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    Home language competences
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    Examples d’actions

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

Examples of home language assessment

 
Assessing learners' competences…

on arrival

during schooling

at the end of a course or cycle

Assessing learners' competences on arrival

Presentation of approaches used in the city of Lausanne (Switzerland)

Assessing learners’ competences in their home languages on entry to the education system

Switzerland is a Confederation (not a nation state) and is managed at different levels (federal, regional, cantonal, communal), which do not have the same functions. As the country has four official languages, language management is subject to language policies set out at the various levels mentioned: in the Constitution (Federal Act on National Languages),  in inter-cantonal strategy, in recommendations, and in various regional and cantonal laws. As the Swiss education system  favours anchoring education in the local community, the issue of languages is first and foremost organised at local level to take account of local issues. Each canton is sovereign when it comes to managing education.

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Approaches in France

Assessment of prior learning on entry to the education system via a placement test in the learner’s language(s)

The French education system is a public service provided by the State, which allocates funding for the running of primary schools through the communes, funding for collèges through departmental councils, and funding for lycées through the regions. The Ministry of National Education and Youth produces central guidelines for education and teaching initiatives, which are then implemented in the various academies throughout the country, under the direction of their Rectors. Education is compulsory between the ages of 3 and 16, as is the legal validation of the Common Curriculum for Knowledge, Competences and Culture. It is compulsory for young people aged between 16 and 18 to be offered training, whether in or outside school.

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Approaches used in Sweden

Assessment of competences (particularly language competences) on entry to the education system, and the continuation of learning in the Swedish language

The Swedish education system is organised in a decentralised way, with responsibility shared between schools (primary, lower secondary and upper secondary) and municipalities. On the other hand, the curriculum and assessment of competences are nationally defined. In line with the Education Act (Skolförordning 2011 and Gymnasieförordning 2010), schooling is free and compulsory up to the age of 16. Certain fundamental values are also enshrined in the national curriculum.

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Assessing learners' competences throughout their school career

Taal naar Keuze Foundation (Netherlands)

A local scheme that aims to expand

In the Netherlands, school is compulsory for children aged 5 to 16. It is a centralised education system, with the Ministry of Education taking most of the decisions, but schools have a great deal of autonomy in choosing their staff and how they wish to achieve the objectives set by the Ministry. 

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Approaches in Finland

A programme that lasts throughout learners’ schooling

The Constitution of Finland stipulates that everyone living in Finland has the right to maintain and develop their own language(s) and culture(s). Learners whose first language or one of their home languages is not Finnish, Swedish or Sami may be taught their home language(s). The schools, which are decentralised and operate on the principle of shared responsibility, draw up their local programmes in cooperation with the local authorities. The teaching of home languages is paid for by the municipalities and subsidised on request by the Finnish state (New Core Curriculum, 2016).

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L’AltRoparlante (Italy)

A local action-research project

The word "AltRoparlante" was created by combining the two Italian words "altro" (other) and "altoparlante" (loudspeaker): In this way, "L'AltRoparlante" is a kind of magic instrument, enabling all children to make their own voice heard and to express themselves "in another way", for example in other languages that are not generally considered to be previously acquired competences or as resources (i.e. the home languages and heritage dialects that make up the plurilingual repertoires of learners currently attending school in Italy). The project was set up by the CLUSS Linguistics Centre at the University for International Students in Siena (Italy), under the scientific supervision of Carla Bagna and with Valentina Carbonara as principal researcher and Andrea Scibetta as co- researcher. 

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Assessing learners' competences at the end of a course or cycle

Approaches in the city of Hamburg (Germany)

Tests to assess first or home language competences, Hamburg Schools and Vocational Training Authority

The German education system is organised at the level of its various regions, known as "Länder", according to principles and procedures decided at federal level. The KMK (Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs for each Land) adopts the basic regulations for language teaching and the assessment criteria for the Abitur (baccalaureat). It is responsible for developing and introducing nationwide educational programmes for the first foreign language. Objectives are formulated in terms of competences.

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Approaches in Irelande

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

In Ireland, assessment is centralised: assessments are carried out under the direction of the State Examinations Commission. The State Examinations Commission was created in March 2003. It is responsible for the development, assessment, accreditation and certification of the second-level examinations of the Irish state: the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate. (Source: Eurydice 2021-2022)

Some figures: According to the 2016 census, 13% of the total population, or 612,000 people, speak a language other than Irish and English at home, of whom almost 184,000 were born in Ireland and 428,000 were born elsewhere (Central Statistics Office, 2016, p. 52).

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