Asian Association for Language Assessment

Current evidence suggests that language policies and practices are  failing to improve school-based language learning and  that   proficiency standards are not being raised to meet  policy goals.

My key message is that system thinking, of the kind proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1979), is needed to bring together principles and policies in order to create effective ecosystems of learning in local contexts.  I argue that policy makers at the macro level need to take into account contemporary theories of language and learning combined with relevant theories of action to ensure that improvements can be made in practice in the micro contexts where teaching and learning takes place.

With regards language policy, the languages to be learned in school are traditionally based on a standard variety (English, French, Chinese etc.). However, when viewed through the lens of plurilingualism, the aim should be to develop a learner’s entire linguistic repertoire,  including L1 and all other varieties and dialects.  This  definition of plurilingualism is used in the Common European Framework  of Reference for Languages (CEFR)’s, recently revisited in the CEFR’s  Companion Volume (2018) that has two new sets of descriptors - plurilingual comprehension and building plurilingual repertoires.

So how can these notions be built into our ecosystems of learning and what role does assessment play?

Language learners in schooling should be supported to develop plurilingual competences to enable them to communicate effectively in a multilingual world. Appropriate principles of language learning and assessment should inform educational policies and enable reform programmes to be put into practice. A range of pedagogic practices  have recently emerged based on these heteroglossic principles (Blackledge & Creese, 2010), but to date they have not impacted  language assessment (Schissel et al 2018).  As assessment  professionals we now have the opportunity to influence assessment  policies based on such principles leading to better learning and better  outcomes.