Language support for L2 speakers of Dutch: effects and motivations

Research at Ghent University (UGent) has shown that non native speakers of Dutch (the main language of instruction at UGent) are less likely to achieve academic success than their L1 peers. Since advanced linguistic skills are key to all aspects of college life, substandard academic language skills can exclude students both socially and academically even though they may have the required talent and intellectual capacity. To help resolve this issue Ghent University launched a language policy unit in 2009. One of the purposes of this project is to eliminate language as a barrier to study success, for both L1 and L2 speakers of Dutch. This paper will focus on one area of expertise of the language policy unit, i.e. the language support workshops for students with an L2 background (L2 workshops). These workshops have been implemented specifically for non-native speakers and are explicitly task-based. This paper will elaborate on the paths that have been tried and rejected (such as a placement test-based system and a social-constructivist inclusive approach) as well as on those that have been pursued. Additionally, this paper will zoom in on the role of students of the Ghent University teacher training program in the L2 workshops. Participating in the workshops requires a future teacher to adopt a different mindset, since both the pedagogical approach and the students are different to what the interns are used to. In order to establish the effect of a non-conventional internship on the teaching beliefs of future teachers, the language policy unit conducted a number of focus groups in April-July 2011. In this paper we will show how and why academic L2 project is conducive to both the linguistic skills of the participants and the teaching beliefs and pedagogic practices of the interns

Just testing : applying theories of justice to high-stakes language tests

Justice has been the topic of comparatively few papers in the fields of applied linguistics or language assessment. This may be due to the lack of a clear and agreed-upon definition on the one hand, or to the difficulty of operationalizing justice for test development on the other. This paper aims to remedy both problems by discussing prior conceptualizations of justice and by introducing six justice principles, which are based on theories of distributive justice that focus on human rights, fairness, equal opportunity, and dignity. The overarching aim of this paper is to advance the debate on justice, and to provide a consistent way of considering ethical and moral dilemmas that language testers face today

Task-based language assessment

status: publishe

One Framework to unite them all? Use of the CEFR in European university entrance policies

Fifteen years after its publication, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is a commonly used document in language tests and policies across Europe. This article considers the CEFR's impact on university entrance language tests and policies that are used to regulate the entrance of international L2 students who wish to study in a national language of the host country. Using a qualitative approach, this study aims to (a) outline and compare the target language demands toward L2 students entering European universities and to (b) determine the impact of the CEFR on European university entrance policies, tests, and testers. This article offers an overview of the university entrance language requirements for foreign L2 students in 28 European countries or regions with an autonomous educational policy. It is based on structured interviews with 30 respondents involved with university entrance test development and knowledgeable about university entrance policies in their context. The results show that the CEFR is omnipresent in European university entrance language tests and that the B2 is the most commonly used level in that context. The data also show that normative CEFR use is very common and that in many contexts CEFR levels are misused for marketing purposes or to control university admission

University entrance language tests : a matter of justice

University entrance language tests are often administered under the assumption that even if language proficiency does not determine academic success, a certain proficiency level is still required. Nevertheless, little research has focused on how well L2 students cope with the linguistic demands of their studies in the first months after passing an entrance test. Even fewer studies have taken a longitudinal perspective. Set in Flanders, Belgium, this study examines the opinions and experiences of 24 university staff members and 31 international L2 students, of whom 20 were tracked longitudinally. Attention is also given to test/retest results, academic score sheets, and class recordings. To investigate the validity of inferences made on the basis of L2 students' scores, Kane's (2013) Interpretation/Use Argument approach is adopted, and principles from political philosophy are applied to investigate whether a policy that discriminates among students based on language test results can be considered just. It is concluded that the receptive language requirements of university studies exceed the expected B2 level and that the Flemish entrance tests include language tasks that are of little importance for first-year students. Furthermore, some of the students who failed the entrance test actually managed quite well in their studies - a result that entails broad implications concerning validation and justice even outside the study's localized setting