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Language tests for access, integration and citizenship: An outline for policy makers Language tests for access, integration and citizenship: An outline for policy makers Produced by ALTE, January 2016 [2] Contents Preface 4 Foreword 5 Introduction 7 1 Background 9 2 Formal entry requirements 11 3 Concepts in assessment 18 3.1 Needs analysis 18 3.2 Fairness 19 3.3 Glossary 19 3.4 Test validation 21 4 Levels and profiles 24 4.1 Determining the appropriate language level 24 4.2 From levels to profiles 25 4.3 Issues of literacy 27 5 Deciding what to test 31 5.1 Determining test purpose and real-world demands on test takers 31 5.2 Determining the linguistic demands of a test 31 5.3 Considering types of assessment 33 5.4 Tasks types 34 6 The test production cycle 35 6.1 An overview of the test production cycle 35 6.2 Producing test specifications 36 6.3 Item writing 36 6.4 Pretesting 36 6.5 Test administration 37 6.6 Inclusion of candidates with special requirements 37 6.7 Assessment criteria and marking 37 6.8 Monitoring 39 6.9 Conducting impact research 40 7 Conclusion 43 Appendix 1: Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels 44 Appendix 2: LAMI tables 48 Appendix 3: LAMI posters 60 Appendix 4: Extended bibliography 61 [3] Preface The Council of Europe’s mission is to promote respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in its 47 member states. These fundamental values and its constant concern with ensuring inclusion, social cohesion, respect for diversity and for the dignity of all, underpin its actions. Consequently, the Council of Europe’s project on the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM), coordinated by its Language Policy Unit in Strasbourg, aims to support member states in the development of coherent and effective policies in keeping with these shared values and principles. One of the project’s aims is to promote and share good practice with regard to language learning, teaching and assessment. This includes a concern to ensure that language tests, where they are obligatory, do not discriminate against or infringe the human rights of migrants, and fully respect the principles of transparency and equity according to internationally accepted codes of practice – a concern fully shared by ALTE, a long-standing partner for Council of Europe language policy projects. In that context the Language Policy Unit welcomes this booklet by ALTE. It offers timely and practical guidance in developing responses to some of the major concerns raised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its recent report on “Integration tests: helping or hindering integration?” (2014) and its Recommendation (2014)2034, in particular concerning the development of coherent and transparent tests, where they are obligatory. As demonstrated by the 2014 survey carried out by the Language Policy Unit, language requirements have increasingly become a significant element of migration and integration policies in many member states. Accordingly, assessment of migrants’ competence in the language(s) of the host country for access, residence and citizenship presents a constant challenge in terms of appropriate responses to the needs of migrants and of society, in an inclusive spirit that builds on the plurilingual and intercultural repertoires of all. We are grateful to the Language Assessment for Migration and Integration (LAMI) Group of ALTE for providing this thorough yet easily accessible guide for policy makers, highlighting fundamental considerations concerning the ethical use or possible misuse of assessment in this high-stakes context. This booklet, which adds to the resources offered by ALTE, presents key concepts in language assessment and outlines the practical steps and decisions that lead to valid, fair, practical and realistic tests. Through this publication, ALTE, which has INGO participatory status with the Council of Europe, continues to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the role, processes and impact of language assessment on the wider European community. Philia Thalgott Language Policy Unit Education Department Council of Europe [4] Foreword A distinctive characteristic of humankind is its mobility. Human beings have always been on the move and migrated for a range of reasons. Due to better, faster (and often cheaper) transport facilities, mobility has increased drastically over the last 50 years. In the past, commuting over short distances was more common than major journeys, for example to travel to work, to find employment or pursue education. However people did migrate from one place to another to start a new life, and often in large numbers. Our histories are evidence of these migrations, which were often large–scale. Migration flows in the past were quite static and often unidirectional. Nowadays, people commute over larger distances; they migrate from place A to B, to C, to D and back to B. In addition, with the advent of the smartphone and other e-devices people have also become more mobile in a virtual way. Skype and other e-communication techniques allow people to have more intense contact with their home country family or with relatives who have migrated to other places around the world. The current increases in both physical and virtual mobility have a major impact on the processes of integration, social participation, social inclusion, and language learning. Let us take language use as an example. People who migrated in the 1950s and 1960s had few methods of communication with their relatives in the home country. The most widespread way was writing a letter, which took a couple of weeks to arrive. Now people can email, Skype and have contact with their family within seconds, and on a daily basis. Besides other aspects such as integration, this may impact the speed and processes of learning the language or language variety of the host country. It also impacts processes of language choice behaviour: which language to use, in what form, in what context. People have always been mobile and have always migrated from one place to another. This is not a new phenomenon. Individuals, groups, and families migrated and continue to migrate for several reasons: to start a new or better life for themselves or their children; for economic reasons; because of social unrest or war; because of famine, floods, drought, or other natural disasters. The reasons are infinite and always legitimate or at the very least, they are understandable. Because of the current geo-political struggle for power, mainly in the Middle East, the world is being confronted with enormous streams of refugees. Although the figures are tiny compared to other regions in the world, Europe is currently faced with its largest refugee crisis since the Second World War. This presents European politicians and policy makers with enormous challenges. Europe and its nation states have to take up the challenge to fulfil their humanitarian task on the one hand, but at the same time they have to address the concerns of people in the host country in an understanding way. In addition they need to take the new dynamic and complex realities into account, as described above. It has been well documented (Van Avermaet, 2012; Council of Europe, 2014; Pulinx & Van Avermaet, 2015; Van Avermaet & Pulinx, 2014) that over the years there has been a clear increase in stricter language requirements – including language tests – for access, integration and citizenship. The overview given in this booklet also clearly shows this. Also, [5] in the current crisis, European and national politicians and policy makers seek for new solutions, for ways out, sometimes driven by ideology, but always in the short term and with high expectations for immediate effect or impact. There are often pressing practical and logistical reasons to do so. This pressure, and the dynamics and complexities described above, has an enormous impact on professionals at grassroots level, including those who work in the related fields of language learning, teaching and assessment. The stakes of the test that have to be developed for these purposes are not just high. These language tests often decide whether you can enter a country; stay in a country; get a permanent residency, or citizenship. They decide whether you are in or out. For language testing bodies, ensuring the quality of the tests they develop was always at the core of their work. Within this highly ideologized and politicized context, however, language testers must reflect carefully not only on the reliability, but more than ever on the validity of their instruments. How can tests be developed in line with the current rapidly changing context? How can they meet the needs of this specific group of test takers? How should test results be used and interpreted? What are the intended and unintended outcomes? What is the impact? These and related technical and ethical questions are addressed in this booklet, which details the work of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) and the Language Assessment for Migration and Integration (LAMI) Group. A booklet which should be mandatory reading, not only for language testing bodies, but most of all for policy makers, before deciding on (possibly stricter) language policies and language testing policies for access, integration and citizenship. For, ultimately, in using these tests, we are not just looking at the required language proficiency of a European Erasmus student. We are deciding over the lives of human beings. Professor Dr. Piet van Avermaet Director, Centre for Diversity and Learning Ghent University, Linguistics Department References: Council of Europe (2014) Report on the 3rd Survey among Council of Europe member states on policy and practice relating to the linguistic integration of adult migrants” Council of Europe: Strasbourg. http://www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/surveys Pulinx, R and Van Avermaet, P (2015) Integration in Flanders (Belgium).

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