1 / 20

The UNILANG national language certification scheme and the Language Learning Framework for Arabic

The UNILANG national language certification scheme and the Language Learning Framework for Arabic. Mark Critchley, Association of University Language Communities in the UK & Ireland mark.critchley@durham.ac.uk. Scene Setting UNILANG Language Learning Framework Next Steps. Arabic in UKHE.

aspasia
Download Presentation

The UNILANG national language certification scheme and the Language Learning Framework for Arabic

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The UNILANG national language certification scheme and the Language Learning Framework for Arabic Mark Critchley, Association of University Language Communities in the UK & Ireland mark.critchley@durham.ac.uk

  2. Scene Setting UNILANG Language Learning Framework Next Steps

  3. Arabic in UKHE • Why study Arabic? • 5th most widely spoken language in the world • One of the 6 official languages of the United Nations • 4th most widely used language of the internet • 4th most important language for UK learners to acquire • Economic reasons • Diplomatic reasons

  4. Arabic in UKHE Arabic is the 9th most commonly taught language at degree level (22% of institutions) Arabic is the 7th most commonly taught language at IWLP (80% of institutions) Arabic accounts for c. 10% of language teaching provision in UKHE

  5. Arabic in UKHE

  6. Languages in UKHE • More demand from students, more flexibility and diversity • Greater need for comparability • Greater need for consistency • Greater need for professionalisation

  7. UNILANG national language certification scheme • Recognition of competency in language learning against a common benchmark • Referenced to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) • Accredited using an External Examiner network • www.unilang.ac.uk

  8. UNILANG national language certification scheme • Pilot years completed 2015/16 to 2018/19 • 11 participating Universities – IWLP only at the moment • French, German, Italian, Spanish • 52 approved external examiners – 2 in Arabic • Approved examiners must be familiar with the CEFR: requires training

  9. UNILANG national language certification scheme • Assessment of CEFR level is different to the marking scheme. A module pass mark might be 40%. However a student may need to achieve 60-70% to demonstrate fulfilment of CEFR competencies; • Need to consider module learning outcomes in relation to the CEFR • Need to understand the correlation between modules and CEFR bands

  10. The Language Learning Framework • AULC project from 2016-2018; supported by the British Academy • Intended to introduce consistency into language course design • Considered the 10 most commonly taught languages in IWLP • Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish) • German • Russian • Arabic • East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) • Explicitly linked to the CEFR

  11. The Language Learning Framework • Typical recommendation of 1:2 ratio between class time and self-study • Fewer contact hours = slower progress • Contact hours cannot be replaced by more self-study • Easy-paced courses (e.g. evening classes) inevitably result in less self-study • The more intensive the course, the better the progress (in the short-term at least) • Truly intensive courses do not give students much time for self-study

  12. The Language Learning Framework • In-depth assumes 3h/w teaching, delivered in the day time • Easy-paced assumes 2h/w teaching, usually in the evening • More contact time per week will reduce the overall time by an unquantified amount, perhaps 20% • Progress is better on longer courses, largely due to fewer breaks in study • The Framework does not take into account immersive study in-country

  13. The Language Learning Framework - Arabic • 90 hours of class time to reach A1 • 220 hours of class time to reach A2 • 340 hours of class time to reach B1, with increasing self-study • 490 hours of class time to reach B2, with increased self-study • Ratio of 1:1 between class time and self-study at A1/A2 • 2x teaching duration c/w French & Spanish • 6 hours per week means B1 by the time students go on a Year Abroad • 2 hours per week means 4 semester-long courses to reach A1

  14. Next Steps for Arabic • Agree that CEFR alignment is an expectation • Train Arabic teachers in familiarisation with CEFR terminology and descriptors • Consider the role of dialect in the CEFR, increasingly prominent from A2-B1 onwards • Review and adopt the Language Learning Framework, including a “fast-track” version • Alignment of courses with CEFR • Standardisation of assessment tasks according to CEFR descriptors • Implement UNILANG for standardised language certification

  15. Objectives for Arabic • Demonstrate equivalence with European languages • Professionalise the teaching of Arabic language in the UK • Improve strategies for recruitment of students

  16. References British Academy Arabic Mapping Project (2018) Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA, 2017/18) Language Provision in UK MFL Departments (UCML, 2018) Survey of Institution-wide language provision (AULC/UCML, annual) British Council – Languages for the Future (2017) Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe - https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/level-descriptions) Language Learning Framework (AULC - http://www.aulc.org/documents/)

  17. شكراً mark.critchley@durham.ac.uk

More Related