Language Centres at a Crossroads

Task-based approaches have been used in university language teaching for some time, but a holistic approach to course planning with a task-based structure covering both teaching as well as testing & assessment is not (yet) commonly used. A task-based approach allows us to bring in line teaching and testing according to Bigg's paradigm of "strategic alignment" and to make sure that the learning objectives defined in the module description are reflected throughout the activities from the start of the course to the final evaluation of the learners' language skills.

In this paper we will present the approach, steps and results of an extensive project that aims at implementing a task-approach to teaching and assessment at the Institute of Foreign Languages at Vilnius University in a major revamp of the department. This project, which comprises approximately 50 teachers and 165 student groups with more than 2000 participants in 10 faculties of the University, has drawn on previous experiences of smaller scale at language centres in Germany, different parts of Europe and Central Asia. Within a time-frame of just one year the teaching programme at the department had to overcome drastic changes and teachers have had to approach teaching and assessment in a totally new way.

In our presentation we will analyse the challenges and obstacles we needed to overcome, the tools that helped in the implementation process and the results of continuous assessment of the implementation process. Furthermore, we will present the factors of success and the limits identified in implementing changes to methodology in a university language centre / department. Particular focus will be paid to emotional aspects: following a qualitative approach we analysed the teachers' reactions to staff development activities and collected their feedback in questionnaires. This allowed us to identify the emotional phases teachers had to overcome in this one-year transition period.

Finally, we would like to discuss our results with colleagues in the audience who conducted similar projects, in order to develop new initiatives and support tools for implementing changes successfully at university language centres in the future.

Während handlungsorientierte Ansätze in der Sprachlehre bereits verbreitet sind, fehlt an Hochschulsprachenzentren vielfach nach wie vor ein ganzheitlicher Blick auf das handlungsorientierte Konzept, das sich - entsprechend Bigg's Paradigma des "strategic alignment" - auch auf Kurskonzeption und Prüfungswesen erstreckt. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir die Konzeption, Durchführung und Ergebnisse eines Projektes mit über 50 Lehrkräften bzw. 165 Gruppen von insgesamt über 2000 Studierenden am Institut für Fremdsprachen der Universität Vilnius vor, im Rahmen dessen das Grundkonzept der Sprachausbildung für Studierender aller Fachbereiche innerhalb eines Jahres komplett auf ein handlungsorientiertes Konzept für Kurskonzeption, -durchführung und Kursabschlussprüfungen umgestellt wurde. Dabei werden die Herausforderungen und Hindernisse, die bewältigt werden mussten, sowie die Methoden und Ergebnisse erläutert. Vor allem sollen die anhand qualitativer Methoden erhobenen Erfolgskriterien bei der Umsetzung von Veränderungsprozessen vorgestellt werden, bevor in der Diskussion mit dem Publikum ein offener Austausch über vergleichbare Situationen und Erfahrungen in anderen Kontexten vorgesehen ist.

References:

• Biggs J. B. (1996), "Enhancing Teaching Through Constructive Alignment", in: Higher Education 32, 247-264.
• Fischer J., Chouissa C., Dugovičová S. and Virkkunen-Fullenwider A. (2011), Guidelines for Task-Based University Language Testing, Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
• Fischer J., Musacchio M. T., Standring A. (2009), EXPLICS - Exploiting Internet Case Studies and Simulation Templates for Language Teaching and Learning. A Handbook, Göttingen: Cuvillier Verlag.
• Piccardo E. and North B. (2019), The Action-oriented Approach. A Dynamic Vision of Language Education, Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Dr. Johann Fischer is the Director of ZESS (Centre for Languages and Transferable Skills) at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the Head of the Scientific Committee of UNIcert. Former Secretary General and President of CercleS, he is currently a member of the Board of AKS. His research focuses on the implementation of the CEFR, task-based teaching & assessment, and staff development. He has been coordinator of European projects with the European Commission and the ECML.

Prof. dr. Roma Kriaučiūnienė is Director of the Institute of Foreign Languages of the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University. Her professional interests include: multilingualism and plurilingualism, foreign language teaching and learning, personality development in teaching/ learning process at universities; development of future foreign language teachers' value attitudes. R. Kriaučiūnienė disseminated her research data at various international conferences in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Georgia, Russia, Poland and had her research papers published in Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy, India, Czech Republic, Spain.