1. CEFR in Practice: Promises and Problems Languages in Higher Education 2010 Conference: Raising the Standard for Languages 1-2 July, London Bahar Gün, İzmir Ekonomi Universitesi Alessandra Corda, Leiden University

2. Outline Introduction How do we know that the promises of the CEF really work? Problems: –How do teachers correctly assess students’ performance with the CEF? –How can you train teachers in using the CEF?

3. The CEFR, what is this exactly? A framework for language learning, teaching and assessment Council of Europe, 2001: large document (264 pag.)document Aim: more transparency and comparability Six competence levelscompetence levels

4. The CEFR competence levels A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 A1, illustrative scale for overall spoken interaction Can interact in a simple way but communication is totally dependent on repetition at a slower rate of speech, rephrasing and repair. Can ask and answer simple questions, initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics B2, illustrative scales for vocabulary range and vocabulary control Has a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to his/her field and most general topics. Can vary formulation to avoid frequent repetition, but lexical gaps can still cause hesitation and circumlocution

5. The Context An English medium university Twelve hundred students in the preparatory year A hundred plus English language instructors A new modular approach to course design A “Gateway” exit test to the next level

6. Why Assessment Tasks? From summative assessment toward a more formative approach Encourage learning through feedback

7. The Process Input to output One afternoon, twice a module Individual feedback slots Written feedback Referral to Self Access Centre

12. What the students say Can you tell us if the feedback helped you? Ali...we worked on these points, but then, other points appeared to work on. I didn’t put myself into it when I was supposed to write the second draft....when Rob clarified the areas better, I wrote a better text. I made fewer mistakes. Gulşah...it was good to rewrite. As Ali said, it helped us both to work on writing and to see the points to improve.

13. Spin-offs and side effects In addition to completing the task, the feedback helped you use English better. Can we say this? Ali: I’ve been more careful about using articles when speaking and writing. I also tried to write things in better English. Gülşah: I got more out of it than I expected. I made a mistake in the use of ‘which’. When Rob showed me how to use it, and also ‘when’, I corrected them.

14. CEF as quality insurance instrument How can students achieve a CEF competence level? –Teachers professional development, CEF familiarisation –Right amount hours of instruction

15. How many hours of instruction? Tschiner, E. (2005) Das ACTFL OPI und der Europäische Referenzrahmen, Babylonia, 2, 50-55.Das ACTFL OPI und der Europäische Referenzrahmen ACTFLCEFFrench, Spanish German Nov high A1 Int mid A2240 IL/IM480 IL/IM Int high B1480 IH/AL720 IH/AL Adv mid B2720 AM/AH1320 AM/AH Adv high C1

16. CEF as quality insurance instrument How can you prove that your students achieve a CEF competence level? –Internationally recognized language certificates related to the CEF certificates

17. Teachers familiarisation instruments CEFR “games” Websites for online training An example from www.erk.nlexamplewww.erk.nl www.webcef.eu: collaborative evaluation of oral language proficiencywww.webcef.eu CEFtrain: http://www.helsinki.fi/project/ceftrain/index.html, familiarisation activities with the CEFR http://www.helsinki.fi/project/ceftrain/index.html

18. Thanks for your attention Contact: Alessandra Corda, Leiden University acorda@iclon.leidenuniv.nl Bahar Gün, İzmir Ekonomi Universitesi bahar.gun@ieu.edu.tr