Real life needs, European standards

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Real life needs, European standards
Presented by Zsuzsa Östör Euro Exam Centre Head
of Teacher Training email ostorzsuzsa
_at_euroexam.org
www.euroexam.hu
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The Council of Europe...
2001
... drafted the Common European Framework of
reference for languages now in use across Europe.
Setting the standard across Europe
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Common Reference Levels
C2
Proficient User
C1
B2
Independent User
B1
A2
Basic User
A1
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Global Descriptors

• Can understand the main ideas of complex texts on
  both concrete and abstract topics, including
  technical discussions in his/her field of
  specialisation.
• Can interact with a degree of fluency and
  spontaneity that makes regular interaction with
  native speakers quite possible without strain for
  either party.
• Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range
  of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical
  issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of
  various options.

B2
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Language learning

• Modern language education is based largely on
  beliefs that an ability to communicate is more
  important than a theoretical knowledge of the
  systems of language.

The communicative approach
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Learning to communicate

• Linguistic competence lexical, phonological,
  syntactical knowledge
• Sociolinguistic competence sensitivity to social
  conventions (e.g. rules of politeness, level of
  formality, appropriate register)
• Pragmatic competence functional
  language, discourse management, cohesion and
  coherence, identifying text types and forms, etc.
  

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The Council of Europes Common European Framework

• ... view of language use and learning
• ... is an action-oriented one
• it views users and learners of a language
  primarily as members of society who have tasks
  (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish
  in a given set of circumstances (The act of
  communicating) forms part of a wider social
  context...

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Tasks

• A task is defined as any purposeful action
  considered by an individual as necessary in order
  to achieve a given result in the context of a
  problem to be solved, an obligation to fulfil or
  an objective to be achieved.

obtaining certain conditions in the negotiation
of a contract
playing a game of cards
moving a wardrobe
ordering a meal in a restaurant
preparing a class newspaper through group work
writing a book
translating a foreign language text
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2001
Learning/Teaching
COMMUNICATION
Systematic knowledge
Phonological Lexical Grammatical Functional /
Notional Discoursal Systems
Proficiency Tests
Placement Tests
Reading /Writing Vocabulary Grammar
Reading/Writing Vocabulary Grammar
Skills
Speaking Listening Reading Writing
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Learning/Teaching
COMMUNICATION
Systematic knowledge
Phonological Lexical Grammatical Functional /
Notional Discoursal Systems
Placement Tests
Proficiency Tests
?
?
Skills
Speaking Listening Reading Writing
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Wouldnt it be good to have exams that
are based on an internationally understood system
and test communicative competence
by testing success in communication
as demonstrated by performance in tasks
that either reflect real world language needs
or provide valid measurement of language
competencies necessary for real world
communication?
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Surely, it cant be too hard ...

• to exchange context-less grammar exercises
• for tests that use real-world tasks
• (or tasks that reflect real world needs)
• (or tasks that test competencies that underlie
  real world skills)

tasks
tasks
tasks
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What is the syllabus?

• Our constant aim to keep the exam relevant to

real-world needs
What text types represent real world uses?
What skills are needed to produce these text
types?
What are real world reasons for utilising this
skill?
What classroom practices may lead to more
successful use of these skills?
What task types best measure the ability to
communicate or access information effectively?
What exam formats, text types and task types
might encourage such classroom work?
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2001
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Euro Exam Levels
Operational Proficiency
C1
Vantage
B2
Threshold
B1
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Two suites of exams
Euro

• for General purposes

• for Business and
• Professional purposes

EuroPro
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Structure of the B1 and B2 exams in both systems
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Structure of the C1 exam in both systems
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2001

• The Council of Europe Framework was published in
  Strasbourg.

• Development and piloting of the Euro and
  EuroPro exam suites in Budapest.

• The Hungarian Ministry of Education officially
  accredited the Euro examinations.

• Oxford Brookes University began using the
  EuroPro C1 exams as part of its entry
  requirements for students starting MBA courses.

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2002 Both suites of the Euro exams were awarded
the European Language Label of the European
Council.
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2003-2005

• The Euro exams
• were accredited as the official language testing
  tools of the
• International House World Organisation.

• Euro Exam Centre in Budapest became the official
  Assessment Centre of IHWO.

• Recognition of the exams in progress in several
  other countries, e.g. Rumania, Spain, Ukraine.

• More than 21 000 candidates in 40 local Euro
  Exam Centres in Hungary and abroad.

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Publications
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Real-life Exam Tasks

• A task is defined as any purposeful action
  considered by an individual as necessary in order
  to achieve a desired result.

Translate a colleagues letter
Make an oral presentation based on data
Ask questions about what your partner has said
Match text information to the subject (text,
picture etc)
Fill in forms
Write a memo
Find where certain information is within texts
Make notes from an extended monologue
Translate two-way in a problem situation
Read a very long text and extract key ideas from
it
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Writing
CEF Written Interaction Descriptors
Can convey information and ideas on abstract as
well as concrete topics, check information and
ask about or explai problems with reasonable
precision. (Overall Written Interaction)
Can write complex letters which present a
case with an effective logical structure which
helps the recipient to notice and remember
significant points. (Correspondence)
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Writing Task One Transactional Task from the
Euro DTF

• The texts to be produced by item writers
• A number of pieces of written or diagrammatic
  text (leaflets, notes, letters, maps, timetables)
  containing
• a context for the tasks
• a request for the candidate to write something
• ( e.g. a reply, an opinion)
• information that the candidate needs to complete
  the task
• The texts may be annotated, have Post-it notes
  attached etc. Such annotations count as another
  source text.
• The total word count for source texts should be
  no longer than 300 words, although texts are
  typically shorter than this.

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Writing Task One Transactional Task from the
Euro DTF

• The candidate is set two or more transactional
  tasks to write.
• Text types of candidate responses
• transactional letter
• note / message
• poster / notice
• classified ad
• e-mail
• Report
• Total length of writing asked for 130-160 words

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Writing Task One Transactional Task from the
Euro DTF

• Candidate responses
• will be different genre types
• require differing levels of formality
• have different aims (different desired response
  from target reader)
• make different linguistic demands on the writer

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Writing Task One Transactional Task from the
Euro DTF

• This task tests the candidates ability to
• complete a written task appropriately, keeping
  both the purpose of the letter and the reader in
  mind
• use broadly speaking the appropriate level of
  formality
• maintain lexical and grammatical range and
  accuracy appropriate for this level

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Writing criteria
Linguistic competence
Sociolinguistic competence
Pragmatic competence
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Mediation
Common European Framework

• Can convey content / opinions within the
  original text between two languages
• Can create or mediate a text that is largely
  clear and shows awareness of the linguistic
  characteristics and customs of the destination
  language

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2. Mediation in a problem situation
Task 1 Listen and Translate You are on holiday
in Australia with a group of Hungarians. Somebody
has asked you to help him buy tickets for the
opera. Listen to the dialogue and translate. If
the person speaks in English, translate into
Hungarian. If the person speaks in Hungarian,
translate into English. You will hear each line
twice. There will be a fifteen second pause
between each line for you to write down the
translation
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The result

• We think we have a suite of exams that reflects
  contemporary thinking about language learning and
  teaching and reflects the Council of Europes as
  well as our own schools approach.
• We have taken special care to design tests where
  the WASHBACK effect on teaching will be hugely
  positive.
• This should encourage a higher quality of work
  from teachers by requiring use of a communicative
  syllabus with stated targets.

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Real life needs, European standards
Presented by Zsuzsa Östör Euro Exam Centre Head
of Teacher Training Senior Advisor email
ostorzsuzsa _at_euroexam.org
www.euroexam.hu