cefcult eurocall 2010
DESCRIPTION
This was the presentation of the European project CEFcult at EUROCALL in Bordeaux, France, Sept. 2010TRANSCRIPT
CEFcult: online assessment of oral
language skills in an intercultural workplace
Ana Beaven and Lucia LivatinoEUROCALL 2010 - Bordeaux
Recommendations and standards
Recommendations of the ELAN Project (2006), “Effects on the European Union Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise” commissioned by the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission .Businesses should be encouraged […] to
support education and training programmes linking languages and enterprise, working with schools, colleges and universities.
“National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working”, CILT, The National Centre for Languages, UK (2008).
The WebCEF project (2006-2009)
Development of an online spoken language assessment tool for learners of various European languages, teachers of secondary school and HE, teacher trainers and trainees in Europe.
The CEFcult project (2009-2011) Description
Development of an online assessment environment for oral language skills and intercultural communicative competence.
Funding bodyThe Lifelong Learning Programme of the Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission (key activity 2: Languages).
Users
Target groups:
undergraduates and graduates who are preparing themselves for first-time employment
Participants in vocational training managers and employees language teachers in-company trainers educators
Partners AVNet - K.U.Leuven (Belgium) Coordinator Open Universiteit Nederland (The Netherlands) Technische Universität Dresden (Germany) Internationale Hogeschool Leuven (Belgium) Université de Savoie (France) Università di Bologna (Italy) Uniwersytet Łódzki (Poland) Helsingin Yliopisto (Finland) Euneos Oy (Finland) Jyväskylän Yliopisto (Finland) The Open University (UK) Fontys Hogescholen (The Netherlands)
Outputs Web environment: a modular, customizable environment
that allows for assessment of oral and intercultural skills. Scenarios: a set of authentic communication tasks
through which users can assess their oral and intercultural skills in different European languages.
Training materials: for self-, peer- and expert assessment in education and enterprises.
Guidelines: research-supported guidelines for foreign language teaching and educational policy.
Collaborative assessment: viable and tested models for collaborative assessment among higher education institutions, enterprises, and various stakeholders.
Design and Development phase Partner meetings in Nov.2009 and June 2010. Creation of project website. Development of a prototype of the web-based
environment for assessment. Selection of rating scales. Definition of scenarios and tasks that require the
activation of both language and intercultural competences.
Scheduling and specification of pilots (HE and enterprise).
Initial development of the social media aspects of the assessment environment.
Appointment of advisory board. Dissemination.
The web-based environment Choice of scenarios. Recording of samples (using FlashVlog or
uploading of samples). Assessment of samples (self-, peer- or expert
assessment). Assessment environment will be enhanced by
available web 2.0 applications, advancing a number of user-driven functionalities (communities of practice; e-portfolio).
Scenarios and tasks
Scenarios: applying for a job, working in a multinatinal team, etc.
Tasks: eliciting linguistic and intercultural performance. Response format: sustained monologues, interactions, etc Assessment:
CEFRINCA
Assessment scales
Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Linguistic competence (oral production and
interaction): range, accuracy, fluency, coherence, interaction.
Sociolinguistic competence Pragmatic competence
Assessment scales
Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA) Openness: respect for otherness, tolerance of
ambiguity. Knowledge: knowledge discovery, empathy. Adaptability: behavioural flexibility,
communicative awareness.
Example from the scenario“Working in a multinational team in different European countries”
Task 2 “Explaining a procedure”Integrated Speaking Task (recording time: 2-3 minutes)In this task, you will first be asked to watch a video clip in which a person explains a procedure to a colleague who has never done it before and who does not speak English well.Once you have watched the clip, reflect on the following points:
whether the communication was successful or not;how you can tell;what were the positive and negative aspects and why;what, if anything, could have been done to improve the interaction.
Now, when you are ready, record yourself as you explain the same procedure, taking into account your reflections. Pretend you are talking to an interlocutor who does not speak English well or, if you have a partner, record yourself explaining the procedure to him/her.
Example from the scenario“Working in a multinational team in different European countries”
Intercultural competence tested: Adaptability (Communicative awareness).
Linguistic competence tested: Speaking. Interaction: Information exchange (CEFR
4.4.3). Pragmatic competence tested: Discourse
competence (flexibility). (CEFR 5.2.3.1).
Interaction: Information exchange (CEFR 4.4.3)B2 Can understand and exchange complex information and advice on the full
range of matters related to his/her occupational role.Can pass on detailed information reliably.Can give a clear, detailed description of how to carry out a procedure.Can synthesise and report information and arguments from a number of sources.
B1 Can exchange, check and confirm accumulated factual information on familiar routine and non-routine matters within his/her field with some confidence.Can describe how to do something, giving detailed instructions.Can summarise and give his or her opinion about a short story, article, talk, discussion, interview, or documentary and answer further questions of detail.Can find out and pass on straightforward factual information.Can ask for and follow detailed directions.Can obtain more detailed information.
Descriptors from INCAAdaptability (Communicative awareness)
1. Basic When people communicate in ways I do not understand I try in an unsystematic way to take part, but hope that they will eventually adapt to the way I communicate. I know that others may communicate in ways I am not familiar with.
2. Intermediate
My behaviour is influenced by principles that guide me and I often plan for eventualities, including ambiguous situations. I seek to achieve good communication both by making my own conventions clearer and by adopting those of others. When there is, or might be, a problem with communication, I quite often find ways around it, e.g. using gesture, re-explaining, simplifying etc. I am aware of a number of useful strategies for dealing with common communication problems
3. Full When ambiguous situations arise, I can usually clarify or otherwise deal with them to the benefit of the group.I use my communication strategies to prevent, solve and mediate problems arising from differences in language or other communication conventions.I have a good overall understanding of the kinds of communicative difficulties that can arise in an intercultural context and of a wide range of strategies for resolving them.
When people communicate in ways I do not understand I try in an unsystematic way to take part, but hope that they will eventually adapt to the way I communicate.I know that others may communicate in ways I am not familiar with.
My behaviour is influenced by principles that guide me and I often plan for eventualities, including ambiguous situations. I seek to achieve good communication both by making my own conventions clearer and by adopting those of others. When there is, or might be, a problem with communication, I quite often find ways around it, e.g. using gesture, re-explaining, simplifying etc. I am aware of a number of useful strategies for dealing with common communication problems
When ambiguous situations arise, I can usually clarify or otherwise deal with them to the benefit of the group.I use my communication strategies to prevent, solve and mediate problems arising from differences in language or other communication conventions.I have a good overall understanding of the kinds of communicative difficulties that can arise in an intercultural context and of a wide range of strategies for resolving them.
Scenarios and tasks: issues Privacy: Private / public samples Stakes: high/low Languages: Target language, mother tongue,
lingua franca Cultures: culture-general/culture-specific Assessment: Integrated / separated language
and culture assessment Roles: Assessee /assessor Scales: INCA: need for operational
descriptors/examples? Technical issues. Other issues?
