Across the Threshold: A Call for ILR Proficiency Descriptor Banks

Autor/in	Holman, Don
Titel	Across the Threshold: A Call for ILR Proficiency Descriptor Banks
Quelle	In: Applied Language Learning, 27 (2017) 1-2, S.1-17 (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1041-679X
Schlagwörter	Guidelines; Second Language Learning; Language Proficiency; Language Skills; Sociolinguistics; Testing Problems; Language Tests; Standards; Public Agencies; Foreign Countries; Definitions; Europe + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Richtlinien; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Soziolinguistik; Language test; Sprachtest; Standard; Öffentliche Einrichtung; Ausland; Begriffsbestimmung; Europa
Abstract	Whereas the Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Descriptions broke new ground for assessing proficiency in foreign languages, the need for user-oriented (rather than assessment-oriented) proficiency scales has led, especially in Europe, to the creation of scales consisting of positively formulated "can-do" statements, which describe sociolinguistic functions and are calibrated to the proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF or CEFR) and other European scales aligned with CEFR. To mitigate the washback effects of ILR-based proficiency assessment, which lead to an all but exclusive focus on threshold linguistic functions, this paper advocates banks of proficiency descriptors calibrated to the ILR base or plus level to which they belong. Such descriptor banks would provide explicit standards for foreign language acquisition in U.S. government agencies and programs and resolve many problems that arise in foreign language acquisition from defining general language proficiency exclusively in terms of threshold-level linguistic skills. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center. Academic Journals, 1759 Lewis Road Suite 142, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, CA 93944-5006. Tel: 831-242-5638; Fax: 831-242-5850; e-mail: aj@pom-emh1.army.mil; Website: http://www.dliflc.edu/#homepage-tab\|3
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01