Local organiser: Tamara Djordjevic, Foundation Tempus  

ECML experts: José Noijons, the Netherlands; Evelyne Bérard, France

Participants: 17 (language testers and examiners, item writers, teachers and teacher trainers, policymakers, decision-takers)

Programme

“The online RELANG workshop on Constructing valid language tests and examinations based on the CEFR and its Companion Volume was held on 2-4 September 2020 in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Foundation Tempus. The participants were language professionals in Serbia with a background in teaching and testing English, French, German and Russian as a foreign language.

The main aims of the workshop were for the participants to gain a deeper insight into the CEFR and its Companion Volume and learn how to exploit them as a tool in language teaching and assessment, as well as to get practical advice on how to define and/or revise learning outcomes and construct speaking, listening, reading and writing tasks in line with the CEFR.

The topics addressed during the workshop included the CEFR concept of language use, methods of linking tests to the CEFR, aligning CEFR descriptors to Serbian learning outcomes, development of valid items related to the CEFR, and assessment.

The participants recognised the importance of relating locally/nationally developed tests of foreign languages to the CEFR, especially in the context of the reformed curricula in Serbia focusing on outcome-based teaching. The workshop offered many opportunities for the participants to increase their awareness of good testing practice and to reflect on the currently used tests of foreign languages in a new light.”

Tamara Djordjevic, local organiser, 18 September 2020

ECML project website: RELANG – EU-ECML cooperation agreement 2019-2020 "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning"