DOCUMENT RESUME ED 418 584 FL 025 062 TITLE ALTE News, 1992-1996. INSTITUTION Association of Language Testers in Europe, Cambridge (England). PUB DATE 1996-00-00 NOTE 48p. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT ALTE News; v1-4 1992-1996 EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Standards; Evaluation Criteria; Foreign Countries; Glossaries; Group Membership; International Education; *Language Tests; Modern Languages; *Professional Associations; *Second Languages; *Testing; Uncommonly Taught Languages; Vocabulary ABSTRACT The first four volumes, comprised of newsletters published during the period of August 1992-January 1996, of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) include articles on: the origins, aims, activities, and membership of the organization; conference activities; development of language testing standards and procedures; guidelines for users of ALTE-developed tests in various languages; definition of proficiency levels; development of a multilingual glossary of language testing terms; and profiles of member institutions. Testing-related professional announcements are also included. (MSE) *************************************************************** ******** ********* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** ALTE News August, 1992 Vol. 1, No. 1 February, 1993 Vol. 2, No. 1 January, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 2 June, 1994 Vol. 3, No. 1 Dec. 1994 Vol. 3, No. 2 June, 1995 Vol. 4, No. 1 January, 1996 Vol. 4, No. 2 a c DEPARTMENT OF P r Educational ResearchEDUCATION iiOUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS CENTER (ERIC) his document has MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY been reproducedas eceived from theperson or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to mprove reproductionquality. Points of view or cocument do notopinions stated in this necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES official OERI positionor policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI:' BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 AUGUST 1992 ALTE Vol. I. No. 1 THE ASSOCIATION OF LANGUAGE TESTERS IN EUROPE Testing organisations representing Agreement the process of developing tests of this eight European languages have joined kind. together to improve the quality of The second meeting took place in modern language assessment and Perugia in April 1991 and, at the third The principal objectives of ALTE certification. meeting in Cambridge in November are as follows: This group recently registered as a 1991. a formal agreement was drafted. European Economic Interest Group- The application to register the ALTE To establish common levels of pro- ing (EEIG). EEIGs were devised to EEIG was completed in February 1992 ficiency in order to promote the aid cross-frontier co-operation within when official registration made this transnational recognition of certifi- the European Community. The par- unique use of an EEIG operational. cation in Europe. ticipating organisations are striving The following institutions are sig- To establish common standards for to further this goal by developing a natories to the agreement: Alliance all stages of the language testing descriptive framework to help schools. Francaise (French): Generalitat de process. namely for test development. students and employers compare cer- Catalunya (Catalan): Goethe-Institut question and item writing, test ad- tificates across European languages. (German); I nstituto Cervantes (Span- ministration. test marking and grad- In November 1990, an inaugural ish): University per Stranieri, Perugia ing, reporting of test results, test meeting of the group .was hosted by (Italian); CITO (Dutch); Universidade analysis and reporting of findings. the Generalitat de Catalunya in Bar- de Lisboa (Portuguese); University of To collaborate on joint projects and celona. The purpose of this meeting Cambridge Local Examinations Syn- in the exchange of ideas and know- was to consider the formation of an dicate (English). Itis hoped that a how. association with the aim of promoting Danish member will join in the near Workhas begun to establish a de- future collaboration in the field of future. All of these institutions either scriptive framework to cover certifi- language testing. As a result, the produce tests of their own mother- cation of European languages (see Association of Language Testers in tongue as a foreign language or are in Continued on Page 2 Europe(ALTE) was established. STEPS TOWARD DESCRIPTIVE FRAMEWORK STEP 1: Members of the group provide a general (i.e. non-detailed) description of each of their examinations. STEP 2: The group agrees on its external reference points where appropriate ( e.g. Threshold and Waystage). STEP 3: The descriptions of each examination are translated and circulated together with sample papers to members. STEP 4: On the basis of Step 3, members place their examinations provisionally alongside others. STEP 5: Members discuss the groupings and make adjustments. STEP 6: The provisional Table with five levels is drafted and circulated. STEP 7: A research programme is initiated to check the judgements based on content inspection (Steps 4-5). STEP 8':Refinements to descriptions, levels and groupings. are made as necessary basedon Step 7. STEP 9':The comparison is extended to examinations in specialist areas (eg. French, German, etc. for business). STEP 10':The Table and descriptions are circulated to user groups (students, teachers, employers, agencies, etc.) and other examination providers for feedback. 'Steps still to be undertaken: project plans are being drawn up for thenecessary empirical research work to begin in 1992. AVARII,A313 rOT ZO7Y 1 ALTE 3 EC examination co-operative Continued (ivin Page 1 table on page II. An initial result is the charting of a activities: b I Step 7 within the descriptive framework project. provisional table of exams at five levels ( steps 4-6). This is A programme of work to compare the examination at each the first in a number of expected outcomes. level was drawn up which will use a 'content checklist'. Future success of the project appears promising because The group agreed that ALTE meetings will be held every the descriptive framework will build upon an established six months and that a newsletter will be produced following language examination foundation. The examinations in- each meeting. It is hoped that a mailing list will be set up and volved have developed over many years with their own that this will provide a means of keeping the public up-to- traditions and followings: collectively, they are already used date on the projects and informed about ALTE's other and accepted in all EC and most other European countries. activities. The next ALTE meeting will be hosted by the and are taken annually by more than 300.000 candidates. Instituto Cervantes in November. All members are committed to successful completion of the project. Initially, each member country has contributed Conference its own system of examinations and its own judgement of where its examinations fit into the framework. Each member In August 1993, the 15th Annual Language Testing now has the opportunity to be involved in a programme of Colloquium will be jointly hosted by two members of ALTE empirical research to support judgements that are made (see UCLES and CITO. The first part of the colloquium will be Step 7). held in Cambridge (August 2-5) and the second part will be The fourth meeting held in Lisbon in April 1992 focused in Arnhem (August 5-8). This will be the first time the event on: a) the development of acode of practicedesigned to has been held outside North America. enable all the member institutions to establish and adhere to For more details contact the UCLES or CITO representa- a clear set of standards in their testing and certification tives (see page 3). The following are the examinations offered by ALTE members in order of increasing difficulty for each language: CATALAN Zentrale Oberstufenpriifung (ZOP) Certificat Internacional de Catala: Nivell basic (NB) Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom (KDS) Certificat Internacional de Catala: Nivel! llindar (NL) ITALIAN DUTCH Certificato de Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana Nederlands als Tweede Taal, Examen I (NT2-I) (Livello 1) (CELI1) Nederlands als Tweede Taal, Examen II (NT2-II) Certificato de Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana ENGLISH (Livello 2) (CELI2) Key English Test (KET) Certificato de Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana Preliminary English Test (PET) (Livello 3) (CELI3) First Certificate in English (FCE) Certificato de Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana (Livello 4) (CELI4) Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) Certificato de Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) (Livello 5) (CELI5) FRENCH PORTUGUESE Certificat Elementaire de Francaise Pratique (CEFP) Certificado de Lingua Portuguesa (CELP) Diplome de Langue (DL) SPANISH Diplome Superieur d'Etudes Francaises Modernes (DS) Certificado Inicial de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera (CIE) GERMAN Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache (ZDaF) Diploma Basic° de Espanol (DBE) Zentrale Mittelstufenprnfung (ZMP) Diploma Superior Espanol (DSE) ALTEMIS 4 ALTE Members The ALTE Secretariat is based at the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). The manager is Dr. Michael Milanovic to whom all enquiries on ALTE should be made. English Dutch J The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndi- The Centraal Instituut Voor Toetsontwikkeling (CITO-