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    2020-2023
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    Practices and criteria to assess home/heritage languages’ competences of pupils (incl.migrants)
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    Présentation d'approches en Irlande

Resources for assessing the home language competences of migrant pupils

Introduction
Why assess?
What are the principles of assessment?
Whose competences
to assess,
and how?
By
which means
 to assess?
How to get involved?
This page will be available in English soon. Please refer to the pages in French.


When and how to assess?


Examples


Drawing inspiration from the examples of methods and materials

Approaches used in Ireland

A recent and evolving scheme - assessment of the home language competences of learners from a member state of the European Union during their schooling

Back to the overview

The assessment of home language competences

Not included in the curriculum (LNC) for entry to higher education in 2021

During the Covid-19 health situation, this summative assessment was carried out on an exceptional basis, in 2021 only, and covered only written competences. The assessment was supervised by the Department of Education as regards:

  • test design,
  • assessment training,
  • test administration and follow-up.

The test consisted of reading comprehension tasks followed by open-ended questions of increasing complexity, and a writing task (an essay chosen from two set topics).

The aim of this assessment was to maintain a standardised approach to the assessment of written competences for 18 European languages which are not part of the national curriculum, and to enable learners who speak these languages to demonstrate their competences during their schooling.

The assessment was open to all learners who were speakers of one of the languages eligible for certification and were enrolled in a school programme leading to the Leaving Certificate. Learners were able to register for the test through their school. 

Non-curricular European home languages (18 languages) assessed and certified as part of the Leaving Certificate Number of candidates Note
2021 1453  
2022 769 candidates Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese are no longer included in this group, as they have become curricular languages

 
NB: Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish and German are included in the modern languages programme and are assessed as curricular languages. Learners may choose a language if that language is available at their school, for example depending on subject and/or teacher availability.

The assessors were teachers of these European home languages, university teachers, schoolteachers, Sunday school teachers  Sunday schools are private educational institutions, generally, but not always, of the Christian persuasion. They offer teaching in a home language. or members of associations. The Irish Department of Education has worked with the Post-Primary Languages Ireland 2.e. (PPLI)  . The Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI), founded in 2000 and funded by the Irish Department of Education, provides expertise and support for the teaching and learning of foreign languages in Ireland. The PPLI is responsible for implementing the key actions of the Department of Education's strategic plan Languages Connect - Ireland's Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026, which was published by the Irish Government in December 2017. Embassies involved with non-curricular languages helped to disseminate information and find assessors. Assessors were trained in two 2-hour online sessions. The first training session took place before the exams and provided information on the standard tests and the marking procedures based on examples of marking. This was followed by a second meeting after the exams, during which assessors had the opportunity to discuss their ways of marking, the alignment of the marking of essays produced by candidates.

The results formed part of the final academic record (Leaving Certificate) in 2021 and are taken into account in university applications.

The test was a written, summative test to assess reading comprehension and written expression at a 'high level' [corresponding to CEFR level B1] and lasted one and half hours. It was a monolingual test (only one language was used in the materials, instructions, etc.). The learners' work was assessed on a 40-point scale with a five-point quality continuum: very good 36-40 points, good 28-35 points, correct 20-27 points, weak 12-19 points, poor 0-11 points. The validity of the assessments was guaranteed via a two-stage correction process: first, the language assessor proposed a provisional mark by placing the candidate on one of the 5 levels; then in a collaborative phase (an NCL language alignment meeting) the assessors in pairs or small groups reviewed their assessments on the basis of samples, comparing them with the standards required for each of the 5 levels. The final score, expressed as a percentage (ranging from 0 to 100), was awarded following this exchange between professionals.

To access the criteria for each of the 5 levels: assessment criteria were formulated by the Irish authorities in a document entitled "Guidance for Assessors of the Non-Curricular Language Proficiency Assessment, 2021, Government of Ireland/ Rialtas na hÉireann.

Statements from learners

Former learners who took an assessment in a home language included in the curriculum (Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish or Portuguese)

Learner with Polish as a home language

"The Leaving Certificate marked the end of my twelve years at school. For me, it was an opportunity to prove my knowledge. It's also the greatest achievement of my life so far. I'm proud to pass the test in my family's language. It intensifies my bond with my home country. Getting a good mark in Polish proves to me that I know my language as well as my classmates in Poland. This Leaving Certificate result in Polish will open up opportunities for me in the future, as it certifies my bilingualism."
Learner with Polish as a home language "I felt a sense of pride knowing that my language is important enough to make it a competency test."
Learners with Lithuanian as their home language "Lithuanian is my mother tongue and I took the LC (Leaving Certificate). It was important for me and my family and I hope it will be a subject like German and French in mainstream Irish schools."

Assessment of non-curricular home language competences

For admission to higher education

In accordance with Article 149 dof the Treaty of Nice, "in order to develop the European dimension in education, in particular through the teaching and dissemination of the languages of the Member States", and in response to a growing awareness of plurilingualism and the importance of taking diversity into account in education, Ireland has chosen to offer learners in upper secondary education the opportunity to be assessed in certain European Union languages. The model for this summative assessment, the Leaving Certificate examination The Leaving Certificate examination is the final examination of secondary education and is taken when learners are generally 17 or 18 years old. Syllabuses are available in over 30 subjects and learners are required to take at least five subjects, one of which must be Irish. Source: Eurydice 2021-2022 is based on the written test for the first foreign language in the European Baccalaureat. These languages are not part of the curriculum.

Learners can choose to have their competences assessed according to the following criteria:

  • the learner is a speaker of a language offered for certification and acquired in his/her home environment,
  • he/she is enrolled in a school programme leading to the Leaving Certificate,
  • only one home language not included in the curriculum can be assessed,
  • candidates are from a Member State of the European Union.

In 2021, the non-curriculum languages for which learners' competences were assessed as part of the Leaving Certificate were: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian: State Examinations Commission Examinations 2022 Media Information Pack; pp. 23-24; June 2022

The assessment that forms part of the admission process to higher education institutions is managed by the Central Applications Office (CAO) The Central Applications Office (CAO) processes applications for undergraduate admission to higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ireland. according to criteria defined by the universities. The results obtained by learners form part of their university application.

Summative assessment of competences in Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese 

Curricular languages for admission higher education

In 2020, 4 new languages, selected on the basis of demographic statistics (number of speakers of these languages at school) were introduced into the Irish secondary school curriculum: Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese. These 4 languages complement the modern languages curriculum, which consists of French, Spanish and German. In other words, Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese are now assessed as modern languages. Learners who so wish can choose these languages and benefit from 180 hours of teaching over two years, at a rate of 3 hours per week. The PPLI provides over-quota teachers or can facilitate an additional allocation when there is a request for a minimum of seven learners. Schools can open classes for 8 or more learners.

The assessment of the 4 home languages included in the curriculum is standardised and organised under the supervision of the State Examinations Commission. This is a summative assessment, which can be taken as one of the 6 or 8 subjects in the Leaving Certificate, the final assessment in secondary education. It is bilingual: the instructions for the reading comprehension test are given in the target language  and the response is expected for the reading comprehension tasks in target language and in English for the mediation tasks. For the reading comprehension task, the instructions are given in English and the questions and answers are expected to be in the target language. This test is taken in secondary schools and is organised and supervised by the State Examinations Commission.

From the age of 16, learners who have completed lower secondary school (learners aged 12 to 15) and are attending upper secondary school are eligible for these tests. The results form part of the final secondary school record (Leaving Certificate) and can be taken into account when entering university. This assessment is institutional recognition of the value of home languages in the Irish education system.

The assessment is offered at an ordinary or lower level, corresponding to CEFR A2, and at a higher level, corresponding to CEFR B1. The tests are organised at school by the home language teachers. 

To find out more, visit: www.examinations.ie

Statements from learners

Former learners who had their home language assessed as a non-curricular language:

Learners with Bulgarian as their home language

"It enabled me to validate the third language for university entrance. I gained a better understanding of the written aspect of the language. This exam gives me proof that I'm fluent in another language, which will make me more employable, and my family have supported me throughout the process."

Learners with Romanian as their home language "It meant progressing in my mother tongue to a higher level than that expected of a child born in another country and speaking Romanian only at home."

This section was produced with the help of A. Grochola, Education Officer, PPLI Post-primary Language Learning.