Language Centres at a Crossroads

Telecollaborative or virtual exchanges (VE) entail the "engagement of groups of students in online intercultural exchange, interaction and collaboration with peers from partner classes in geographically distant locations, under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators" (INTENT project, 2014, p.1). Despite the growing popularity of VE projects in FL education around the world, there is an acute shortage of empirical evidence and practical publications alike on the topic of assessment in VE. As an inherent element of any VE project, assessment in VE projects poses a considerable challenge as it is 1. culture-dependent and, hence, largely determined by an educational and institutional context; 2. multifaceted – embracing not only linguistic but also intercultural and technical components (Müller-Hartmann, O'Dowd, 2017) and 3. of dynamic, interactive nature and hence unpredictable (Akiyama, 2014).

The studies centred on assessment in virtual exchanges are small in number and frequently account for the results of singular case studies. The contribution of these studies to our understanding of the assessment process in virtual environments is unquestionable; however, due to the relatively short history of VE in language education, the exact shape of assessment in online collaborative environment remains unclear. The EU funded project "ASSESSnet: Language assessment in virtual mobility initiatives at tertiary level – teachers' beliefs, practices and perceptions" aims to fill in this gap by investigating the objectives, tools, procedures and perceptions of assessment in virtual exchanges at tertiary level across a larger number of contexts.

In this paper I present the results obtained by means of an online questionnaire administered among foreign/second language teachers with experience in virtual exchanges. The objective of the questionnaire was to gain an overview of FL teachers' beliefs about assessment, their assessment practices, and their perceptions of planning and implementing assessment in VE projects. This cross-sectional instrument consists of both open-ended and closed-questions. The quantitative analysis of the data shows the teachers' beliefs, experiences and perceptions as well as the types and the content of assessment in VEs. The qualitative analysis of the open-ended results offers additional insights into assessment practices.

Research results will be used to formulate practical recommendations and design practical resources to assist teachers in assessing virtual exchanges. Research findings, a practical handbook and examples of promising practices illustrating language assessment in virtual exchanges will be available free of charge on project www.assessnet.site.

Telekolaboracja, zwana także międzykulturową wymianą online lub telewspółpracą (ang. telecollaboration, virtual exchange, intercultural online exchange), dotyczy formy kształcenia, dzięki której uczniowie/studenci pochodzący z różnych obszarów kulturowych i językowych komunikują się poprzez narzędzia internetowe w celu realizacji określonych celów i zadań. Pomimo rosnącej popularności projektów telekolaboracyjnych na zajęciach językowych na całym świecie, brakuje opracowań naukowych i publikacji szkoleniowych na temat oceniania w tej formie kształcenia.

Projekt „ASSESSnet: ocenianie języka obcego w telekolaboracji - przekonania, praktyki i postrzeganie nauczycieli" ma na celu zbadanie podejścia nauczycieli do oceniania oraz stosowanych przez nich celów, strategii, narzędzi i procedur oceniania. W niniejszej prezentacji przedstawię wyniki ankiety przeprowadzonej wśród zaangażowanych w projekty telekolaboracyjne nauczycieli języka obcego/drugiego. Składająca się zarówno z pytań otwartych jak i zamkniętych ankieta miała na celu zbadanie poglądów nauczycieli języka obcego na temat oceniania, a także przyjrzenie się stosowanym przez nich praktykom oceniania oraz sposobom udzielania informacji zwrotnej. Wyniki badania pozwolą na opracowanie praktycznych wytycznych i materiałów służących udoskonaleniu procesu oceniania w projektach telekolaboracyjnych.

References:

• Akiyama, Y. 2014. Review of Issues and Potential Solutions of Japan-U.S. Telecollaboration: From the Program Coordinator's Viewpoint. CU Studies in Japanese Language Education, 11, 3-14.
• INTENT project. 2014. Position paper: Virtual Exchange in the European Higher Education Area. Retrieved from: https://www.unicollaboration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Position-paper_1.pdf.
• Müller-Hartmann, A. & O' Dowd, R. (2017). A training manual on telecollaboration for teacher trainers. Retrieved from: https://www.evaluateproject.eu/evlt-data/uploads/2017/09/Training-Manual_EVALUATE.pdf.

Anna Czura is a researcher, academic teacher and teacher trainer. Her research and teaching interests centre around language assessment, intercultural competence, learning mobility (both face-to-face and virtual), CLIL and European language policy. She worked as an assistant professor in the Institute of English Studies at University of Wrocław in 2011-2019. Currently she is a Marie Sklodowska Curie fellow (MSCA IF) at the Department of Language, Literature, Education and Social Science of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.