomplexlanguagewellandunderstanddetailedreasoning.

6 Competentuser

Thetesttakerhasaneffectivecommandofthelanguagedespitesomeinaccuracies,inappropriateusageandmisunderstandings.Theycanuseandunderstandfairlycomplexlanguage,particularlyinfamiliarsituations.

5 Modestuser

Thetesttakerhasapartialcommandofthelanguageandcopeswithoverallmeaninginmostsituations,althoughtheyarelikelytomakemanymistakes.Theyshouldbeabletohandlebasiccommunicationintheirownfield.

4 LimiteduserThetesttaker'sbasiccompetenceislimitedtofamiliarsituations.Theyfrequentlyshowproblemsinunderstandingandexpression.Theyarenotabletousecomplexlanguage.

3 Extremelylimiteduser Thetesttakerconveysandunderstandsonlygeneralmeaninginveryfamiliarsituations.Therearefrequentbreakdownsincommunication.

2 Intermittentuser ThetesttakerhasgreatdifficultyunderstandingspokenandwrittenEnglish.

1 Non-user Thetesttakerhasnoabilitytousethelanguageexceptafewisolatedwords.

0 Didnotattemptthetest Thetesttakerdidnotanswerthequestions.

69IELTSessentials.2017.IELTS9_BandScale.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://www.ieltsessentials.com/global/results/ielts9bandscale.[AccessedAugust2017].

87

APPENDIX7

Welshlanguageexaminationsavailable

TABLE9.Welshlanguageexaminationsavailable

WelshSecondLanguageEntryPathway Entry2/3

GCSEWelshSecondLanguageApplied A*–G

GCSEWelshSecondLanguage A*–G

GCEASLevelWelshSecondLanguage A–E

GCEALevelWelshSecondLanguage A*–E

EssentialSkillsCommunication(Welshmedium) Entry1

WelshFirstLanguageEntryPathway Entry2/3

GCSEWelshLanguage A*–G

GCSEWelshLiterature A*–G

GCEASLevelWelsh A–E

GCEALevelWelsh A*–E

WelshforAdults:

Entry(A1CEFR)

Foundation(A2CEFR)

Intermediate(B1CEFR)

Advanced(B2CEFR)equivalentofALevelWelshSecondLanguage(though,inpractice,itappearsthatthisisgenerallyconsideredtoreachasignificantlyhigherstandard)

Forageneralcross-referencingtoolbetweenvariousqualificationsandthelevelsofattainmenttheyindicate(i.e.onethatdoesnotspecificallyrelatetoWelsh-languagequalifications),seetheCreditandQualificationsFrameworkforWales(CQFW)diagram.70

70CreditandQualificationsFrameworkforWalesdiagram.[ONLINE].Availableat:http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/150928-fan-diagram-en.pdf[AccessedAugust2017].andformoredetailsseetheCQFWbrochure:CreditandQualificationsFrameworkforWalesBrochure.[ONLINE].Availableat:http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/170712-cqfw-brochure-en.pdf[AccessedAugust2017].

88

APPENDIX8

Questionsforinternationalinterviews

i) Which‘core’languageskillsareassessedandhowaretheyassessed?

ii) Whatistherelationshipbetweentheassessmentandtheprogressionofindividual

learners’languageskills?

iii) Whatisthebalancebetweennormandcriterionbasedapproaches?

iv) Whatisthebalancebetweenexternalandinternalassessment?

v) Whatroledoesageplayintheassessmentmodels?

vi) Whatistheparticularrelationshipbetweentheassessmentmethodsandteaching/

learningstrategies?

vii) Howarethetwo(ormore)languagesinquestiontreatedinrelationtooneanotherin

termsofassessment?

viii) Whatroledoesdigitaltechnologyplay?

ix) Arethererecentsuccessful/unsuccessfulinterventions?

x) Whatterminologyisusedtodescribecompetenceandprogression,inparticularterms

relatedto‘languagetransactionalskills’/‘languagetransactionalcompetence’?

89

APPENDIX9

LearninghoursandtheCEFR

TABLE10.CEFRindicativeguidedlearninghoursfromtheCambridgeEnglishsupportsite.71

TABLE11.CEFRindicativelearninghours(guidedandindependent)fromtheBasicCurriculumforEuskara(BasqueLanguage)inadulteducation.72

LEVEL DIRECTED/GUIDED SELF-STUDY/INDEPENDENTLevelA1 125 75LevelA2 200 100LevelB1 250 150LevelB2 350 250LevelC1 400 350LevelC2 200 500

71CambridgeEnglishSupportSite.2017.GuidedLearningHours.[ONLINE]Availableat:https://support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838506-Guided-learning-hours.[AccessedAugust2017].72HABE.2004.Horasdeenseñanzayhorasdeaprendizaje[ONLINE]Availableat:ahttp://www.habe.euskadi.eus/informacion/horas-de-ensenanza-y-horas-de-aprendizaje/s23-4728/es/[AccessedAugust2017].

90

TABLE12.IndicativelearninghoursfortheCEFRandtheTEGprogressionpathway.73

73TEG.2017.TEGLevels.[ONLINE]Availableat:http://www.teg.ie/teg-levels.8.html.[AccessedAugust2017].