RELANG > Workshop modules

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Module 1: Taking stock of alignment to the CEFR and its Companion Volume

Key target groups: language testers and examiners, item writers and curriculum developers, policy makers

In the past decade countries have actively been involved in linking their curricula, tests and examinations to the CEFR. With the help of the publication “Aligning Language Education with the CEFR: a Handbook” it may be useful to have a look again at how individual member states have progressed in this area. In this three-day workshop language testers and examiners, item writers, curriculum developers, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders will be once again introduced to the principles of valid and reliable language testing in relation to the CEFR model of language use. During the workshop these principles will then be applied to newly developed curricula, tests and examinations. Special attention will be paid to the need for the collection and interpretation of test data and the validation of the linking process. Practical tips and exercises will be supplied and support materials adapted to the specific needs of the interested member states will be developed.

Module 2: Alternative, continuous methods of assessment in line with the CEFR and its Companion Volume

Key target groups: language test developers, teachers, teacher trainers, textbook writers and curriculum developers

In this three-day workshop, language test developers, teachers, teacher educators, textbook writers and curriculum developers together with RELANG team members will explore different forms of alternative assessment, such as portfolio-based, project-based, including self-assessment. Assessment in line with the descriptor scales in the CEFR and the Companion Volume and preferable in local contexts. Practical tips and tasks such as integrating assessment into teaching activities on a regular basis, designing approaches to assessment which support students’ learning and engaging students as active participants in the assessment of their work will be presented and discussed. Materials will be developed that are adapted to the specific context of the interested member states, focussing on developing students’ awareness of learning expectations and criteria for success.

Module 3: Exploring ways to test mediation and pluricultural/plurilingual skills in the classroom

Key target groups: curriculum developers, teacher trainers, teachers and language test developers

In this three-day workshop curriculum developers, teachers, teacher trainers, teachers and other relevant stakeholders will be introduced to the new mediation and pluricultural/plurilingual scales in the recently published Companion Volume to the CEFR. Participants will check to what extent their FL curriculum makes mention of these skills and find references in the curriculum to skills that are comparable. Reference will be made to mediation activities in the classroom as collected and published in the Companion Volume. Possibilities will be explored to develop classroom-based tests that link up with the above-mentioned descriptor scales and with classroom activities in this field.

Module 4: Literature and creative texts: how to practise and test literature in line with the CEFR and its Companion Volume

Key target groups: teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, language test developers

In this three-day workshop teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, language test developers and other relevant stakeholders, together with RELANG team members, will explore ways to include the teaching and testing of (1) Reading as a leisure activity, (2) Expressing a personal response to creative texts and (3) Analysis and Criticism of creative texts in line with the (newly developed) descriptor scales in the CEFR and the Companion Volume. Practical tips and exercises will be supplied and support materials adapted to the specific context of the interested member states will be developed.

Module 5: Constructing valid language tests and examinations based on the CEFR and its Companion Volume

Key target groups: language testers and examiners, item writers and curriculum developers

In this three-day workshop language testers and examiners, item writers, curriculum developers and other relevant stakeholders will be introduced to the principles of valid and reliable language testing in relation to the CEFR model of language use. Special attention will be paid to the construction of various item types, the stages of test development and the administration of tests, the collection and analysis of test data and also to possible ways of linking the tests and examinations to the (levels in the) CEFR. Practical tips and exercises will be supplied and support materials adapted to the specific needs of the interested member states will be developed.

Module 6: Assessment in pre-service teacher education: the impact of the publication of the Companion Volume to the CEFR on developing the assessment competences of future teachers

Key target groups: teacher educators and/or curriculum developers

In this three-day workshop, teacher educators and/or curriculum developers together with RELANG team members will explore how the publication of the Companion Volume (CV) to the CEFR, notably in the areas of Mediation and of Literature, may impact the training of future teachers in the area of assessment. In this workshop various forms of assessment, both formative and summative, classroom-based and external, will be discussed. The focus will be on assessment in line with the descriptor scales in the CEFR and the CV, preferably in local contexts. Practical tips and tasks such as integrating assessment into teaching activities on a regular basis, designing approaches to assessment which support students’ learning and engaging students as active participants in the assessment of their work will be presented and discussed. Materials will be adapted to the specific context of pre-service teacher education in the interested member states, focusing on developing pupil awareness of learning expectations and criteria for success.

Module 7: Relating foreign/second language curricula to the CEFR and its Companion Volume

Key target groups: curriculum developers, teacher trainers and policy makers

In this three-day workshop curriculum developers, teacher trainers, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders will be introduced to ways to relate existing foreign/second language curricula and learning outcomes to the CEFR and/or to initiate curriculum reform in relation to the CEFR model of language use. During the workshop special attention will be paid to the principles of linking attainment targets/learning outcomes to the CEFR and the consequences of this for the development of tests and examinations related to the CEFR. Practical tips and exercises will be supplied and support materials adapted to the specific needs of the interested member states will be developed.

Please note that the curriculum under discussion will need to be made available in either English or French.

This initiative is carried out within the framework of a cooperation agreement between the European Centre for Modern Languages and the European Commission, entitled
Innovative Methodologies and Assessment in language learning
www.ecml.at/ec-cooperation

Workshop modules

Recently a Companion Volume to the CEFR has been published. In the below modules, attention will be paid to the implications of this recent publication for the linking of curricula, tests and examinations to the CEFR.