Transparency in English
LAAKEA-osahanke vuonna 2008
Describing English courses and assessing students in the FINELC institutions: a report on current practices and needs
A Short Introduction to the TIE Project
In recent years, a requirement for transparency in language-centre policies has been motivated by issues such as growing student mobility, the need to recognise prior learning and the development of quality assurance strategies. This necessity for transparency has become increasingly important in both the description of language-centre courses and the assessment of students' language proficiency. To address these issues, a project funded by KIEVI (Kaikille opiskelijoille tarkoitettujen kieli- ja viestintäopintojen koordinaatiohanke) was carried out in autumn 2007. The project aimed to survey the course description and student assessment policies for English language teaching and testing at the FINELC institutions and included three main activities. Firstly, reports of work done on course description and assessment criteria were collected from language centres and summarised. This was followed by the compilation of a data pool of descriptors presently in use by English teachers at FINELC institutions, either for course description or assessment of student proficiency. Thirdly, an online survey was carried out to determine the areas for which English teachers considered the existing descriptors to be inadequate for their work.
In spring 2008, the results were written up in a report as a project for LAAKEA (Laatu, kehittäminen ja arviointi kaikille yliopisto-opiskelijoille tarkoitetuissa kieli-, kulttuuri- ja viestintäopinnoissa). It is hoped that this report will provide a record of work already accomplished by the FINELC institutions by the end of 2007, and allow individual language centres to compare their own work with efforts made at the other institutions. It is also intended that the report and its appendices will serve as the basis for future work in the preparation of descriptor sets for use on language-centre courses in Finland, as well as accelerate the validation of descriptors and commencement of wide-scale rater training for all teachers.
Report: Transparency in English