ESLC is a European Commission research project, providing information about foreign language learning in Europe. It assesses the language proficiency of pupils at the end of secondary education in 14 European countries, and allows researchers to collect extensive background information about foreign language teaching, which can be used to make comparisons between participating countries.
Background
In 2002 the European Council called for further action to ‘improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least 2 foreign languages from a very early age’, and for the ‘establishment of the linguistic competence indicator’. This decision arose from the current lack of data on the actual language skills of pupils and the need for reliable data to measure the progress towards this new objective.
In response to this call the European Commission established the European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC). The ESLC is the first survey of its type and aims to be a key tool for European governments to use in developing language-learning policies. It will help governments to understand existing levels of second language proficiency and how those levels compare to other countries. It will also provide information on how language proficiency relates to demographic, social, economic and educational variables. Information in the survey can then be used to influence policy and improve national standards.
The survey is run internationally by SurveyLang, which is an international consortium made up of eight organisations, each one a leader in its own area of expertise. The consortium brings together knowledge and experience in the fields of language assessment, test development, sampling and data collection, as well as in educational measurement, cognitive psychology, research design, psychometrics, and data analysis.
The Department for Education (DfE) has commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to run ESLC in England.
The ESLC survey
The survey will compare foreign language learning for pupils in the final year of lower secondary education using the scales of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). Establishing links to the CEFR has been a key focus of recent work and research for the language testing members of SurveyLang and test results from ESLC will be related to the CEFR. It will focus on the two most popular foreign languages studied in each of the participating countries, which according to Eurostat data are: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Pupils’ proficiency in listening, reading and writing will be assessed using tasks that will:
• engage cognitive skills expected for the age group
• not depend on knowledge of the world which cannot be assumed
• use topics which are relevant and engaging for that age group
• test language functions in contexts relevant to the age group.
In addition to the language tests, pupils will be asked to complete a questionnaire about their language learning and other background factors. This will help provide information on how demographic, social, economic and educational variables affect language proficiency. Headteachers and teachers from the participating schools also complete a questionnaire about the language curriculum, language resources, and the school’s policies and practices to encourage language learning.
In order to ensure that the results of ESLC are representative of pupils and schools within the participating country SurveyLang draw a sample of schools that can be invited to participate in the survey. It is very important that all schools chosen for the sample take part as if the sampled schools do not wish to participate we cannot approach other schools from outside the sample to make up the numbers.
A full Field Trial of the systems and assessments took place between February and March 2010 and the Main Study will take place in England between October and November 2011. The final report will be delivered to the European Commission in 2012.
Who is taking part?
There are 16 countries or regions participating in the survey:
• Belgium (Flemish Community)
• Belgium (French Community)
• Belgium (German Community)
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• England
• Estonia
• France
• Greece
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
ESLC in England
The ESLC is an opportunity for schools to take part in a measurement of England’s success in language learning. It will give pupils the opportunity to take the same assessments as pupils in other European countries, as well as share their views about the experience of learning a European language in England.
In England the survey will assess proficiency in French and German. A sample of 1,500 pupils in Year 11 per language will take part in the survey. The survey will take place during the period 3rd October to 21st November 2011.
• 151 schools will be invited to take part in the survey, 74 schools for French and 77 schools for German.
• A maximum of 35 Year 11 pupils per school will be selected to take part in the survey.
Why should schools participate?
It is an opportunity to be involved in a new international research project focusing on language learning across Europe. As noted above the ESLC provides a unique opportunity to collect detailed information on pupils’ attitudes towards language learning and their own language skills. In order that schools can benefit this information each participating school will be provided with information collected from the student questionnaire, e.g. attitudes to language learning, to help headteachers to build a profile for their school, compared to other schools in England.
Schools that took part in the Field Trial in March 2010 chose to participate because the survey provided an opportunity to see how pupils in England compared to their counterparts in other European countries and also raised the profile of languages in England. The majority of these schools said they would advise other schools to take part if invited.
Here are some comments from headteachers who were involved in the field trial:
• The test offered another learning opportunity for our students.
• We believe in the importance of improving language teaching in UK schools and increasing language take-up in KS4 and KS5.
• We are a languages college and see participation as a commitment to this status.
• We felt that the survey offered an opportunity to expand the international dimension of the school.
The NFER started sending invitation letters to the sampled schools in November 2010. The recruitment of schools for the ESLC Main Study is ongoing and schools have until May 2011 to sign up for the survey.
We hope schools and pupils will be willing to represent England in 2011 and help make the survey a success.
Where can I get more information?
For more information on ESLC in England go to: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/eslc.
For more information on SurveyLang and ESLC go to: http://www.surveylang.org.