--- Forwarded Message from 15.5 --- >From: "Dartmouth College LISTSERV Server (15.5)" <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:07:41 -0400 >Subject: LLTI: approval required (E40461D7) >To: [log in to unmask] Hi everyone, Is there anyone out there who incorporates standardized testing of proficiency according to recognized scales into the curriculum? By this I do not mean merely using OPI techniques, but rather mean routinely testing and ranking students according to a recognized scale? And which scale do you use, e.g. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language, the Interagency Language Roundtable? In other words, do your students leave the university with some sort of ranking or certificate that means something more than "I took two years of language" or even more than saying "minored" or "majored," i.e., that carries more than what ever weight the name of your institution might lend it. We all know that saying "two years" of 3 hours a week Spanish is different than a 5 hour a week program; two years of French is different than two of German, or Russian, or Arabic, or Chinese, etc. And between institutions there are other disparities ... Also students are more mobile than ever now, taking especially core courses sometimes at a number of institutions. For instance, in German, the Goethe Institut has adjusted its language tests to match the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. One way to incorporate proficiency ratings into the curriculum would be to have all students take a Goethe test (which, however, costs money) after the 4th or 6th or 8th semester, depending on which levels you want to test. We in German at TCU are moving towards doing just such a thing. We are a test center for the Goethe exams and have been offering the exams on a voluntary bases to our majors and minors, strongly encouraging them to take the exam and subsidizing the costs (perhaps one of the only advantages of having a small program). We are budgeting to do a pilot next year with students after their fourth semester as well. Who else out there uses or has tried a similar model in any language? Thanking you all in anticipation Scott -- Scott G. Williams, Ph.D. Associate Prof. of German Director, Language Media Center Dept. of Modern Language Studies Box 297210 Texas Christian University Ft. Worth, Texas 76129 Tel: Office (817) 257-7163 email: [log in to unmask] *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI Anthony Helm, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************