Presentation to CARLA Immersion conference on DELF and Common European Framework- How does a language learner know he/she is really bilingual?

1. What does it mean to be
bilingual?
Assessment and instruction with the Common European
Framework of Reference for Language

2. Mais sommes-nous bilingues?
 Stories from the French Immersion classroom

3. What is the goal of a language
program?
 How does the teacher know where the
student is along the path to reaching that
goal?
 How does the student determine where
they are on the path to reaching that goal?

4. Assessment in language programs
 Exams- produce a grade, out of 5, a
percentage, a letter grade
 Performance assessments
 How do these translate into competency?

5. Placement tests
 Often used to evaluate language
competence
 Varied from area to area and depending on
objective
 Not a common standard
 Language learner does not necessarily gain
a clear understanding of their language
competency

6. What am I able to do with
my French?
Answer the phone?
Write a formal letter? Make
a reservation? Present a
research paper? Convince
someone of my political
opinion? How to vote?

7. Explore the following
 How does using competency levels re-
frame assessment?
 How does the CEFR re-frame program
development?
 How does the CEFR re-frame classroom
instruction?

8. History
 In the wake of a growing interest in a common
framework of reference for languages across
Canada as a common basis for describing and
measuring language proficiency, national
standards and a national FSL proficiency test to
track progress against proposed targets such as
the Government of Canada’s Action Plan which
proposed to double the proportion of secondary
school students graduating with a functional level
of proficiency in their second official language by
the year 2013 (PCO, 2003).

9. History
 Council of Ministers of Education of
Canada
 Initial research project examining the
possible role of the CEFR in Canada ( Dr.
L. Vandergrift,S. Rehorick)
 Increasing use in public education system
of DELF exams ( 82 exams 2005, 2920
exams in 2011)
 Use of competency levels as the basis for
language programs

10. Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages
 The importance of the CEFR framework is due to
its provision of a comprehensive, transparent, and
coherent account of language competencies
 common basis for describing and measuring
language proficiency across Canada
 © Conseil de l’Europe / Les Éditions Didier, Paris 2001

11. Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages
 • The provision of a common set of proficiency
statements will facilitate comparisons of objectives,
levels, materials, tests and achievement in different
systems and situations.
 A framework including both horizontal and
vertical dimensions facilitates the defi- nition of
partial objectives and the recognition of uneven
profiles, partial competen- cies.
 © Conseil de l’Europe / Les Éditions Didier, Paris 2001

12. Description of levels of
competency
Breakthrough is considered the lowest level of generative
language use – the point at which the learner can interact
in a simple way, ask and answer simple questions about
themselves, where they live, people they know, and things
they have, initiate and respond to simple statements in
areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics,
 Waystage It is at this level that the majority of
descriptors stating social functions are to be found, like
use simple everyday polite forms of greeting and
address; greet people, ask how they are and react to
news; handle very short social exchanges;


13. Description of levels of
competency
 Threshold where the speaker has the ability to
maintain interaction and get across what you
want to, in a range of contexts and the ability to
cope flexibly with problems in everyday life,
 Vantage he/she acquires a new perspective, can look
around him/her in a new way; a level described as
‘Limited Operational Proficiency and adequate response
to situations normally encountered, a focus on effective
argument; effective social discourse and on language
awareness

14. Description of levels of
competency
 Effective Operational Proficiency which was called ‘Effective
Proficiency’ ,by Trim ‘Adequate Operational Proficiency’ by Wilkins,
and represents an advanced level of competence
suitable for more complex work and study tasks; good access to a
broad range of language, which allows fluent, spontaneous
communication
 Mastery . not intended to imply native-speaker or near native-
speaker competence; the degree of precision, appropriateness
and ease with the language which typifies the speech of those
who have been highly successful learners: convey finer shades
of meaning precisely by using, with reasonable accuracy, a wide
range of modification devices; has a good command of idiomatic
expressions and colloquialisms with awareness of connotative
level of meaning; backtrack and restructure around a difficulty so
smoothly the interlocutor is hardly aware of it.

16. 4
of
the
6
levels
of
competence
Independent
In
our
public
school
system,students
in
our
French
language
programs
generally
can
B2
a=ain
the
following
levels:
Avanced
or
Threshold
independant
B1
Intermediate
Introductory
A2
A1
Discovery
Survival

17. The five competencies
• Oral comprehension (reception)
• Oral production
• oral interaction
• Written comprehension
• Written production

19. How does this affect assessment?
 Self assessment grid
 Portfolio
 Authentic tasks as assessment tasks -
DELF

20. Diplôme d’études de langue
française
 An exam for each level
(A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2)
 Assessing each competency- listening
comprehension, reading comprehension,
oral interaction, oral presentation, written
production
 Authentic language tasks
 Trained examiners and correctors
 International standard of language
competency

21. DELF in Canada
 23 Centres d’examen DELF-DALF au Canada
repartis parmi les ministères d’éducation, des
conseils scolaires, des universités et des Alliances
françaises
 3611 récipients en 2011
 20e plus grand nombre de participants au monde
 97% de récipients des diplômes viennent du DELF
Scolaire

22. THE DELF in Canada: Stakeholder’s
Perception
September 2012
 Teacher comments point to the washback effects
of the DELF on their teaching. In other words,
the DELF can and does change pedagogy. FSL
classes become more communicative in
orientation through increased practice of
speaking skills and more emphasis on authentic
documents for listening and reading.

23. Teacher comments
 ‘Ma compréhension du DELF et le concept
du CECR m'ont fait changer mes méthodes
d'enseignements qui sont maintenant
beaucoup plus interactives, orales, incluent
de la pensée critique et de l'instruction
différenciée’
 ‘Je fais maintenant plus de compréhension
de l'orale’

24. Teacher comments
 I believe that the DELF adds that little extra
bit of "pressure" on the students in a
positive way. They begin to realize that they
do need to be accurate, and put effort into
their work, in order to be well understood in
a real life situation. I have started to base
my evaluation less and less on very specific
grammatical rules, and more to broad
contextual evaluations, with a grammatical
component.

25. Students
 ‘It is a great opportunity to challenge yourself
and experience something different’
 ‘I think that it's a good way to challenge
yourself, and it made me more confident in the
French language’
 ‘It is a great way to assess what you have
learned and proceed further into the French
language to extend you skills’
 ‘I was stressed at first, but it was actually
comforting and makes me feel proud of myself
that I could accomplish an exam like that :) ‘

26. Students
 ‘it is a good marker to see your level of
French, and a way to compare yourselves
to a certain standard’
 ‘Taking a test not given by your teacher is a
great way to see how well you're doing in
the course and it’s a great confidence
booster...’
 ‘It provides an indication of French
proficiency and encourages students to
improve in areas where they struggle’

27. How does this affect curriculum
development?
 Draft Revised French curriculum British
Columbia
 Based on the Common european Framework
 Structure:
 Provincially required learning outcome
statements
 Suggested Can-do statements
 Suggested profiency-based Can Do
statements

28. Language learning
 Engages learners in meaningful and authentic
and purposeful language- learning tasks
 Is not additively sequential but recursive
 Proficiency includes both production and
comprehension
 Instruction takes learning styles and rates into
account
 Assessment reflects instructional goals and is
based on performance
 Draft Curriculum http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/drafts/french.pdf

29. Examples:  Provincially required learning outcome statements
 Suggested Can-do statements
 Suggested profiency-based Can Do statements

30. Other curricula
 Second language program in the Atlantic
provinces correlated with the CEFR
 Second language program Province of Ontario
inspired by the CEFR Programme de langues
secondes en Ontario
 Second language programs in Alberta (PONC)
inspired by the CEFR

34. How does this affect classroom
instruction
 Authentic tasks
 Student ownership of learning
 Classroom resources levelled
 Goal-setting with outcomes in mind

37. Impact on National debate
 Stakeholders’ Meeting on the
Implementation of CEFR (Common
European Framework of Reference) in
Canada
 March 11, 2011 Gatineau, Quebec
 L'évaluation dans un contexte de
mouvance individuelle et sociétale
 Centre Canadien d’études et de recherche
en bilinguisme et aménagement
linguistique
 28 et 29 avril 2011

38. references
 Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. (2010).
 Working with the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the Canadian Context:
Guide for policy-makers and curriculum designers. Toronto,
ON: Author.
 Vandergrift, L. (2006). New Canadian perspectives: Proposal
for a common framework of reference for languages for
Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Heritage
 OCDSB Quality Assurance Division. (2011). Grade 12 French
proficiency test: Results from the 2010-11 administration.
Mimeo.