cefr at university levels - language assessment · cefr at university levels use in barcelona...

1 October 2010 Putting the CEFR to Good Use1

A Virtual Approach to CEFR at University Levels

Putting the CEFR to Good UseEALTA & IATEFL TEA SIG event in Barcelona

Isabel [email protected]

[email protected]

University of Zaragoza (Spain)

mailto:[email protected]



Trick or Treat?

! When we teachers of higher education think about the new items and variables that have to be taken into account at the present moment, we sometimes shake in panic.

! New ways of teaching are demanded by our students who have been brought up in the New Technologies era.

! Now that we have to adapt the so needed prevailing knowledge to the new European Framework of Higher Education, new changes could be conceived as a potential threats.


Trick or Treat?

! We may feel that we have many disadvantages against our students because we think we “under-use” these new technologies.

! When feeling so overwhelmed, we can hardly decide if we preferred “trick or treat” or just running away from our offices and faculties.

! With this piece of research we aim to show that what has been possible seen as a “social threat” around the world, can also be used as a teaching tool: MSN MESSENGER.


Introduction

! We cannot neglect the fact that we live in the Society of Information and Communication. As Lara (2004) claims the “web-tools” available nowadays boost the learning-teaching process under the umbrella field of a constructivist pedagogy.

! Besides, our students are more and more exposed to virtual Web 2.0 concept of Internet that hedges users to collaborate actively in these new spaces. Edublogs and Wiki-spaces are just two examples of the wide panorama.


Introduction

! Our students have even expanded their social nets by the use of Internet using web-sites such as Facebook, Twenty, Tuitter or Messenger.

! I therefore wanted to take advantage of a very cheap and easy internet tool –MSN Messenger- to enable students communicate with teachers in a practical, efficient and instant way. Hence, the quality of tutorials would be improved holding “teletutorials”.

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Introduction

! Above all, this way of communication aims to contributeto the improvement of current practice and changemanagement and to the competence building in the areaof using the CEFR not only in exam contexts but also inclassroom assessment by the use of Messenger.

! Thus, I will show how this channel of communicationsupported the constant use of virtual Portfolios in theteaching-learning process of my students at University.

October 2010 Putting the CEFR to Good Use6

October 2010 Putting CEFR to Good UseOctober 2010 Putting

the CEFR to Good Use77

Introduction

! This project is framed in a wider one supported by my Vicerrectorado de Investigación from the University of Zaragoza as a part of an Innovative Teaching Project (PESUZ 09-5-6).


How can we use CEFR to improve current practice and manage change?

! When thinking about Common European Framework of Reference Levels (Council of Europe) we may think about Cambridge exams for instance:

CPE (Proficiency): C2 MASTERY

CAE (Advanced):C1 EFFECTIVE OPERATIONAL PROFICIENCY

FCE (First): B2 VANTAGE

ILEC or TKT among others.



! Our students are expected to get university with a Theshold level of English (B1) from Secondary Education. With the present project I aim to expand this band towards B2 (Vantage) by working on the internet and by sending task and their feedback to students in order to enable them to create virtual portfolios which could store this material for life.



! Thus, 2 points out of 10 points from the final mark were evaluated from the tasks carried out with their virtual portfolio.

! Every week, students were sent different tasks that had to be fulfilled and sent back to me for being assessed. They received my feedback and each week we projected tasks from different students in order to reflect all together about the weak and strong points of the task.

! When a personal or common reflection was useful to all the group I could send it to all my students just with a “mouse click”.


How can we use CEFR to improve current practice and manage change

! What is more, how CEFR can be applied to the teaching of English in the different degrees as ESP may also be formalized in terms of competences in the European Framework.



! When we think in Linguistic Competence we may remember Chomsky and his emphasis on the capacity of creating and transforming reality around us by means of language.

! The European Framework reinforces the idea of combining all the competences.

! We are “competent” when we apply different knowledge to different situations and with different purposes.

! Caturla claims that we have to be competent citizens and thus, we have to use competences in every context of life; in real and relevant scenarios.



! I therefore conceive the basic competences as multifunctional packets that can be used all our lives. These competences have to integrate knowledge, procedures and attitudes.

! Together with this, EEES also highlights the dynamic dimensions of our students under the Bologna terms of higher education.



! In this project I aimed to make students linguistically competent under the umbrella of Common European Framework of Reference.

! By linguistically competent I understand that students should express themselves in a coherent way, whether writing or speaking. They should interpret, listen, read and comprehend oral and written messages. Besides, they should manage their thoughts, emotions, experiences and opinions in order to express their communicative intentions correctly.



! Hence, as I will show in following sections it may be claimed that this project has been a useful tool to put CEFR to Good Use by the use of Messenger and Virtual portfolios.


Getting started: Messenger

! The use of MSN Messenger aimed to encourage students’ learning by the exchange and sharing of different activities and the interaction among students and teacher.

! The e-mail address of the English subjects was [email protected]

! The subjects involved were:English for NursesTechnical English for PhysiotherapistsEnglish for Occupational Therapists


Getting started

This project has been developed with subjects which are not under the umbrella of Bologna plan and do not have ECTS (European Credits).Messenger was used in this case not only as a working tool with special fixed and assessed tasks but also as a vehicle of communication with students who could not attend to class (or actually attended).


Method

Students were asked to facilitate their Hotmail address. If they did not have one, I asked them to create one.

I explained that this project was framed in a research project and their addressed would always be preserved as confidential.

I displayed my Hotmail address and created a group of favorites with the students´ addresses.


Research background

! Through Messenger (real-timed conversations or email) students were able to communicate with the teacher in a fluent way. Students could contact teachers easily and could also establish one-to-one meetings.

! Students who could not attend to class, could follow the subject up without stress.


Research background

! As commented before, different tasks were sent, evaluated and shared with all the students by means of Messenger.

! Thanks to the contact list, files, pieces of advice and different sorts of information were distributed to all the students in seconds.


Evaluation

! I collected the students feedback by means of anonymous questionnaires.

! The quantitative and qualitative analysis was obtained from the students data regarding the percentage of students´ participation, their satisfaction with their portfolios, the usage of the real-timed conversations, the usage of email as a mean of communication or as a mean for establishing one-to-one or group seminars, etc.

! The data was measured using PSP to get stats


Preliminary Results

! In my subjects (plan under extinction) two points out of 10 were evaluated through out compositions sent to the teacher by Messenger. This means of communication made the creation of the virtual portfolio possible. Moreover, getting a mark from this activity made students more collaborative with the project because a part of their final mark depended on that.


Preliminary Results

! The compositions and tasks were projected in class and the corrections were sent back to the students. Students created then virtual portfolios to keep their compositions and tasks. Therefore, they could reflect on their writing processes.


Preliminary Results

! One of the threats of this academic year was the tentative threat of students failure due to their urge of finishing their diploma and their massive number of registered subjects. Thus, Messenger guaranteed keeping contact with them.


Results

! Graph 1 indicates thepercentage of studentswho qualified thisteaching innovativeproject as “adequate” or“very adequate”. Therewere no students whoclaimed that working withMessenger seemed “notadequate” or “a failinginitiative”.


Results

! As it can be observed from this Graph 1, 48% of thestudents considered this project of using MSN forcreating a virtual portfolio useful so as to reflect on theirlearning process. The other 52 % considered it extremelyadequate.


Results about Virtual Portfolio

! Graph 2 shows the different marks students gave. 64% of the students gave 10 out of 10.


Results

! Most of the students who could not attend to class commented on their questionnaires that this project (MSN + virtual portfolio) has enabled them to keep the rhythm established in class and learning at the same time as shown in Graph 3.

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Global Results

! As it is shown in the following graph (Graph 4), 97,4% of the students considered that this project contributedpositively to the general follow-up of the subject.


¿Consideras que esta medida te ha favorecido el seguimiento de la asignatura?

NoSí

97'4%

2'6%


Conclusions

! Messenger enables the establishment of a virtual space for ideas exchange.

! The use of Messenger for pedagogical purposes also boosts the communication between students and teachers.

! It also increases the tutorial covertness creating common interest meeting spaces.

! This tool reinforces students´ confidence due to the accessibility of teachers and therefore to the accessibility of the solutions of weak points or problems with the subject.

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Conclusions

! As a whole it could be affirmed!supported by theseresults!that Messenger (real-timed conversationsand email to exchange exercises and doubts) is aninnovative tool that hedges a dynamic improvementin current practice and change management despitethe tentative social threat of its “agentless” or “dis-humanaiting” characteristics !as far as humansocial relationships are concerned in other spheresof everyday life!.



Final Conclusions

! The results indicate that almost 97% of the students were aware and very satisfied with their learning process.

! Thanks to the virtual portfolio !updated and “feed” by the use of Messenger! students admitted being conscious of their own improvements in an autonomous way.

! By way of final conclusion it may be claimed that New Technologies could be a very useful tool in order to put CEFR to good use reinforcing at the same time the linguistic competences suggested by the European Space of Education.


Acknowledges and References

! I owe my gratitude to the organizers of this Conference for allowing me to add a contribution to the improvement of current practice, and managing change and to the competence building in the area of using the CEFR not only in exam contexts but also in classroom assessment.

Interesting references:

! CATURLA, E. “¿Qué hacer con las Competencias?” Organización y Gestión de Educativa. Vol 5. 2008

! DICKEY, M. D., “The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student perceptions of isolation and alienation in a web-based distance-learning environment”, Open Learning, Vol. 19 (3), noviembre 2004.

! LARA, T., “Nuestros blogs”, Ciberperiodismo, http://blogs.ya.com/ciberperiodismo/,19/12/2004.

! WISE, L., “Blogs versus discussion forums in postgraduate on line continuingmedical education”, BlogTalk conference paper, Sydney, 2005.http://incsub.org/blogtalk/?page_id=106


A Virtual Approach to CEFR at University Levels

Putting the CEFR to Good UseEALTA & IATEFL TEA SIG event in Barcelona

Isabel [email protected]

[email protected]

University of Zaragoza (Spain)



cefr at university levels - language assessment · cefr at university levels use in barcelona...

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