3. Introduction
Mismatch in different real cases between
the formal degree or certified
qualifications obtained by the language
learners and the real need of the
organisation funding/commanding the
language course.
4. The Initial Finding
Introduction
The customer/ commander of a language course in a
variety of contexts usually seeks that the beneficiaries
of the course:
Master a “foreign language in use” rather
than just acquire “foreign language
knowledge”.
5. Example
Introduction
Commercial Chinese for Private Company (Spain).
Sample 20 students.
Majority of Business Chinese courses focus on basic
vocabulary in Mandarin, business related general
sentences and “decontextualised” cultural aspects.
Yet
The company is interested in optimising the negotiation
skills of its workers with its customer in Changzhou, by
learning specific negotiation behaviours in a specific
economic sector (textile) using basic Mandarin and
colloquial Wu Chinese.
7. Analysis
The project
12 cases selected from partners in 6 European countries were analysed
taking as a basis the following questions:
1. Which competences should be more adapted to learners’ / customers’
needs?
2. How has the course been adapted to the learners’/ customers needs?
3. Is the course designed in such a way that it facilitates acquiring required
skills?
4. Are the course components adjusted to learners’ needs / capabilities /
resources? How?
The analysis of these cases was intended as a source of comparison to
launch hypothesis of the best fitting solutions included in a method, which
has been tested with some 80 stakeholders in the 6 countries.
11. Facts
The project
Indicators for Evaluation
Purely linguistic indicators (level of vocabulary, proper use of grammar, …)
are often incomplete to characterise the validity of typical foreign language
proficiency evaluation methods. A more complete sphere of evaluation of
the language in use should take into account:
•Psycholinguistic Aspects
•Sociolinguistic Aspects.
•Cultural aspects. In particular intercultural elements.
•Pragmatic aspects.
12. Facts
The project
Non-Academic Purpose of foreign languages (the commanding
organisation perspective)
A multiplicity of organisations command foreign language courses with a
purpose beyond the pure learning of the language by the learners.
Private companies - > Increase of Competitiveness/ Sales/ Markets…
Public services -> Increase employment competences/ integration/ … of
certain target groups.
For this kind of purposes, the so called “foreign language pragmatic
competences” are called for, in order to design, organise and perform a
functional discourse of the foreign language in a particular context.
Traditional evaluation methods (for instance, tests) can not normally
recreate fully these particular contexts (working environment, plurality of
interlocutors, a sequenced process like a negotiation, etc).
13. Facts
The project
Non-Academic Purpose of foreign languages (the learner’s perspective)
Besides the professional or social requirement purposes shared with many
language course commanders, language learners usually have their own
private purposes, related to leisure, culture or emotions, for instance:
• Interacting with citizens of another culture.
• Communicating with relatives speaking another language.
For this kind of purposes, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic and intercultural
competences are extremely relevant. Also when we consider these
extended competences linked to a foreign language, traditional evaluation
methods can not possibly recreate many of the real situations where the
foreign language is intended to be used (elements of surprise, excitement,
empathy, etc).
14. Conclusions
Whereas existing standards and instruments (CEFR, Language Test
Development manuals) provide a sound basis for foreign language
competence evaluation, many intended uses of a foreign language may
require singular adaptations of these instruments and even
complementary methods to provide additional validity and reliability.
Where a particular context is required to use practically a foreign
language, the cooperation of the language course commander, the target
learners and the language course designer is key to: i) describe the course
specifications; ii) facilitate compatible learning environments; iii) develop
complementary evaluation indicators to those purely linguistic.
Many of the professional intended uses of the foreign languages require
competences beyond the purely linguistic ones, involving innovative
approaches and quality ensuring specific methods, in particular in the
fields of: pragmatics and sociolinguistics.
15. Current state of research
7 European partners (ES, PL, BE, DE, IT, CZ, LV) involved in Language
Training at different levels (University, Vocational, Adult learning) work
currently on developing assessment tools to approach Employment
Competences through foreign Language Learning.
Taking the CEFR as starting point and specific recommendations of Project
PROMACOLT, they intend to develop, test and benchmark real cases of
language courses specification and proficiency assessment, in particular
for employment and career development.
Visit Promacolt previous results at: www.promacolt.eu
Visit current work at: www.promacolt.eu/precolt
