2. FROM LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY SITUATIONS TO FUNCTIONAL TASK-BASED TESTS Leuven TBLT, september 2005 CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY LEUVEN UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM Eva Teijsse and Lies Wijnants

3. TASK BASED APPROACH Functional tests Based on the needs of language users Contextualised real life situations Integrated Profile tests

4. PROFILES Profile academic language proficiency Profile professional language proficiency Profile societal language proficiency Profile tourist and informal language proficiency

5. NEW PROFILES Profile language proficiency in practical professions Profile language proficiency in higher education

6. SUMMARY PRESENTATION PURPOSE: How to come from a language proficiency situation to a functional task-based test - an example STEP 1: real life situation: features STEP 2: complexity of a real life situation STEP 3: test-technical criteria STEP 4: constructing a rating model

7. STEP 1 In which real life language use situation does one wants to function in Dutch? Features: Goal language user Role/function language user Role/function communication partner(s) Media Language skills

8. REAL LIFE SITUATION You want to follow salsa lessons. You received a flyer from a dancing school about trial lessons. You register yourself per e-mail for one of the trial lessons, while making use of your agenda.

9. SITUATION and LANGUAGE TASKS LANGUAGE USE SITUATION: real life situation which requires the accomplishment of language tasks in order to function successfully within this situation. LANGUAGE TASK: language activity which people carry out in order to function in a language use situation. A language use situation can require several language tasks.

10. LANGUAGE TASKS - read a flyer - read your agenda - write an e-mail

11. STEP 2 Which language parameters determine the complexity of the language situation and its different language tasks? Text genre + text features Level of information processing Public

12. LEVEL OF INFORMATION PROCESSING This parameter refers to the extent to which a language user has to process a text for production or reception.

13. LEVEL OF INFORMATION PROCESSING Copying level (very low) Descriptive level (low) Restructuring level (high) Evaluative level (very high)

14. STEP 2 Which language parameters determine the complexity of the language situation and its different language tasks? Text genre + text features Level of information processing Public

15. STEP 3 How to meet test-technical criteria when constructing the test task? Validity Efficiency Reliability

16. STEP 4 How to construct a rating model ? Validity: Language requirements Reliability and Objectivity How? Global - Analytic rating

17. RELIABILITY / OBJECTIVITY Split up into components (items) Provide a clear and detailed scoring key/ model Train the raters Detect and remove unreliable items

18. www.cnavt.org

19. FROM LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY SITUATIONS TO FUNCTIONAL TASK-BASED TESTS Leuven, september 2005 CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY LEUVEN UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM Eva Teijsse and Lies Wijnants

20. And now..... it's Salsa time!