Can you be tested in Slovene as foreign language? Testiranje slovenščine kot drugega/tujega jezika

Ina Ferbežar Center za slovenščino kot drugi/tuji jezikIzpitni centerina.ferbezar@ff.uni-lj.si

Konferenca EALTA, Kranjska Gora, 16. maj 2004

Slovene language

• Standard Slovene since 16th century

• Diglossia Latin/German/Italian

• Enlightenment movement in 18th century

• Nationalist movement in 19th century

• 1848: political programme United Slovenia

• Monolingualism as a political goal

• Forced bilingualism: Yugoslavia

Language legislation in Slovenia

• Slovene Constitution: Slovene as official language (+ Italian and Hungarian)

• Approx. 30 laws referring to the use of Slovene

• General language law (in the legislative process): polemic

Language Policy SFL

• Slovene for Slovenes– Grants and other resources for Slovene

descendants only

• Slovene for foreigners– Language as a proof of unquestionable loyalty– Slovene language considered as

rarity/antiquity– Slovene language as a functional tool

Univerza v LjubljaniFilozofska fakulteta

Oddelek za slovenistiko

Center za slovenščino kot drugi/tuji jezik

www.ff.uni-lj.si/center-slo

Programmes

• Slovene language at foreign universities (45 universities, 1000 students/year)

• Seminar on Slovene language, literature and culture (Slavonic language students and experts)

• Obdobja Symposium (Slovene studies in linguistic and literature)

• Slovene language courses• Examination centre

Courses of SloveneBeginnings and Growth

0

200

400

600

800

1982 1987 1992 1997 2002

Summer School ALL Courses

History of the Examination Centre

• 1992: first tests SFL administered

• 1994: Centre for Slovene became an official government-appointed comission for testing language ability in Slovene as 2L/FL

• 1994: Examination Centre founded

• 2000: University of Ljubljana (Examination Centre as its representative) became a member of the Association of Language testers in Europe (ALTE)

• 2000: new three-level SFL exams introduced

• 2002: TiPS project

Activities

• Development of Slovene language tests

• Administration of exams on three levels- Coordination of 22 authorised centres in

Slovenia

• Item writer, examiner and marker training

Slovene language exams

Until 2000 only one-level exam; testing grammatical structures and sociocultural knowledge

Since December 2000 new three-level programme Slovenščina za tujce (www.acs.si Programoteka) “communicative language testing” on three levels for various purposes

Relation to CEFR levels

• Basic level (communication on everyday basis)

• Intermediate level (communication in non-routine tasks)

• Advanced level (creative use of Slovene language)

• -B1

• B2

• C1

Structure of exams

• Listening comprehension

• Reading comprehension

• Writing production

• Spoken interaction

• Language Structures (Intermediate and Advanced level only)

No. of all candidates 1994-2003

0

500

1.000

1.500

2.000

2.500

3.000

3.500

1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

No. Kand.

Candidates and levels (2003)

2803

87173 90Basic

Interm.

Advanced

Oral

Reasons for sitting the exam

• Basic level

• Intermediate level

• Advanced level

citizenship

study

professional reasons

(60 % medical doctors)

Country of origin

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Courses Exams

Ex YU

EU

Slavic

USA, CA

S. Am.

Rest

Problems concerning testing of SFL

- Testing related languages (high level of comprehension due to positive transfer)

- Nonsistematic language acquisition (basic level – limited access to SFL leaning) – the formation of idiolects (interlanguage)

- Difficulties at setting the criteria of what kind of language is acceptable (the problem of inter-rater reliability)

- High-stakes exams

Prospectives

• Acceptance of minimum standards (based on ALTE Code of Practice)

• Internationally acknowledged certification system (relating Slovene exams to CEFR)

• Statistical analysis (calibrating tasks etc.)

• Developing LSP tests

• Interlanguage and sociolinguistic research• Language planning activities• Learners corpus

Testing in Polish and Slovene: Socrates Lingua 2 Project

• Partners: Jagellonian University, Krakow, University of Ljubljana, University of Athens, publishing house Universitas

• Developing materials for language teaching and language assessment for Slovene and Polish as FL (based on similar ALTE documents)

Documents

• Slovenski pojmovnik s področja jezikovnega testiranja (Glossary of language testing terms)

• Navodila za avtorje testnega gradiva (Materials for the guidance of test item writers)

• Kontrolni vprašalniki (Checklists)• Preživetvena raven v slovenščini (Breakthrough

level specification – FINGS project)• Opis ravni jezikovnega znanja (CANDO

statements)

Relating Slovene language standards to CEFR

• Slovene version of Threshold level (in print)

• Breakthrough level specification (in print)

• Slovene version of can-do statements (in print): (self)assessment of language competence in Slovene and other languages – rather abstract statements/descriptors

Slovene version of CEFR?