The practice of teaching a foreign language in primary schools in Italy was first officially provided for by a decree in 1985, but it was only in 1991 that the figure of the Foreign Language (FL) teacher was actually defined. The issue at that stage was how to select and train the prospective L2 teachers, and so in-service courses were organised to provide these teachers with the linguistic and methodological know-how needed for the new professional role they were to play. At the time, the autonomy of single schools was encouraged and courses were managed locally by several education institutions cooperating on the project.Since then English has become the compulsory language to be taught in primary schools and the final objective of the teacher training courses has been identified as level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). This has led to the need for a different kind of assessment, which has evolved from tests devised by the teacher trainers themselves in the early courses, to internationally recognised certificates (Cambridge ESOL Preliminary English Test PET), and finally to a more specific certificate devised by test designers at Italian University Language Centres, now involved in the project.This article aims to describe how teacher training and assessment have changed in Parma, and illustrate how the current Certificate of English for Primary school Teachers (CEPT), devised by the Language Centre of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and the Language Centre of the University of Parma, has developed into a regional project, on the basis of a Teacher Profile which takes into account the CEFR, the European Language Portfolio (ELP), the Italian school system and its requirements, the needs of children learning English as a foreign language, and the needs of future teachers of English attending an inservice course.

This paper describes a joint programme developed in 2018 by the University of Parma Language Centre (Italy) and the Humanities and Arts Department of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The aim of the project was to involve students of English for General Academic Purposes in delivering presentations to an unfamiliar foreign audience on a topic relevant to their academic interests. The students were required to prepare for the presentation by exploring and personalising the chosen topic so as to be able to explain it to a group which they had had no previous contact with or information about. Through the active involvement of the students in a realistic implementation of their prospective professional use of English, language learning became a holistic experience where a traditional approach to language learning focusing mainly on vocabulary and macro-skills was integrated with a pragmatic approach which addressed the so-called ‘21st-century skills’ (specifically critical thinking, communication, collaboration and digital literacy). The simulation of situations that they are likely to encounter in their professional lives helped students build their confidence, with the whole learning experience carrying both emotional and social implications. This paper offers an insight into the challenges and issues which arose, and ideas for improving the learning experience. We describe the preparation carried out by the teachers at both universities, and the guided and autonomous work carried out by students in the different stages. A post-conference survey triggered the students’ self-reflection in relation to learning and personal development. The survey was also valuable for the teachers regarding reassessment of teaching strategies and preparation for future joint projects.

In 2006 the Law Faculty of Parma University (Italy) launched EFLIT (English for Law and International Transactions), a postgraduate training project for professionals in the fields of Law and Economics aimed to improve both their language and legal skills by combining a linguistic (i.e. English for Law) and a content focus (i.e. Law in English). Since then EFLIT has developed into a national project and obtained recognition by professional associations for accreditation purposes in continuous education. This has called for a valid, reliable, standardised end-of-course test which assesses the level reached by participants and is "authentic," i.e. reflects their real needs for English and translates their competence into actual performance. The EFLIT teaching staff carried out a survey in order to identify the participantsʼ specific requirements, and design an exam suitable for both lawyers and accountants and tailored to the needs of professionals working in Italy. The present study outlines the new format of the exam based on the results of the survey, in an attempt to bring together language assessment principles and the participantsʼ professional needs, and compares it to the universityʼs internal test to verify to what extent the latter matches the requirements of the studentsʼ future profession.