Task-based language assessment

status: publishe

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

Strategies of multilingualism in education for minority children

Across Western Europe, policy in the context of education for minority children has in the past 20 years increasingly stressed proficiency in and use of the dominant language as a condition for school success (in most cases, this has meant the ‘national’ language). The use of the children’s first language or home language(s) has been valued by policy makers as a cultural marker of identity, but not pedagogically as a didactic asset for learning, or as a ‘scaffold’ for the acquisition of the dominant language (Cummins 2011, 2013; Van Avermaet 2009; Extra and Spotti 2009)

Introduction : the multilingual edge of education

In this volume, we raise the need to invest in new educational perspectives in which multilingualism is valorized and used strategically in settings and contexts of instruction and learning. While the title of the book, ‘The multilingual edge of education’, undeniably alludes to the way in which the multilingual repertoires of pupils in mainstream classrooms are often perceived as an insurmountable problem, it equally underlines more current perspectives in which multilingualism is viewed as possessing cutting-edge potential for transforming linguistically heterogeneous classrooms into more inhabitable, more equitable and more efficiently organized spaces for teaching and learning. Is the multilingual edge an abyss, or do we look to multilingualism for giving learners the edge over the challenges faced by the educational contexts in which they participate today? The chapters in this book are written by an international group of contributors who present findings from empirical studies on different educational approaches which draw on students’ multilingual repertoires as a pedagogical resource for learning and teaching. The authors document a variety of classroom practices, while engaging with students’ and teachers’ experiential voices, local and national policy contexts and so on, so as to explore the potential of multilingualism as learning capital, which, once capitalized upon, can enrich and support educational processes in diverse sociolinguistic contexts

't Is goe, juf, die spreekt mijn taal! Wetenschappelijk rapport over talensensibilisering in de Vlaamse onderwijscontext

Deze praktijkgerichte literatuurstudie aangaande talensensibilisering heeft drie doelstellingen: (1) helderheid brengen in een conceptueel en theoretisch vaak onzuiver domein (wat betreft terminologie, doelen ...) door een conceptueel kader uit te tekenen dat bruikbaar is binnen een talenbeleid in de Vlaamse onderwijscontext, (2) leereffecten uit wetenschappelijk onderzoek koppelen aan de implementatie van effectieve onderwijspraktijken en (3) effectieve onderwijspraktijken naar de Vlaamse onderwijscontext vertalen

Evaluatieonderzoek van het project 'Thuistaal in onderwijs' (2009-2012): eindrapport maart 2013

The main objective of this study as determined by the funding public authorities (City of Ghent, Education Department) was to investigate whether the local project ‘Home Language in Education’ (2008-2013) increased the opportunities for school success (achievement and well-being) among the pupils, and which features in the learning and teaching environment of the four participating elementary schools could have contributed to this. The research design is longitudinal, quasi-experimental (control group), pretest-posttest, and multi-method (qualitative/quantitative). In addition to detecting effects among pupils, process-related changes were examined with teachers, schools and parents. Pupil effects were merely demonstrated in the domain of well-being, however only partially detectable in the quantitative measurement. Effects on Dutch language proficiency (reading comprehension) were not ascertained for the two project aims (Aim A: valorising and using home languages in mainstream classes; Aim B: literacy instruction in first language Turkish). The largest change among teachers was noticed in their attitudes and notions concerning multilingualism, which was expressed in an increased awareness of linguistic diversity. Teachers’ actions showed a positive development to a certain degree, notably in primary school and at the start of the project. Teachers themselves assessed the project’s impact on their actions as moderately positive. Parents’ beliefs on the role of home languages at school did not change significantly during the implementation of the project; they tended to cling to a monolingual approach to education (= submersion in Dutch language; only-Dutch school policy), which mirrors the dominant ideology in society.Aan de hand van dit onderzoek wilde de opdrachtgever (Departement Onderwijs en Opvoeding van de Stad Gent) te weten komen of het plaatselijke project ‘Thuistaal in onderwijs’ (2008-2013) de kansen vergrootte op schoolsucces (prestaties en welbevinden) bij de leerlingen en welke kenmerken in de leeromgeving van de vier deelnemende basisscholen daar al of niet toe bijdroegen. Het onderzoeksdesign is longitudinaal, quasi-experimenteel (controlegroep), pretest-posttest, multimethod (kwalitatief/kwantitatief). Naast het waarnemen van mogelijke effecten bij de leerlingen werden procesmatige veranderingen bij leerkrachten, scholen en ouders in kaart gebracht. Effecten op leerlingen zijn alleen aangetoond in het domein van welbevinden, zij het slechts beperkt waarneembaar in de kwantitatieve meting. Effecten op taalvaardigheid Nederlands (begrijpend lezen) werden voor geen van beide nagestreefde doelstellingen (A: waarderen en benutten van thuistalen in de reguliere klas; B: alfabetisering in de thuistaal Turks) geconstateerd. De grootste verandering bij leerkrachten werd vastgesteld in hun attitudes en opvattingen ten aanzien van meertaligheid, wat zich uitte in een verhoogd bewustzijn van taaldiversiteit. Het didactisch handelen van leerkrachten is in zekere mate geëvolueerd, vooral in de lagere school en aan het begin van het project. Leerkrachten schatten het effect van het project op hun handelen matig positief in. De opvattingen van ouders over de rol van thuistalen op school zijn niet wezenlijk veranderd in de loop van het project; zij bleven overwegend vasthouden aan een eentalige onderwijsaanpak (= taalbad Nederlands, ‘enkel Nederlands’-beleid op school), die de dominante ideologie in de samenleving weerspiegelt

The Shared LCTL Symposium: A Call to Action

“It is hard work and it could - likely will - take years, but it will be worth it.” How can we reimagine foreign language learning for the context of higher education today? How can we make sure that foreign languages remain relevant and an important part of the landscape of education in the United States? By focusing on innovative ways to partner across institutions and collaborate, the participants at the Shared LCTL Symposium in September 2018 discussed these key questions (resulting in the quote above from one of our participants). As a whole, the Shared LCTL Symposium (SLCTLS) focuses on how sharing languages, and, specifically, LCTLs, can work at different institutions, from small liberal arts consortia to large public institutions