RELANG workshop graduates share their experience

Participants of the first RELANG workshop share their experience and impressions in a video interview. 

On August 28 - 30, 2023, a RELANG initiative workshop took place in the NPI CR conference center. The participants were mainly language test developers and teachers. 

The long-term goal of this initiative is that the language tests and exams used in the participating countries ensure valid assessment of pupils and students. Test results shall be expressed by using valid, comprehensible and generally accepted levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). 

Jana Bérešová, head of the Department of English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Education of Trnava University in Slovakia, and Rita Juknevičienė from the Department of English Philology at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University in Lithuania took the roles of lecturers. For three days, Jana and Rita presented the CEFR to the participants in a very intensive, but catchy and understandable way. The relatively small number of 28 of the participants allowed each question and testing issue to be addressed individually. 

The participants worked in smaller groups under the guidance of both lecturers. The assigned tasks gradually led to resolving the issue of determining achieved levels of language. The results of group work were then presented and consulted with other participants. 

In addition to certificates, the participants also received knowledge and practical skills. The lively discussion continued even during the breaks and it was a source of further sharing of experience and ideas. 

This initiative is a part of the joint action between the European Center for Modern Languages and the European Commission under the name Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning. 

What is the initiative about? 

In recent years the Council of Europe‘s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become a powerful instrument for shaping language education policies. The growing acceptance and use of the CEFR levels of language proficiency has created a situation in which, all over Europe, public bodies, examination institutes, language schools and university departments seek to relate their foreign language curricula and examinations to the CEFR. 

The RELANG initiative offers training to stakeholders in the Member States of the European Union and the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) in relating language tests and examinations to the CEFR in a valid way and exploring relationships between foreign language curricula and the CEFR.