- •Using the electronic version
- •Bookmarks
- •Moving around the text
- •Finding a word or phrase in the text
- •Using the hyperlinks in the text
- •Copying the text
- •Printing the text
- •CONTENTS
- •PREFATORY NOTE
- •NOTES FOR THE USER
- •SYNOPSIS
- •1 The Common European Framework in its political and educational context
- •1.2 The aims and objectives of Council of Europe language policy
- •1.4 Why is CEF needed?
- •1.5 For what uses is CEF intended?
- •1.6 What criteria must CEF meet?
- •2 Approach adopted
- •2.1.1 The general competences of an individual
- •2.1.2 Communicative language competence
- •2.1.3 Language activities
- •2.1.4 Domains
- •2.1.5 Tasks, strategies and texts
- •2.3 Language learning and teaching
- •2.4 Language assessment
- •3 Common Reference Levels
- •3.1 Criteria for descriptors for Common Reference Levels
- •3.2 The Common Reference Levels
- •3.3 Presentation of Common Reference Levels
- •3.4 Illustrative descriptors
- •Communicative activities
- •Strategies
- •3.5 Flexibility in a branching approach
- •3.6 Content coherence in Common Reference Levels
- •3.7 How to read the scales of illustrative descriptors
- •4 Language use and the language user/learner
- •4.1 The context of language use
- •4.1.1 Domains
- •4.1.2 Situations
- •4.1.3 Conditions and constraints
- •4.1.4 The user/learner’s mental context
- •4.2 Communication themes
- •4.3 Communicative tasks and purposes
- •4.3.4 Ludic uses of language
- •4.3.5 Aesthetic uses of language
- •4.4 Communicative language activities and strategies
- •4.4.1 Productive activities and strategies
- •4.4.2 Receptive activities and strategies
- •4.4.4 Mediating activities and strategies
- •4.4.5 Non-verbal communication
- •4.5 Communicative language processes
- •4.5.1 Planning
- •4.5.2 Execution
- •4.5.3 Monitoring
- •4.6 Texts
- •4.6.1 Texts and media
- •4.6.2 Media include:
- •4.6.3 Text-types include:
- •4.6.4 Texts and activities
- •5 The user/learner’s competences
- •5.1 General competences
- •5.1.1 Declarative knowledge
- •5.1.2 Skills and know-how
- •5.1.4 Ability to learn
- •5.2 Communicative language competences
- •5.2.1 Linguistic competences
- •5.2.2 Sociolinguistic competence
- •5.2.3 Pragmatic competences
- •6 Language learning and teaching
- •6.1 What is it that learners have to learn or acquire?
- •6.1.3 Plurilingual competence and pluricultural competence
- •6.1.4 Variation in objectives in relation to the Framework
- •6.2 The processes of language learning
- •6.2.1 Acquisition or learning?
- •6.2.2 How do learners learn?
- •6.3 What can each kind of Framework user do to facilitate language learning?
- •6.4 Some methodological options for modern language learning and teaching
- •6.4.1 General approaches
- •6.5 Errors and mistakes
- •7 Tasks and their role in language teaching
- •7.1 Task description
- •7.2 Task performance
- •7.2.1 Competences
- •7.2.2 Conditions and constraints
- •7.2.3 Strategies
- •7.3.1 Learner competences and learner characteristics
- •7.3.2 Task conditions and constraints
- •8.2 Options for curricular design
- •8.2.2 From the partial to the transversal
- •8.3 Towards curriculum scenarios
- •8.3.1 Curriculum and variation of objectives
- •8.3.2 Some examples of differentiated curriculum scenarios
- •8.4.1 The place of the school curriculum
- •8.4.3 A multidimensional and modular approach
- •9 Assessment
- •9.1 Introduction
- •9.2.2 The criteria for the attainment of a learning objective
- •9.3 Types of assessment
- •9.3.3 Mastery CR/continuum CR
- •9.3.5 Formative assessment/summative assessment
- •9.3.6 Direct assessment/indirect assessment
- •9.3.7 Performance assessment/knowledge assessment
- •9.3.8 Subjective assessment/objective assessment
- •9.3.9 Rating on a scale/rating on a checklist
- •9.3.10 Impression/guided judgement
- •9.3.11 Holistic/analytic
- •9.3.12 Series assessment/category assessment
- •9.4 Feasible assessment and a metasystem
- •General Bibliography
- •Descriptor formulation
- •Scale development methodologies
- •Intuitive methods:
- •Qualitative methods:
- •Quantitative methods:
- •Appendix B: The illustrative scales of descriptors
- •The Swiss research project
- •Origin and Context
- •Methodology
- •Results
- •Exploitation
- •Follow up
- •References
- •The descriptors in the Framework
- •Document B1 Illustrative scales in Chapter 4: Communicative activities
- •Document B2 Illustrative scales in Chapter 4: Communication strategies
- •Document B3 Illustrative scales in Chapter 4: Working with text
- •Document B4 Illustrative scales in Chapter 5: Communicative language competence
- •Document B5 Coherence in descriptor calibration
- •Appendix C: The DIALANG scales
- •The DIALANG project
- •The DIALANG assessment system
- •Purpose of DIALANG
- •Assessment procedure in DIALANG
- •Purpose of self-assessment in DIALANG
- •The DIALANG self-assessment scales
- •Source
- •Qualitative development
- •Translation
- •Calibration of the self-assessment statements
- •Other DIALANG scales based on the Common European Framework
- •Concise scales
- •Advisory feedback
- •References
- •Document C1 DIALANG self-assessment statements
- •Document C3 Elaborated descriptive scales used in the advisory feedback section of DIALANG
- •The ALTE Framework
- •The development process
- •Textual revision
- •Anchoring to the Council of Europe Framework
- •References
- •Document D1 ALTE skill level summaries
- •Document D2 ALTE social and tourist statements summary
- •Document D3 ALTE social and tourist statements
- •Document D4 ALTE work statements summary
- •Document D5 ALTE WORK statements
- •Document D6 ALTE study statements summary
- •Document D7 ALTE STUDY statements
- •Index
Appendix C: The DIALANG scales
This appendix contains a description of the DIALANG language assessment system which is an application for diagnostic purposes of the Common European Framework (CEF). The focus here is on the self-assessment statements used in the system and on the calibration study carried out on them as part of the development of the system. Two related descriptive scales, which are based on the CEF and used in reporting and explaining the diagnostic results to the learners, are also included. The descriptors in this project were scaled and equated to the CEF levels with Method No 12c (Rasch modelling) outlined at the end of Appendix A.
The DIALANG project
The DIALANG assessment system
DIALANG is an assessment system intended for language learners who want to obtain diagnostic information about their proficiency. The DIALANG project is carried out with the financial support of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture (SOCRATES Programme, LINGUA Action D).
The system consists of self-assessment, language tests and feedback, which are all available in fourteen European languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. DIALANG is delivered via the Internet free of charge.
DIALANG’s Assessment Framework and the descriptive scales used for reporting the results to the users are directly based on the Common European Framework (CEF). The self-assessment statements used in DIALANG are also mostly taken from the CEF and adapted whenever necessary to fit the specific needs of the system.
Purpose of DIALANG
DIALANG is aimed at adults who want to know their level of language proficiency and who want to get feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their proficiency. The system also provides the learners with advice about how to improve their language skills and, furthermore, it attempts to raise their awareness of language learning and proficiency. The system does not issue certificates.
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Appendix C: The DIALANG scales
The primary users of the system will be individual learners who study languages independently or on formal language courses. However, language teachers may also find many of the features of the system useful for their purposes.
Assessment procedure in DIALANG
The DIALANG assessment procedure has the following steps:
1.Choice of administration language (14 possible)
2.Registration
3.Choice of test language (14 possible)
4.Vocabulary Size Placement Test
5.Choice of skill (reading, listening, writing, vocabulary, structures)
6.Self-assessment (only in reading, listening, and writing)
7.System pre-estimates learner’s ability
8.Test of appropriate difficulty is administered
9.Feedback
On entering the system, the learners first choose the language in which they wish to receive instructions and feedback. After registering, users are then presented with a placement test which also estimates the size of their vocabulary. After choosing the skill in which they then wish to be tested, users are presented with a number of selfassessment statements, before taking the test selected. These self-assessment statements cover the skill in question, and the learner has to decide whether or not s/he can do the activity described in each statement. Self-assessment is not available for the other two areas assessed by DIALANG, vocabulary and structures, because source statements do not exist in the CEF. After the test, as part of the feedback, the learners are told whether their self-assessed level of proficiency differs from the level of proficiency assigned to them by the system on the basis of their test performance. Users are also offered an opportunity to explore potential reasons for a mismatch between self-assessment and the test results in the Explanatory Feedback section.
Purpose of self-assessment in DIALANG
Self-assessment (SA) statements are used for two reasons in the DIALANG system. Firstly, self-assessment is considered an important activity in itself. It is believed to encourage autonomous learning, to give learners greater control over their learning and to enhance learner awareness of their learning process.
The second purpose of self-assessment in DIALANG is more ‘technical’: the system uses the Vocabulary Size Placement Test and self-assessment results to pre-estimate the learners’ ability and then directs them to the test whose difficulty level best matches their ability.
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