Bureau for International Language Coordination BILC Updates Back to Basics: Recipes for Instructional Success Bled, Slovenia Julie J. Dubeau October 2012 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the BILC Professional seminar. At last count we are 76 delegates from 30 countries with 28 attending BILC for the first time, (a little over a third). A special welcome to all of our new delegates. We also have a few delegates from countries attending BILC for the first time, a special welcome to Mauritania and to Iraq. As I do at every BILC Conference and seminar, I will briefly tell you about BILC, who we are and what we do.

Membership, Secretariat, Mission STANAG 6001 Programme of work: What/who is BILC? Membership, Secretariat, Mission STANAG 6001 Programme of work: Cooperative Language Training Assessments Assistance to Testing Programmes Updates And give you a few brief updates at the end. 2

Chair BILC Secretariat Steering Committee Chair Dr. R. Monaghan BILC Secretariat Senior Advisor Dr. R. Clifford Secretary J. Dubeau GRB (1966-1981) DEU (1982-1996) USA (1997-2008) CAN (2008- ) Deputy Secretary J. Vasilj-Begovic Associate Secretaries Language Testing Programmes P. Garza Language Training Assessments K. Wert

Background Established in 1966 as an advisory body to NATO. The founding members are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 1967: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands 1975: SHAPE and IMS/NATO (non-voting members) 1978: Portugal 1983: Turkey 1984: Denmark and Greece 1985: Spain 1993: Norway 1999: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia 2008: Albania, Croatia Partner countries routinely participate. All nations are welcome to attend and/or observe. The BILC Chair presides over the Steering Committee which meets at the spring conference. Voting members are the heads of each full member delegation. The BILC Constitution and Rules of procedures are available from the secretariat. BILC conferences, seminars are well attended by language professionals, both military and civilian from 30 countries. From teachers to school commanders, language testers to MoD personnel, we have a rich mix of civ and mil managers and practitioners who work in the language training realm. We are the only forum for exchange of mil language training and education needs on an international level.

“NATOSPEAK: ENGLISH IN MULTINATIONAL SETTINGS” BILC Conference in Spring May 2012 was hosted by the Czech Republic – “Lifelong Language Learning, Enhancing Educational Effectiveness” May 2013 will be hosted by Georgia: 5 - 9 May 2013 “NATOSPEAK: ENGLISH IN MULTINATIONAL SETTINGS” BILC Professional Seminar in Fall October 2011 was hosted by U.S.A. – “Furthering Our Training Goals Through Research” October 2013 will be hosted by Sweden Theme and dates TBD Two main events each year that differ slightly in format and attendance, with the fall seminar focussing primarily on more hands-on training or testing issues, while the spring conference might be more inclined towards policy issues.  Theme Tbilisi: ENGLISH LANGUAGE in NATO: WEAPON OF MASS CONFUSION :-) SUB-THEME IDEAS: IDENTIFYING KEY ISSUES IN LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR IMPROVING LINGUISTIC INTEROPERABILITY NATO LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS VS NATIONAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS BLENDING GENERAL AND SPECIFIC CURRICULAR NEEDS BUILDING MILITARY CORPORA FOR CURRICULA THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH LESSONS LEARNED ON MULTINATIONAL DEPLOYMENT FOREIGN LANGUAGE CAPABILITY FOR MISSION SUPPORT CULTURAL AWARENESS FOR MISSION SUCCESS COUNTERING FOSSILIZATION AMONG LANGUAGE LEARNERS STANDARD VS. INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH CULTURAL NEUTRALITY TRENDS STANAG 6001 AND THE CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH 5

Mission: To promote and foster interoperability among NATO and PfP nations by furthering standardization of language training and testing. To support the Alliance's operations through the exchange of knowledge and best practices, IAW established procedures and agreements. Vision: To achieve levels of excellence where progress made by one is shared by all.

Complicated and complex! NATO Language Context: Complicated and complex! Each nation is responsible for its training / testing programme. No common tests - only a common standard. Nations certify their own military and give their members Standardized Language Profiles (SLPs) based on their own STANAG – based tests. NTG tasking - standardize through testing: BILC created a Benchmark Advisory Test – (The BAT) as an external measure against which nations calibrate their national STANAG tests Language is viewed as a critical factor in the interoperability shortfall (JALLC Report, ACT Report) There are many aspects outside of BILC’s direct scope that affect the context. But one of the key issues linking our training and testing systems, of course, is our STANAG 6001. 7

BILC-Custodian of STANAG 6001: 1976 NATO adopts STANAG 6001 – Specific enough so that positions (Mil and Civ) can be matched to proficiency levels, but general enough, so that they describe progression considered to be typical of learners, but not typically related to any particular language or curriculum. NATO/PfP interoperability issues raised common understanding of STANAG 6001 to forefront Testing protocols diverged greatly in NATO and PfP countries Emphasis on testing at PfP Seminars BILC Steering Committee approved formation of a WG on testing in 1999 Edition 2 promulgated by NSA in 2003 Edition 3 in 2005 Edition 4 in 2010 The standard to which we adhere forms the backbone of our training and testing systems. It influences what and how language is taught and tested. We do however, sometimes note discrepancies in interpretation and application of the standard. In order to assist nations with these issues, there are two key programmes run by BILC, by the associate secretaries. 8

Assistance to National Testing Programmes – (Peggy Garza) BILC Programmes: Assistance to National Testing Programmes – (Peggy Garza) Goal: To assist nations in establishing, restructuring or improving their testing systems 2012/2013: Spain Feb 2012 Moldova May 2012 Planned: Ukraine Nov 2012 Russia Spring 2013 Moldova Summer 2013 Language Testing Seminar (LTS): 2 weeks – 2X per year Advanced Language Testing Seminar (ALTS): 3 weeks – 2X per year - Offered to graduates from the LTS Visits to the following national programs were conducted by BILC at the request of the nations, with the generous support from the George Marshall Center Testing Seminars The seminars are conducted at the George Marshall Center and are designed to foster consistent and shared interpretation of STANAG 6001.4 as well as assessment procedures among assessors and raters of language proficiency. There are normally three seminars each year. The Advanced Testing Seminar provides support to program managers and addresses the management of language education and training programs as well as common assessment issues. See Peggy Garza for more details on upcoming seminars. 9

BILC Programmes (con’t): Cooperative Language Training Assessments (Keith Wert) Goal: To assess language training programmes and offer recommendations 2012/2013: Azerbaijan Mar 2012 Netherlands Mar 2012 Russia Sep 2012 Planned: Georgia Nov 2012 Russia Fall 2013 Proposed: Azerbaijan Spring 2013 Armenia Spring 2013 Multi national teams of BILC experts assist Ms Garza and Mr Wert with these visits.

STANAG 6001 Conferences Nations continue to standardize STANAG 6001 ed.4 levels and STANAG testing through specialized conferences Zagreb 2009 - Focus on standardization, moderation, and validation Sarajevo 2010 - Focus on standardizing approaches to testing speaking Stockholm 2011- Focus on standardizing approaches to testing writing Copenhagen 2012 - Focus on standardizing approaches to testing Listening TBC - SHAPE 2013 (beg. to mid Sept) A new BILC event has been added in eprime, the hands-on STANAG conferences which focus on testing and are aimed at practitioners.

STANAG 6001 Conference Copenhagen: Specific goals Increase understanding of the STANAG 6001 descriptors for listening Familiarize participants with the modified, modified revised Angoff method Practice item development Standardize the rating of listening tests through item review process Identify the challenges of testing listening and discuss possible solutions

Updates: Website: Will no longer be hosted by Canadian Government *Researching server options STANAG for non-specialists: Final Draft ready for SC and national review *In word file on USB Language Needs Analysis: Pending ACT Level 4 WG: Report forthcoming… Partner funding: To be resumed in 2013, BILC (Events now on eprime) Funding for Partners in Bled, DEEP gratitude! Website: Researching server options: STANAG for non-specialists: Final Draft ready for SC and national review Partner funding: To be resumed in 2013: Remember the BILC vision statement? To achieve levels of excellence where progress made by one is shared by all. Another quote comes to mind: – (attributed to various sources) A vision without resources is merely a hallucination BILC Events - eprime Funding for Bled, DEEP gratitude to DEEP (Jean d'Andurain - NATO HQ / International Staff Political Affairs and Security Policy Division Defence Education Programmes ) and Gabriella Lurwig his assistant who worked hard to get our partners here!

Contact us: BILC@forces.gc.ca Julie.Dubeau@forces.gc.ca Jana.Vasilj-Begovic@forces.gc.ca