NATO BILC 5-10 May 2013 LTCOL Fiona Curtis

DITC Mission To contribute to Australian Defence’s international engagement objectives by providing training and support through the Defence Cooperation Program.

Role of DITC To enhance the training provided in Australia to South East Asian and South Pacific defence forces and other selected overseas defence personnel.

Functions To provide Australian cultural and military familiarisation courses to, and pre-training administrative preparation of, personnel from overseas countries. To identify and promulgate the level of Australian English required for students to be accepted for training on courses provided by the Australian Defence Organisation. To provide appropriate Australian English language courses for foreign teachers of English. To provide technical support to overseas military English language schools in accordance with direction from HQ and the approved DITC activities schedule.

DITC Students 667 students to date for FY 2012/2013 Indonesia                112 Papua New Guinea    73 Philippines                   68 Pakistan 65 Thailand 59 Malaysia 54 Vietnam 44 Tonga 34 Cambodia 27 China 11 Kiribati 10 Samoa 10 Vanuatu 10 Approximately 900 students per year from more than 40 nations across South West Pacific, Asia, Middle East and Africa.

Staff composition: 9 X ADF, 7 foreign seconded officers and 26 civilians (teachers and support staff).

PERFORMANCE TESTING using the AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFILING SYSTEM (ADFELPS)

ADFELPS is used: to match prospective students with appropriate courses to maximise the benefits they will gain from any training they undertake in Australia; to determine English language profiles (entry requirements) on all (approx 300) courses which Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) students are eligible to attend in Australia; and to determine English language proficiency levels in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing of individual students who are nominated to attend training on DCP courses.

Test Types Proficiency Test Achievement Test Diagnostic Test Language needed for future use Language learned in a given course Specific language elements Placement Test Entrance Test Mastery Test Language taught at different levels of future courses Language defined as criteria for acceptance Specific and defined knowledge, usually by objectives

Performance Testing at DITC using ADFELPS Multi-purpose proficiency test instrument for: selection of candidates for entry to ADF training courses measuring English language proficiency (Speaking, Listening ,Reading ,Writing ) General English in a military context second language proficiency Entry or Placement on appropriate English improvement courses Achievement (exit levels) on language improvement courses

ADFELPS Test Instruments Speaking (interview kit) 3rd edition Listening Test 25 equated tests versions Reading Test 25 equated test versions Writing test 38 versions ADFELPS Screening Test discriminates up to level 5 5 versions

The Tests Developed and validated at DITC Copyright test materials owned by DITC Other countries use it: for recruitment of personnel as an incentive in pay/promotion to screen potential lELTS test candidates Distributed to DCP Regional Defence Language Schools for no cost to receiving units; Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, PR China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Middle East (Jordan, UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) Vietnam, 11 South West Pacific states

ADFELPS AND ITS ESTIMATED EQUIVALENT ECL PEARSON TE TOEFL STANAG IELTS ICAO 9 90 - 100 86 - 90 102 -120 4 - 5 8 - 9 6 8 79 - 85 94 - 101 7 5 80 - 89 65 - 78 75 - 93 3 6.5 4 70 - 79 50 - 64 46 - 78 2 - 2+ 5.5 - 6 46 - 69 36 - 49 35 - 45 1 - 1+ 2 ≤ 45 24 - 35 ≤ 34 ≤ 4 1 ≤ 23 ADFELPS AND ITS ESTIMATED EQUIVALENT SCORE ON OTHER TESTS BASED ON DESCRIPTORS AND STATISTICS ADFELPS – Australian Defence Force English Language Profiling System ECL – English Comprehension Level PEARSON TE – Pearson Test of English TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language STANAG – NATO Standardization Agreement IELTS – International English Language Testing System ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation ADFELPS – Australian Defence Force English Language Profiling System ECL – English Comprehension Level PEARSON TE – Pearson Test of English TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language STANAG – NATO Standardization Agreement IELTS – International English Language Testing System ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation

ADFELPS Rater Training ADFELPS Rater Training Course (ARTC) English language proficiency rater accreditation course (two weeks) Scheduled once a year – max 24 per course Currently 19 accredited DITC raters and 78 accredited DCP raters

Information Booklet

English Language Proficiency Summary of Level Descriptors (on a scale of 1 to 9) (Click here to open file)

ADFELPS Level 7 Descriptors (Click here to open file)

ADFELPS Level 7 Speaking Interview Sample (Click here to open file)

ADFELPS LEVEL 7 Writing Sample (Click here to open file)

Validation of Listening and Reading Versions Use statistical packages (Winsteps, Rasch analysis & Facets) Access to statistically significant number of candidates for trialling sometimes problematic

Maintaining Valid Ratings for Speaking and Writing ADFELPS Rater Training Course Comparing in-country & DITC scores (by test versions and raters) Yearly re-accreditation mandated for all trained, practicing raters Double ratings selective pairing of raters according to facets output

ADFELPS Profiles

ADFELPS Profiles Database of all DCP courses Maintained at DITC and updated annually Distributed to all Australian Embassy Defence Sections on CD Rom (pdf format) Individual course profiles describe entry English proficiency levels required ‘for successful course completion’ Determined by questionnaire or visit to training centres and validated by post-course survey on student performance

Course Profile (Click here to open file)

Summary Valid and reliable English proficiency test system owned by ADF Strong reputation with consumers Cost effective (low staff overheads) Multi-purpose Meets aspects of regional engagement objectives

Questions?

Find Us… DITC Homepage DITC Virtual On-line language learning www.facebook.com/DefenceInternationalTrainingCentre

CO DITC LTCOL Fiona Curtis RAAF Williams, Laverton, Victoria 3027, AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9256 2818 Email: fiona.curtis@defence.gov.au