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    Programme 2020-2023
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    Home language competences
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    Responsability

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.


WHO ARE
the learners
concerned?


TYPES
of assessment
situations


WHO IS 
responsible for or shares responsibility for the assessments?


WHAT IS THE OVERALL PICTURE
as regards responsibility for assessment?

Who is responsible for or shares responsibility for the assessments?

Ideally, this assessment model
requires the sharing of expertise in different areas:

  • languages
  • language teaching
  • assessment
  • curriculum
  • language and education policiess

 

Specialists in education work at different levels:

  • macro
  • meso 
  • micro

 

Macro: the macro level is supra-governmental or includes governmental agencies and regional and local political bodies: the decision-makers in education policy.

Example:

In Germany, the Conference of Education Ministers (decision of 08.12.2011) sets targets for language teaching (including foreign languages, home languages, the language of the school, regional languages, etc.):

  • the broadening of citizens' language education towards plurilingualism;
  • the strengthening of cultural and linguistic diversity;
  • encouraging the integration of different languages (of differing status) into curricula.

In this example of a macro-level organisation, the assessment of home language competences for formative and/or certification purposes may be combined with the teaching of the home language(s) in an ordinary or specific school curriculum, and in different administrative configurations (state/region/city).

In addition, efforts are being made to strengthen the development of learners’ competences in the language of schooling.

When it comes to language education and promotion of languages, plurilingualism may be seen as a basic resource for fostering integration into the school system, but also for social participation.

Meso: The meso level concerns schools, and the scope of action depends on their level of curricular autonomy in relation to the macro level.

Schools (and head teachers in particular) have a role to play in promoting language policies that are geared towards plurilingual and intercultural education, in terms of teacher training, participation in inter-school collaborative projects and action research. The resources of the ECML's "Learning environments where modern languages flourish” project (EOL) offer many ideas for the development of the plurilingual school.

 

Partnerships (between institutions, with researchers, with associations) are particularly fruitful when setting up systems and methods of assessment for home language competences.
Schools may offer a language (which may or may not be in learners’ repertoires) as an additional optional extra or as a second or third foreign language.
It is also at this level that contacts and relations with families can be established (via school projects, etc.)

Micro: The micro level concerns the classes and teachers.

Partnerships (between schools, with researchers, with associations) working on the assessment of home language competences can be found at different levels, depending on the objectives and the target groups.

These partnerships may concern assessment methods themselves.

More details on the organisation and operation of the assessment of home language competences in these different configurations (macro, meso, micro) can be found in the "When and how to assess" section.