Assessing the plurilingual competence

Plurilingual education portal

Subject classification: this is an education resource.

Type classification: this resource is a course.

Initial Activity

Imagine that, as a language teacher, you have included the development of the plurilingual competence in your objectives. You have worked with your learners on this skill and would like to test what they have learned. How would you do this?

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

define plurilingual competence assessment;
list different ways of assessing the plurilingual competence.

Keywords

Assessment; plurilingual competence

Prerequisites

Know the definition of plurilingual competence.

Introduction

There is now a wealth of research on the plurilingual competence and its development, particularly in Europe following the publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. However, there are still relatively few concrete proposals for assessing this competence and little scientific research addressing this issue. This lesson will introduce you to this important area of language teaching due to what is known as the backwash effect, in other words, the significant influence of assessment on teaching and learning. What is not assessed, for example, may not be taught or learned, and the way in which assessment is carried out has a strong influence on teaching methods and content.

A little history

Since the 1990s, language education policies - mainly in Europe - have emphasized the development of plurilingual and intercultural competence. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001) places this objective at the center of language teaching and learning. It is based on the definition of this competence given by Coste, Moore, and Zarate (1997). The Supplementary Volume to the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2021) emphasizes the importance of working on this competence, in particular by proposing level descriptors for it.

Research is also very active in the field of plurilingual education. Numerous projects have developed pluralistic approaches (Candelier et al., 2012): language awareness, intercomprehension, integrated language teaching ion of didactic approaches, and intercultural approaches. Concrete materials for implementing these approaches have been produced.

However, the field of plurilingual competence assessment remains relatively unexplored when compared to the extent of research on plurilingual education and its promotion at the political level. Nevertheless, Lenz and Berthele (2010) published a satellite study linked to the CEFR, in which they noted that “identifying appropriate methods for assessing plurilingual and intercultural competence is a step towards integrating it into educational practice” (p. 5). These methods should be contextualized and adapted to programs and curricula.

Self-assessment of this competence through portfolios is an exception and has already been the subject of numerous studies and publications. Otherwise, it is only recently that researchers and projects have taken an interest in the hetero-assessment of plurilingual competences through procedures developed mainly by teachers.

Definition

Please refer to the page on plurilingual and intercultural competence for a definition of this key concept, as well as to the page on pluralistic approaches.

In this lesson, we discuss the assessment of the plurilingual competence, in other words, the procedures used to determine levels of competence. This can be self-assessment (by the learner themselves) or hetero-assessment (by another person, often a teacher).

Assessment can be formative - feedback from the teacher allows learners to assess their progress, check what they have and have not learned, identify their successes and difficulties, and manage their future learning based on their results. Feedback from the person responsible for the assessment should therefore highlight strengths and weaknesses and suggest ways to help the learner learn more effectively. The results of a formative assessment also allow the teacher to review their teaching program based on what learners have or have not acquired.

Assessment can be summative, in which case it is used to determine levels of knowledge and/or skill. This can take the form of a grade, a ranking of learners, etc. Such assessment can also be used to determine the effectiveness of a course or program in terms of learning, while comparing the results obtained in different groups of learners.

The purposes may also overlap. A summative assessment may contain formative feedback.

Methods for assessing the plurilingual competence

Self-assessment of the plurilingual competence

In parallel with the CEFR, the Council of Europe has funded work on the development of the European Language Portfolio and its various versions. The objectives of this system are defined as follows by the Council of Europe (https://www.coe.int/fr/web/portfolio):

to contribute to the development of learner autonomy, plurilingualism, and intercultural awareness and competence;
to enable users to record the results of their language learning as well as their experience of learning and using languages.

Through various reflective activities, learners are invited to analyze their experiences in the field of plurilingualism and interculturalism. In addition, there is a file for collecting documents related to these experiences and their language learning, as well as assessment grids for self-assessing their skills in the different languages in their repertoire.

The reflective part allows for a real consideration of the plurilingual competence, conceived not as the sum of competences in various languages, but as a specific and holistic competence. The self-assessment grids, which echo the descriptors of the CEFR, reflect more of an additive version of plurilingualism and a separation of competences in each language.

Various projects and training courses have also included portfolios and other reflection tools, such as an experiment conducted at the University of St. Gallen and presented by Bleichenbacher et al. (2023). Publications report on the uses, advantages, and limitations of these tools (Bleichenbacher et al., 2023; Brinkmann & Melo-Pfeifer, 2023). For more details, see the page on language portfolios.

An example of portfolio practice has been designed by the PEP project.

Assessment by the teacher

Among practices of assessment by the teacher, Ollivier and Melo-Pfeifer (2023) distinguish between hybrid procedures, on the one hand, and holistic and integrated procedures, on the other.

Hybrid procedures

Hybrid procedures are assessment methods that combine the assessment of skills in various languages to draw conclusions about plurilingual competence. Jamet (2010) reports on an intercomprehension experiment. The test assessed learners' receptive skills in various Romance languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese). To do this, tests from the DELF (Diplôme d'études en langue française), the DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera), and the Portuguese baccalaureate were used. Competences were thus tested separately in the three languages. This type of “hybrid” procedure can lead to the development of a skills profile that considers skills in various languages.

Other authors propose calculating a plurilingual proficiency index. Mueller Gathercole et al. (2013) present a model developed and implemented in a multilingual context, in this case in Wales. The authors emphasize the importance of taking learners’ plurilingualism into account when assessing their language skills. In particular, they propose calculating two scores for monolingual tests. These scores consider the linguistic profile of the learners. One score allows learners to compare their results with all other learners, while another score allows them to compare themselves with learners who have similar linguistic experience to their own.

In the Spanish Basque Country, Cenoz et al. (2013) propose calculating a bilingualism and plurilingualism index using scores on tests in English, Basque, and Spanish. The bilingualism index is calculated by adding the scores in Basque and Spanish, while the plurilingualism index considers the test results in all three languages.

Holistic and integrated procedures

Various researchers working on translanguaging (e.g., Gorter & Cenoz, 2017) have also taken an interest in assessment, proposing holistic methods for evaluating the plurilingual competence. These forms of assessment integrate several languages and encourage the use and combination of these languages in a single test. This is particularly promoted for the assessment of non-linguistic skills in plurilingual individuals, but also for the assessment of the plurilingual competence. García and Kleifgen (2019) group together in this assessment category all procedures that encourage learners to “express what they know by deploying their entire semiotic repertoire”. The aim is to assess learners' ability to use all their resources to communicate and be “virtuosos in the use of languages,” rather than limiting themselves to selecting the languages in which to express themselves, as this choice is limiting (García & Lin, 2017). Schissel et al. (2018) provide examples of assessment grids that incorporate the use of translanguaging to assess narrative texts. However, this approach raises a crucial question: we cannot assume that teachers or assessors will be able to assess any text produced in a translanguaging mode, especially when that text includes several languages that they may not know. This raises the question of the feasibility of implementing such assessment practices in different educational contexts and calls for careful consideration of the linguistic repertoires of learners and evaluators. The use of mediators and/or translation resources available today will therefore be essential.

The EVAL-IC project (https://www.evalic.eu) has proposed a protocol for assessing communication skills in Romance languages. The proposed procedure is based on intercomprehension and implements task-based assessment. It involves a scenario that integrates various subtasks in a logical sequence, with each task allowing for the assessment of plurilingual skills in language activities: production, reception, and interaction. The pilot test scenario (for university-level students) was a simulation of an application for an international event on sustainable development.

The first test focused on written comprehension and interaction skills in a registration form with items written in different Romance languages. Students could respond in the Romance language of their choice or in the official language of their university, but they had to understand the items in the Romance languages.
Candidates then had to research sustainable development and the possibilities for implementing actions at university level in order to prepare for an interview with a plurilingual panel. To do this, they had to read texts and watch videos in various Romance languages and extract the essential information.
Based on this information and their knowledge, the students had to prepare a slideshow and a short presentation of ideas for sustainable development actions in universities. In this way, they practiced interproduction by seeking to produce a presentation that could be understood by speakers of different Romance languages.
This was followed by an interview to assess their plurilingual oral interaction skills. After their oral presentation, the students engaged in a discussion with the jury. Each member of the jury spoke a particular Romance language, so the candidates had to strive to understand the jury's questions and comments and respond using a Romance language, trying to be understood by all members of the jury.
The final test was a group written interaction test on a forum, where candidates were invited to discuss in small plurilingual groups to define a concrete action that could be implemented during the international event.

For the assessment, the EVAL-IC project developed competence descriptors.

This protocol is a concrete example of assessing plurilingual communication skills integrating various languages and language activities. See the example of adaptable practice designed by the PEP project.

Take-away messages

Compared to research and teaching practices that promote the development of plurilingual competence, there is still little scientific work and few concrete examples concerning the (plurilingual) assessment of this competence.
However, there are various proposals for assessing the plurilingual competence:
- the parallel assessment of (partial) competences in various languages to develop a plurilingual profile of the individual;
- the calculation of plurilingualism indexes based on assessments in different languages;
- assessments that allow, encourage, and value translanguaging practices;
- assessments that integrate various languages and propose tasks requiring the activation of plurilingual competence in different language activities.

Self-assessment

What form of self-assessment of plurilingual competence has been particularly promoted by the Council of Europe?

The European Language Portfolio

Which practices of assessment by the teacher can you recall?

The development of a plurilingual profile or the calculation of a plurilingualism index through the assessment of competence in various languages
The holistic assessment of plurilingual communication skills through a scenario and tasks integrating various languages.
Translanguaging.

References

Bleichenbacher, L., Schröder-Sura, A., Chesini, C., De Zanet, M., Gantenbein, C., & Hilbe, R. (2023). Crosslinguistic teacher education. How self-assessment and reflection can support plurilingual student teachers. In S. Melo-Pfeifer & C. Ollivier (Eds.), Assessment of plurilingual competence and plurilingual learners in educational settings (p. 163-177). Routledge.

Brinkmann, L. M., & Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2023). Using the European Portfolio for the assessment of plurilingual students in the foreign language classroom. In S. Melo-Pfeifer & C. Ollivier (Eds.), Assessment of plurilingual competence and plurilingual learners in educational settings (p. 216-229). Routledge.

Candelier, M., Camilleri-Grima, A., Castellotti, V., de Pietro, J.-F., Lörincz, I., Meißner, F.-J., Noguerol, A., & Schröder-Sura, A. (with Molinié, M.). (2012). CARAP : cadre de référence pour les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures. Centre européen pour les langues vivantes / Conseil de l’Europe. https://www.ecml.at/Portals/1/documents/ECML-resources/CARAP-FR.pdf?ver=2018-03-20-120658-740

Cenoz, J., Arozena, E., & Gorter, D. (2013). Multilingual students and their writing skills in Basque, Spanish and English. In V. M. Gathercole (Ed.), Bilingual assessment: Issues and solutions (p. 186-205). Multilingual Matters.

Conseil de l’Europe. (2001). Un cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues : Apprendre, enseigner, évaluer. Didier, Conseil de l’Europe. https://rm.coe.int/16802fc3a8

Conseil de l’Europe. (2021). Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues : Apprendre, enseigner, évaluer. Volume complémentaire. Conseil de l’Europe. https://rm.coe.int/cadre-europeen-commun-de-reference-pour-les-langues-apprendre-enseigne/1680a4e270

Coste, D., Moore, D., & Zarate, G. (1997). Compétence plurilingue et pluriculturelle. Vers un cadre européen commun de référence pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langues vivantes. Études préparatoires. Conseil de l’Europe. https://rm.coe.int/168069d29c

García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2019). Translanguaging and literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(4), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.286

García, O., & Lin, A. M. Y. (2017). Translanguaging in bilingual education. In O. García, A. M. Y. Lin, & S. May (Eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education (p. 117-130). Springer.

Gorter, D., & Cenoz, J. (2017). Language education policy and multilingual assessment. Language and Education, 31(3), 231-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2016.1261892

Jamet, M.-C. (2010). Intercomprensione, Quadro comune europeo di riferimento per le lingue, quadro di riferimento per gli approcci plurilingui e valutazione. Synergies Europe. Intercompréhension(s): repères, interrogations et perspectives, 5, 75-98.

Lenz, P., & Berthele, R. (2010). Prise en compte des compétences plurilingue et interculturelle dans l’évaluation. Conseil de l’Europe. http://www.unil.ch/files/live/sites/magicc/files/shared/Ressources/Assessment2010_Lenz_FRrev.pdf

Melo-Pfeifer, S., & Ollivier, C. (2023). On the unbearable lightness of monolingual assessment practices in education. In S. Melo-Pfeifer & C. Ollivier (Eds.), Assessment of plurilingual competence and plurilingual learners in educational settings (p. 1-27). Routledge.

Mueller Gathercole, V. C., Thomas, E. M., Roberts, E. J., Hughes, C. O., & Hughes, E. K. (2013). Why assessment needs to take exposure into account: Vocabulary and grammatical abilities in bilingual children. In V. C. Mueller Gathercole (Ed.), Issues in the Assessment of Bilinguals (p. 20-55). Multilingual Matters.

Schissel, J. L., De Korne, H., & López-Gopar, M. (2018). Grappling with translanguaging for teaching and assessment in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts : Teacher perspectives from Oaxaca, Mexico. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(3), 340-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1463965

Credits

This resource has been created by Projet PEP (discuss • contribs) (Erasmus+ project, co-financed by the European Commission) : Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer (Universität Hamburg) & Christian Ollivier (Université de La Réunion).

Portal: Plurilingual education