Language Centres at a Crossroads

Developing speaking skills in foreign languages is an important objective in academic curricula and particularly important in tertiary education. The Network of University Language Testers in Europe (NULTE) works under the umbrella of the European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CERCLES). Acert and CertAcles examinations are two of the signatory language certification systems of NULTE's Memorandum of Co-operation, and as such, they abided to co-operate in research conducive to the validity and transparency of the mutual recognition of their certificates.

Performance based assessment is the preferred method for the assessment of speaking in the university context, involving not only the performance but also the judging process. McNamara (1996) identified the features of second language performance tests, which worked intrinsically around the performance to obtain a rating. These features are the rater, the scale, the instrument and the candidate. Consequently, ensuring test validity and reliability of speaking tests involves a complex process that includes detailed specifications which define clearly the construct so that the examiners know what type of speaking is to be assessed; transparent assessment criteria, appropriate tasks which would elicit sufficient language samples to be assessed, clear rubrics, and performance guidelines for the examiners and examinees.

Our research presents the efforts undertaken by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) -developers and administrators of CertAcles examinations- and Poznan University of Technology (PUT) -developers and administrators of ACERT examinations- to further the collaboration established in 2017 and which resulted in published research on the validity of reading, listening and writing exams from both systems. The objective of our research is to focus on the validity and reliability of ACERT and CertAcles speaking exams and their comparability based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of exam specifications, rating criteria, candidates and raters from two exam sessions in PUT and UPV during 2019. The sessions were carried out in PUT with ACERT tasks and candidates and in UPV with CertAcles tasks and candidates. Raters of both universities attended both sessions with the objective of comparing performances, rating instruments and rating processes.

Our results aim to provide further bases for co-operation and improvement of assessment practices within the NULTE network.

Pod patronatem Europejskiej Konfederacji Akademickich Ośrodków Nauczania Języków Obcych (CERCLES) stworzono Sieć Uniwersyteckich Egzaminów Językowych w Europie (NULTE). Egzaminy ACERT i CertAcles, są dwoma reprezentantami systemów certyfikacji językowej sygnatariuszy Memorandum o Współpracy NULTE i jako takie zobowiązały się do prowadzenia badań wspierających trafność i przejrzystość procesu wzajemnego uznawania certyfikatów.

Nasze badania prezentują wysiłki podejmowane przez reprezentantów CertAcles - Centrum Językowe Politechniki w Walencji (UPV), oraz ACERT – Centrum Języków i Komunikacji Politechniki Poznańskiej (PUT) w celu kontynuacji współpracy nawiązanej w 2017 roku. Celem naszych obecnych badań jest sprawdzenie trafności i miarodajności egzaminów ACERT i CertAcles oraz ich porównywalności w oparciu o analizy specyfikacji egzaminów i kryteriów oceny komponentu sprawdzającego sprawność mówienia w języku obcym oraz cech kandydatów i oceniających z dwóch sesji egzaminacyjnych przeprowadzonych w PUT i UPV w roku 2019.
Słowa kluczowe: mówienie, sprawności, ocena językowa, internacjonalizacja, certyfikacja języka obcego, EAP, testy językowe, uznawanie egzaminów

References:

• ACLES. 2014. CertAcles. Accreditation Model for ACLES exams. http://www.acles.es/multimedia/enlaces/9/files/fichero_136.pdf (accessed 12 December 2018).
• Alderson, J. Charles, Caroline Clapham & Dianne Wall. 1995. Language test construction and evaluation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• SERMO. 2006. Statut Stowarzyszenia Akademickich Ośrodków Nauczania Języków Obcych SERMO [The statute of the Association of Academic Foreign Language Teaching Centers SERMO]. https://www.sermo.org.pl/about-sermo/ (accessed 21 December 2018).
• Weir, Cyril J. (2004). Language testing and validation: An evidence-based approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Zabala-Delgado, J., & Sawicka, B. (2019). Mutual recognition of certification systems: The case of SERMO and ACLES. Language Learning in Higher Education, 9(2), 289-319.

Julia Zabala Delgado, holds an MA in English Philology from the Universitat de València, a Diploma in translation and interpretation from the Universitat de València, an MA in Language Testing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Language and Technology from the Universitat Politècnica de València. She works as a Language Advisor at the Language Centre of the Universitat Politècnica de València coordinating standardised exams, test development and rater training. Areas of interest: Language Assessment, Development of Assessment Tools, Rater training, Higher Education.

Barbara Sawicka holds an MA in English Philology and PhD in language assessment from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. Currently she is a Deputy Director of Centre of Languages and Communication at Poznan University of Technology, Poland. She has extensive experience in teaching English for Specific Purposes at a technical university. Areas of interest: innovative teaching methods, educational assessment and multimedia technologies in language learning.