Le Cadre Européen Commun de Référence pour l'acquisition des langues! Thunder Bay:

Le Cadre Européen Commun de Référence pour l'acquisition des langues!

Thunder Bay:

le 3 & 4 Juin 2010

Denis Cousineau: OCDSB

Agenda de travail:Jour 1• historique• réalité en Europe vs la réalité

au Canada• pourquoi le Cadre au Canada?• Comprendre l'outil

Agenda de travail:Jour 2• Implications pour la

pédagogie, l'évaluation et l'apprentissage!

• La planification à rebours et les principes de différentiation.

• Comment transformer le paysage du FLS?

http://www.thefuntheory.com/node?page=1

http://www.thefuntheory.com/node?page=1

• http://www.edufle.net/Petit-historique-du-cadre-europeen• http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_reference.htm• http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/dnr_FR.asp• http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_enseigner.htm• http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_evaluer.htm• http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_perspectives.htm

• http://www.ciep.fr/delf-pro/index.php

Historique du Cadre

http://www.edufle.net/Petit-historique-du-cadre-europeen

http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_reference.htm

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/dnr_FR.asp

http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_enseigner.htm

http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_evaluer.htm

http://www.francparler.org/dossiers/cecr_perspectives.htm

http://www.ciep.fr/delf-pro/index.php

Un peu d'histoire!

OCDSB - Context Exploring Perceptions

Who gets to stay on the rink? Who needs to be on the rink?

Our Focus: Learning, Leadership, Community

OCDSB – FSL Program Review (elementary)

January 2007• Maintain EFI• Expand MFI• Phase out LFI• Maintain Core French – JK - 8


OCDSB – FSL Program Review (Secondary)

March 2009• Oral communication – grade 9/10• Applied courses• Grade 12 French Proficiency Test


OCDSB CEFR Strategy

• Implementation of the DELF- pilot (2009-2010)- expanded pilot (2010-2011)- full implementation (2011-2012)?

• Focus on oral communication (K-12)

• Portfolios?


OCDSB DELF Pilot (2009-2010)

• December 2009 – 2-day introductory training• January 2010 – accredited DELF centre• February 2010 – 4-day training for examiners• April 2010 – administration of DELF• June 2010 – analysis of student results/perceptual data

A1 Learning

A1 Learning

A1 Learning

A1 Learning

A-2

Learner develops new skills!

C2-Learning

• Learner has a very high level of proficiency

• Mastery of all the abilities!

C2-Learning

C2-Learner and Performer

Skill Development

Practice and Feedback

Teaching Support

Peer Support

Family and Community Support

Cultural Value• Generational transmission of

skills and knowledge

Cultural Change : All Inclusive

Openness to the whole world and to Francophonie!

A Canadian Society with Skillful Learners

For Educators, Learners and Parents Common Understanding and Terminology

Communication de: Wally Lazaruk en 2007

ConclusionLe Cadre est un instrument très utile pour promouvoir, structurer et évaluer l’apprentissage des langues secondes et étrangères. Au Canada, le Cadre européen pourrait combler un besoin important de développer une base commune de référence pour les langues.Le Cadre européen possède plusieurs caractéristiques qui conviennent au contexte canadien. Il décrit clairement des niveaux de compétence langagière qui correspondent aux perceptions des enseignants et des apprenants. Les descripteurs sont clairs, significatifs et formulés de façon positive. Le cadre est ouvert et souple, offrant un système commun de référence qui peut être utilisé dans différentes circonstances, un système qui peut être modifié et raffiné. Les examens internationaux constituent une façon efficace d’appliquer le Cadre européen. Les apprenants accordent beaucoup d’importance à la reconnaissance internationale de leur compétence en français.

Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaTéléphone : (780) 432-7070

Téléc. : (780) 988-1996Courriel : [email protected]

Le Français en TGV

London, Ontario23 avril, 2010

• état de la situation: State of the Nation

• Perceptions et attitudes• Next steps! Ou aller et comment?

Denis Cousineau

Where are we? and where do we want to be? and at what speed?

Un peu d'histoire suite...

Le portrait actuel et futur!

Nicole, Daphné et Tristan!

The CEFR in the NetherlandsErna van Hest, Cito

Strasbourg, 6-8 February 2007

(c) Cito - Strasbourg 6-8 February 2007 - 2

Introduction

• Concrete actions in implementing the CEFR in the Netherlands

• Problems experienced

• Solutions found


Concrete actions

Language teaching• Adaptation of existing syllabi• Widespread promotion of the European

Language Portfolio among students and teachers


Concrete actions

Language testing: national level• Revision of examination syllabi and

examinations• Dutch examinations linking project• Linkage of state examinations for Dutch as

a second language to the CEFR


Concrete actions

Language testing: international level• Linkage of speaking and writing

performances to CEFR • EBAFLS (European Bank of Anchor items

for Foreign Language Skills)


Problems experienced

• Dissemination of the CEFR in Dutch language education and especially among language teachers

• The techniques of linking examinations to the CEFR


Solutions found

Language teaching• Facilitating/supporting documents for

language teachers• Special CEFR training courses for language

teachers

Language testing• Dutch examinations linking project• Benchmarked reference tools


CEFR and language education

• The CEFR gives schools, teachers and students an international common framework to discuss and promote language competence and language learning

Schools can use the CEFR to:• describe their language policies• compare their outcomes in the field of language

learning



Teachers can use the CEFR text types, tasks and level criteria as practical tools to:• structure their language lessons• guide tailor-made individualized language learning

processes• provide feedback to students on their language

performance and progress• discuss students’ results and performance targets

with their fellow teachers



THE CEFR allows students to:• structure and plan their language learning process• discuss their progress and achievements in a

transparant way with their fellow students, teachers, parents and future employers

• compare their language performance to fellow students, nationally and internationally


Conclusions and recommendations

The CEFR is a very useful instrument inpromoting, structuring and testing foreignlanguage learning.

To make sure that the CEFR is to beimplemented into schools and that it becomespart of everyday language teaching, there is aneed for:


Conclusions and recommendations

• a more user-friendly, practical version of the CEFR for use by teachers

• CEFR training materials• illustrative materials in Portfolios• benchmarked performances for the various skills

The European Language Portfolioin Ireland: two examples of design and implementation

David LittleTrinity College Dublin

CercleS ELP Seminar, Applied Language Centre, UCD, 7-9 June 2007

Overview

• Preliminarieso Validated ELPs developed in Irelando The educational goal of language learner autonomy

• The ELP and learner autonomy • Two examples of ELP design and implementation:

o Post-primary language learners o Learners English as a second language in primary

schools• Conclusion


Preliminaries


Validated ELPs developedin Ireland

10.2001: Post primary language learners (CLCS)11.2001 (rev 2004): Primary learners of ESL (IILT)12.2001 (rev 2004): Post-primary learners of ESL (IILT)13.2001a: Newly arrived adult immigrants (IILT)13.2001b: Adult immigrants who have already spent some time living in Ireland (IILT)14.2001: Adult immigrants preparing for mainstream vocational education and employment (IILT)


Validated ELPs developed in Ireland (continued)

29.2002: CercleS ELP − in French and English; translations into Czech, Slovak, Italian (CLCS)37.2002: Milestone ELP, for adult immigrants learning the language of the host community − versions in English, Dutch, Finnish, German, Swedish (IILT working with institutions in The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Sweden)66.2005: Primary foreign language learners (Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative)


Language learner autonomyIn formal contexts autonomous language learners• are able to take charge of their own learning (Holec 1981) • develop a capacity for detachment, critical reflection,

decision making, and independent action (Little 1991)• can manage the affective dimension of their learning

experience to motivational advantage (Ushioda 1996)• become more autonomous in language learning as they

become more autonomous in language use, and vice versa (Little 1991)


Language learner autonomy• The freedom that learner autonomy implies is always

conditional and constrained: because we are social beings, our independence is always balanced by dependence; our essential condition is one of interdependence (Little 1991)

• Like the acquisition of language, the development of learner autonomy depends on social interaction (cf. Vygotsky 1978, 1986)

• Autonomous learners do things for themselves; they may or may not do things on their own


Language learner autonomyThe teacher’s indispensable role in the development of language learner autonomy is governed by three general pedagogical principles (Little 2001, 2007):• Learner involvement − we must involve learners fully in planning,

monitoring and evaluating their own learning • Learner reflection − we must help learners to reflect continuously

on the process and content of their learning and to engage in regular self-assessment

• Target language use − we must ensure that the target language is the medium as well as the goal of all learning, including the reflective component


Language learner autonomy and the ELP


The Common European Frameworkof Reference for Languages

• Developed to provide “a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe” (Council of Europe 2001, p.1)

• Comprises a complex descriptive apparatus for the specification of L2 proficiency at six levels in relation to five communicative activities: listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken production, writing


The CEFR’s action-oriented approach

• We use language to perform communicative acts which may be external and social (communicating with other people) or internal and private (communicating with ourselves)

• Communicative acts comprise language activity, which is divided into four kinds: reception, production, interaction and mediation

• In order to engage in language activity, we draw on our communicative language competence


The CEFR’s action-oriented approach

• Language activity always occurs in a context that imposes conditions and constraints

• Because we must cope with often unpredictable contextual features, our communicative language competence includes sociolinguistic and pragmatic components

• Language activity entails the performance of tasks, and to the extent that they are not routine or automatic, those tasks require us to use strategies in order to understand and/or produce spoken or written texts


The CEFR and learner autonomy• The CEFR’s action-oriented approach assigns a central

role to language use in language learning: “Language use, embracing language learning, comprises the

actions performed by persons who as individuals and as social agents develop a range of competences, both general and in particular communicative language competences” (Council of Europe 2001, p.9)

• Thus the “I can” descriptors of the self-assessment grid (ibid., pp.26-27) and the “can do” descriptors of the illustrative scales focus on the autonomous L2 user, but also on the autonomous L2 learner


The ELP and learner autonomy• The ELP is rooted in the Council of Europe’s

commitment to learner autonomy• It reflects the Council of Europe’s concern with (among

other things) o The development of the language learnero The development of the capacity for independent language

learning• It is (among other things)

o The property of the learnero A tool to promote learner autonomy

• It encourages self-assessment(ELP Principles and Guidelines, Council of Europe 2006)


Learner autonomy and the ELPIn principle the ELP can support the exercise and development of learner autonomy in three ways:1. When “I can” checklists reflect the demands of the official curriculum, they

provide learners (and teachers) with an inventory of learning tasks that they can use to plan, monitor and evaluate learning over a school year, a term, a month or a week

2. The language biography is explicitly designed to associate goal setting and self-assessment with reflection on learning styles and strategies, and the cultural dimension of L2 learning and use

3. When the ELP is presented (partly) in the learners’ target language, it can help to promote the use of the target language as medium of learning and reflection


Two examples of ELP design and implementation


1. Post-primary language learnersThe context• CLCS Learner Autonomy Project (1997-2001) • Research goals:

o to stimulate pedagogical experimentation in a number of post-primary French and German classrooms

o to use various empirical means to explore the impact of experimentation on teachers and learners (Little et al. 2002)

• Pedagogical aims:o to get learners to accept responsibility for their learningo to foster the use of the target language in the classroomo to help teachers to develop their planning skillso to look for a new way of “teaching for the exams”


1. Post-primary language learnersELP design considerations• Promote greater learner involvement and responsibility• Focus attention on the development of communication

skills: language learning through language use (rubrics in six languages: English, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Italian)

• Facilitate teacher planning• Stimulate a positive interaction between teaching-

learning processes and syllabus/ examination objectives


1. Post-primary language learnersThe language passport• Introduction (English and Irish)• The standard adult passport (for school leavers)• The interim (process) passport:

o personal informationo profile of L2 skills (self-assessment)o summary of language learning and intercultural

experiences, including certificates and diplomas


1. Post-primary language learnersThe language biography• Introduction (English and Irish)• My general aims and reflections• My checklist of target skills (in five languages: Irish,

French, German, Spanish Italian)• Setting goals and thinking about learning• Things I notice about language and culture• How I solve communication problems• Methods I use to learn languages• Intercultural experiences• Heritage languages


1. Post-primary language learnersThe dossier• Introduction (English and Irish)• Each learner must decide, in consultation with the

teacher, what to put in the dossier, how to structure its contents, how often to review the contents, etc.

The appendix• An English version of My Checklist of Target Skills• A photocopiable version of each page of the language

biography


1. Post-primary language learnersThe ELP and the post-primary curriculum• At the core of the Language Biography are the detailed

Checklists of Target Skills • The Checklists were derived from

o the illustrative scales in the Common European Framework o the communicative objectives of the official curriculum for

Junior and Leaving Certificate


1. Post-primary language learnersCurriculum topics and exam tasks• One teacher created a simple grid to keep track of her

learners’ coverage of curriculum topics and examination tasks







• This was used together with the checklists to devise projects based on curriculum topics and communicative skills




• This was used together with the checklists to devise projects based on curriculum topics and communicative skills

• Examples: poems, texts on The Simpsons

Ushioda and Ridley 2002, pp.30 and 36


Target-setting and self-assessment: example 1

Ushioda and Ridley 2002, p.38


Target-setting and self-assessment: example 2



How does the ELP help you learn French?



Why is it good to set your own targets?



2. ESL in Irish primary schools

The context:• Since the 1990s large numbers of immigrants have come to

Ireland• Whatever the status of their parents, all children and adolescents

resident in the state must attend school• There are currently some 12,000 pupils in primary schools whose

L1 is not English or Irish• The Department of Education and Science funds ESL support on

a withdrawal basis − usually one class per day for two years per pupil (1,450 teaching posts by the end of the current school year)

• Integrate Ireland Language and Training is responsible for curriculum, learning/teaching supports, assessment, and in-service seminars for teachers



Basic considerations:• The primary ESL curriculum must

o clearly reflect the purpose of ESL support: to give ESL pupils access to the mainstream curriculum

o describe learning progression in a way that corresponds to teachers’ experience

o be presented in a form that encourages and facilitates frequent use

o support a communicative pedagogy and the development of communicative learning materials

o foster the development of learner autonomy (a general goal of the Irish primary curriculum)

• The CEFR as an obvious model and source (Little and Lazenby Simpson 2004)



A curriculum based on the CEFR:• English Language Proficiency Benchmarks − a

reworking of the first three levels of the CEFR to make them age-appropriate and domain specific

• Part I comprises two grids:o Global benchmarks of communicative proficiency (listening,

reading, spoken interaction, spoken production, writing)o Global scales of underlying linguistic competence

(vocabulary, grammar, phonology, orthography)• Part II comprises thirteen grids:

o Units of work (the global benchmarks restated in terms of recurrent curriculum themes)



The ELP as a key learning support:• Language passport

o Focuses on the ESL pupil’s linguistic identity




o Focuses on the ESL pupil’s linguistic identity




o Focuses on the ESL pupil’s linguistic identityo Provides for regular summative self-assessment









• Language biography





• Language biography o Focuses on the pupil’s daily exposure to language in the environment

and learning how to learn






and learning how to learn






and learning how to learn o Provides detailed goal-setting and self-assessment checklists for the 13

units of work







units of work







units of work • Dossier








o A table of contents page








o A table of contents page








o A table of contents pageo “Open” pages related to the Units of Work








o A table of contents pageo “Open” pages related to the Units of Work








o A table of contents pageo “Open” pages related to the Units of Worko Additional work sheets








o A table of contents pageo “Open” pages related to the Units of Worko Additional work sheets








o A table of contents pageo “Open” pages related to the Units of Worko Additional work sheetso A place to keep completed work



Advantages of using the ELP:• It embodies the dynamic nature of the ESL curriculum, making

it visible to ESL teachers, learners, class teachers, principals, parents, and school inspectors

• It also makes clear to all these stakeholders an approach to L2 learning that emphasizes learner involvement, learner reflection, and communicative use of the target language

• It places at centre stage a version of the CEFR’s action-oriented approach to language use and language learning, capturing the evolving features of autonomous learner-users of English L2


Conclusion


The good news• Both of my examples confirm that the ELP can foster the

development of language learner autonomyo by supporting learners in goal setting, self-assessment and other

forms of reflection on language learning and language useo by supporting teachers, including those who are new to the concept

of learner autonomy and (especially) its implementation in the classroom

• Both examples also confirm that the ELP can help to make visible the process and content of L2 learning that is shaped by the principles of learner involvement, learner reflection and target language use


The good news• The ELP for primary ESL learners in Ireland is widely used

because it is fully embedded in curriculum and assessmento It mediates the curriculum to learnerso It is the foundation for a substantial array of teaching and

learning resources that are related directly to the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks (Up and Away, IILT 2007)

o It supports forms of peer and self-assessment that are fully harmonious with the official tests (also developed by IILT; see Little 2005)


The bad news• Although the ELP for post-primary language learners was

the focus of the most exhaustive empirical evaluation of any ELP implementation project to date (Sisamakis 2006), it is now hardly used at allo It never enjoyed any kind of official backingo Despite reflecting closely the communicative goals of the official

syllabuses, its relation to the curriculum is indirect because the curriculum itself is not founded on the CEFR’s action-oriented approach

o It is not related in any way to the public exams• A similar fate may well await many more validated ELPs that

are not appropriately embedded and supported


Three web addresseswww.coe.int/portfolio• For everything to do with the ELP

www.tcd.ie/slscs/clcs/research• To access a large range of materials related to the implementation

project coordinate by Sisamakis, including examples of students’ work and interviews with students and teachers

• To download Ushioda and Ridley 2002www.iilt.ie• To find out more about the work of IILT• To download the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks (primary

and post-primary versions), the ELPs for primary and post-primary ESL learners, the Milestone ELP

• To access a wealth of additional teaching materials for adults

http://www.coe.int/portfolio

http://www.tcd.ie/slscs/clcs/research

http://www.iilt.ie/

Documents

Le Cadre Européen Commun de Référence pour l'acquisition des langues! Thunder Bay: