Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2024
DOI:
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A Critical Insight into Linking Foreign Language Classroom Practices to the CEFR
Valentina Gavranović
ABSTRACT:
Since promoting cultural and language diversities has been emphasized within the framework defining the main goals of the European Union policies, foreign language teaching has been assigned a major role in educational systems across European countries. To ensure quality in teaching, learning, and assessment, with an objective and measurable set of tools applicable at the international level, the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) has been designed. This document has also greatly influenced foreign language policies in the Republic of Serbia; on the one hand, national curricula, learning objectives, and coursebooks have been devised in compliance with the CEFR, and, on the other, due to the lack of standardized testing in foreign language teaching, there is not much evidence to what extent teaching, learning and assessment practices promoted by the CEFR have been conducted and aligned in classroom environments. This paper focuses on the importance of gaining a more comprehensive insight into linking teaching practices to the CEFR principles, emphasizing the need to align teaching methodologies with assessment practices. It reports on the results obtained from the research conducted with a group of teachers of foreign languages teaching at all educational levels. The research aimed to investigate to what extent the respondents were familiar with the CEFR, whether they used the document when planning their lessons and assessment practices, and whether and how they used it to create materials, tasks, and assessment types. The overall aim of the research was to draw attention to the upcoming PISA 2025 testing and State Matura, both of which will incorporate standardized testing of foreign languages at the national level, and also provide information on what kind of support teachers of foreign languages need to face these challenges.
keywords: the CEFR; learning outcomes; aligning teaching, learning and assessment practices, standardized testing