Tempus PROSET Promoting Sustainable Excellence in Testing and Assessment of English Lucie Betáková, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

EU partners University of Bedfordshire, UK, project manager: Prof. Anthony Green Southampton Solent University, UK, Technical University Dresden, Germany University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

Russian Federation Partners Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University, Chelyabinsk Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok Immanuel Kant State University of Russia, Kaliningrad Karelian State Pedagogical Academy, Petrozavodsk Mordovian State University, Saransk Nizhny Novgorod Linguistics University Samara State University Southern Federal University, Rostov on Don Surgut State University Kazan Federal University Ulyanovsk State University

Project Rationale In 2009 : Ministry of Education introduced All Russia Unified State Examination in Foreign Languages (EGE) for secondary school students. Secondary school teachers in Russia have no special training on testing and assessment and university trainees have not been prepared in the area either.

Context: Tensions in ELT ELT aims, content and methods have changed over the past 20 years but the innovations have not been reflected in testing and assessement which has largely remained the same.

Issues No testing and assessment component in teacher training courses in the Russian Federation Lack of know-how among teacher trainers who have not themselves received training in this area Lack of experience among current secondary school teachers in developing assessment tools for use in classroom Lack of awareness of principles underlying design of the EGE exam Lack of awareness may lead teachers towards inappropriate test preparation activities counter to intentions of the state secondary school curriculum Equipment and resource shortages Lack of coordination among universities

Soviet and Russian tradition in testing and assessment read and translate read and retell translate sentences from Russian into English topics, topics, topics …(learning monologues by heart) Emphasis on reproduction Highly subjective assessment ( slides on EGE by Prof. Maria Verbitskaya(NATE), Head of the Federal Committee on the Unified State Examination in foreign languages)

10 years of innovation – introduction of high-stakes tests Results likely to have major impact on programmes and on lives of large numbers of individuals Unified State Examination -EGE (National Standard Examination) Olympiads Federal Professional Education Examination (ФЭПО)

National Standard Exam (EGE) competence/ skills-based approach emphasizing reading & listening skills/ strategies emphasizing productive skills (writing and speaking) – though the speaking test has been withdrawn, discussion on whether to return in grammar and vocabulary in context

Introduction of EGE Resistance and roadblocks Limited pool of expertise Lack of trust in standardized testing as an assessment tool Claims for positive washback Communicative approach supported Speaking no longer means topics or dialogues learned by heart Listening comprehension established in the classroom

The general aims of the project To train specialists from partner universities in the area of testing and assessment To prepare courses in testing and assessment to be taught at partner universities. The courses should comply with ECTS system. To train teachers of English in both pre-service and in-service courses in testing and assessment.

The role of EU partners Project management Knowledge transfer Quality assurance Dissemination Cooperation with RF partners in developing training modules, materials and handbooks for teachers

Russian Federation Partners participate in the initial training programme contribute to development of modules for trainee teachers and run and evaluate pilot courses establish a regional centre for professional development to disseminate language assessment and testing expertise disseminate project outcomes to other universities and educational partners

The process – developing and delivering the training materials EU partners to train RF partners in language assessment principles and practice and simultaneously in European credit transfer system (ECTS) and quality standard. Collaborative development of training packages in accordance with ECTS. RF partners - piloting the modules with trainees at their universities (both pre-service and in-service)

The process – developing and delivering the training materials Monitoring by EU partners in Russian universities. RF partners – review and revise on basis of feedback. Second round of piloting and monitoring. Preparing the courses to be published by Cambridge University Press Russia and displayed on the website for general use. Final conference in Moscow organized by BC RF.

Testing and assessment modules the website address:

Literature All information based on Proset Project Materials created by : Anthony Green and Maria Verbitskaya