Evaluation & Accreditation of Quality in Language Services
EAQUALS Certificates of Achievement Scheme
Frequently Asked Questions
1 The Application Procedure
Can CEFR assessment procedures for EAQUALS Certification be included in preinspection advisory visits?
No, apart from guidance on the application procedure and a review of the requirements.
Is the application separate to a standard EAQUALS inspection?
Yes.
The application is made separately and is evaluated by the Assessment Panel.
EAQUALS also reserves the right to conduct “spot site checks” focusing on assessment and
certification matters at short notice, in addition to inspection at the next re-inspection.
Is there a charge for a Certification application?
Yes, there would be a charge of approximately EUR 250. Note that this is only paid once,
with the initial application.
Is there a charge for “spot checks” and how much notice will be given?
Yes, there would be a charge of approximately EUR 200.
Schools will receive at least two weeks notice.
Is there direct communication between the members of the Assessment Panel
and the institution?
No.
The application is made to the Secretariat. Any follow up questions will be made through the
Secretariat, as is the case with inspections. The Assessment Panel’s Report will then be sent
to the institution by the Secretariat, again, in the same way as with inspections.
What happens to the Application and accompanying documentation?
The Application is turned into the Assessment Panel’s Report. The electronic version of the
application is filed by the Secretariat, and the accompanying materials are kept for reference.
The Assessment Panel’s Report is also filed together with the Application and copies of it are
sent to the inspectors doing the institution’s next re-inspection for reference.
What then happens during Re-Inspections? (from mid 2010)
At re-inspections, inspectors will check the existence and implementation of what the school
has stated its standardization, assessment and moderation techniques to be, using a copy of
the Assessment Panel’s Report to do so. In addition, they will inspect the assessment and
standardization materials. In cases of doubt during a re-inspection, inspectors will consult
the Assessment Panel. (The Assessment Panel is represented on the ISC and the ISC is
represented on the Assessment Panel).
What will inspections want to see during Re-Inspections? (from mid 2010)
At re-inspections, schools are advised to display their system for at least a couple of classes.
Inspectors will want to observe oral assessment, checking that criteria are used as the
school has stated and that moderation techniques are actually applied. They will want to see
Evaluation & Accreditation of Quality in Language Services
examples of written production, completed progress tests etc, for a few classes – and above
all they will want:
- an overview of the approach by a member of staff, being shown the materials
concerned during that process;
- an opportunity to inspect record-keeping in detail.
What documents can an applicant institution refer to for preparation?
Look at the following sections in the members section of the EAQUALS website.
“EAQUALS Certificate of Achievement Scheme”
“CEFR”
“EAQUALS Certificate of Achievement Scheme”
The main documents are:
- The overview
- This document (FAQs)
- Appendix 20 of Version 6 to the EAQUALS Inspection Manual – which includes
explanation and a glossary
- The application form
“CEFR”
The main documents are:
- CEFR Standardisation Pack, plus related illustrative samples
- CEFR Guides:
o Teacher Assessment
o Making CEFR Progress Tests
Plus for those starting at the beginning:
- CEFR overviews
- Curriculum Self-Help guide
- Curriculum Case Studies
Plus for the ambitious:
- Guide: Calibrating Tests to the CEFR
Who does the institution contact if they need further help?
If the institution needs help to develop their assessment approach, they should ask EAQUALS
for consultancy through the Secretariat.
2 Curriculum
Must CEFR descriptors be used in the school’s level descriptions and syllabi?
Yes.
The school must have a CEFR-based curriculum and syllabus. CEFR influence must be more
than just a reference in global course aims. There must be a visible link to CEFR descriptors
in level descriptions and in criteria/descriptors used for continuous assessment and
performance assessments.
3 Assessment
Do there have to be tests?
Evaluation & Accreditation of Quality in Language Services
Usually.
Tests might be (a) progress tests developed by the school, or (b) standardised tests, like the
Oxford one.
One would expect the tests to be internal tests developed by the EAQUALS school, as
suggested in the Guide on making CEFR progress tests.
If in doubt, use of the Oxford on-line test as an external standardised test for English is
recommended.
In exceptional circumstances, tests may not be appropriate (e.g. on summer short courses).
In such circumstances, certification based just on assessment of spoken performance in
communicative activities may be acceptable. However, in such a case the school will be
required to demonstrate (a) an excellent CEFR curriculum used effectively for continuous
assessment and (b) a high level of standardization training and moderation techniques.
Do all four skills have to be evaluated in a specific activity or test in order to issue
the EAQUALS certificate, which gives only a “global” level??
No.
The global descriptors on the certificate refer generally to comprehension skills, without
differentiating between listening and reading, and there is no specific reference to writing.
The global descriptors imply that speaking is the core skill, as in the questions “Parlez-vous
français? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Speaking must therefore be explicitly assessed. It is
recommended to also assess written work and mastery of language points at the level
concerned.
Must there be a content link between the course taught and the test
administered?
No.
Any test administered must be appropriate to the learners and to the aims of the course.
However, an external, commercial test (e.g. Oxford on-line placement test) may be used in
the role of an “anchor test” to support the assessment of CEFR levels based on the
achievement of course aims; such an external test, especially if computer-adaptive, will not
be explicitly linked to the content of any specific course
Can progress tests be made just with elements from course books labelled at a
CEFR level?
Not unsupported.
Progress tests from course books are perfectly acceptable, but the school must add a
separate CEFR link, for example
- use of activities from past papers for public examinations (which are more reliably
mapped to the CEFR than course books)
- criteria for assessments of speaking and writing based on CEFR descriptors
Can “continuous assessment” consist only of an impression judgement by the
teacher at the end of the course, based on their memory of the learners’ class
performance and homework?
No.
Written homework is an excellent basis for teacher assessment, but there need to be certain
“assessment points” at which the teacher consciously evaluates learners with CEFR-related
criteria and records the result. Similarly for assessing spoken ability, certain communicative
activities should be dedicated to assessment (perhaps of certain learners), even though the
learners concerned will not experience this as a “test.”
Can assessments of speaking and writing have “general” criteria that refer to
performance in an abstract way, rather than to formulation of the level in
Evaluation & Accreditation of Quality in Language Services
CEFR/ELP descriptors? (e.g. Accuracy is reasonable for the level; Adequate
completion of the task set).
Not recommended.
This would only be acceptable if the institution (a) has detailed, transparent level
descriptions the formulations for which are explicitly linked to CEFR descriptors, and (b), the
institution has developed assessment tasks suitable for the different levels. In such cases,
the institution might choose to award a range of grades at this level (e.g. 5-1), and therefore
the descriptors for these grades may refer to the level descriptor in this general way. In such
an approach, the CEFR-based descriptor for the level concerned should also appear on the
grade sheet.
4 Materials Accompanying the Application
Does the DVD of assessed local performance samples have to be of professional
standard?
No.
Recordings made with a handheld camcorder – or even mobile phone – are acceptable.
Since you will need to use the recordings in a standardisation session with key staff,
camcorder is better because of the sound quality.
Audio recordings can also me made on cassette, mp3 file or CD.
Does the DVD/audio recording of assessed local performance samples have to be
in a standardised format?
To some extent.
Samples must show a production phase and an interaction phase for the same candidate(s).
To achieve this, the actual task format could be:
- the pair format used on the CEFR illustrative DVDs
- the format used in relevant examinations (e.g. Cambridge pair interviews)
- a conventional interview with a teacher
- phases of group work that show a planning or discussion phase (interaction), plus a
reporting / exchange phase (production) from the same candidate(s).
Does the DVD/ audio recording of assessed local performance samples have to
include all levels taught or all learner types taught?
No. One example of each of 2 levels of the language taught - or of two languages if more
than one is taught - is sufficient. If a school teaches adults and young learners it is not
necessary to send assessed samples for both; send samples for one or the other (adults or
young learners).
What is the minimum number of tests and assessment activities to be submitted?
Does this depend on the range and number of courses offered by the school?
Yes.
The institution must send one example of each assessment at each of 2 levels for each
language for each learner type.
Example:
An institution teaches German and English to adults (16+), kids (8-11) and teenagers (1316).
Evaluation & Accreditation of Quality in Language Services
The assessment consists of (a) a progress test, (b) a speaking assessment in a classroom
group activity and (c) assessed written task.
The institution has:
- 3 assessment tasks
- 2 languages
- 3 learner types
If the school wants to issues certificates to all learners for both languages this means
sending:
3 (tasks/tests) x 2 (levels) x 2 (languages x 3 (learner types) = 36 samples.