No abstract

Background: This study aims to develop a low-stakes assessment tool to establish a classroom English language benchmark that Japanese teachers of English can use for their own professional development purposes. To start with, we describe the differences between CLA (Classroom Language Assessment) in Hong Kong and the IDS (Integrative Diagnostic Scale) in Japan with regard to agenda, characteristics, and implementation. Then, we report findings made from both of these assessment types and from a group discussion we had in order to clarify the rationale behind the CLA experts' assessment. Methods: The participants of the present study consisted of two groups: (1) four project members of the IDS in Japan and (2) two CLA raters in Hong Kong. Following an initial assessment of videotaped performances by the IDS developers (based on the IDS benchmark) and assessment of the same videotaped performance by the CLA experts (based on the CLA), a follow-up focus-group discussion between the IDS developers and the CLA experts was held. Results: The results of the study offer some evidence to support the thesis that a classroom English benchmark helps capture aspects of classroom English language proficiency that are indispensable for students' language acquisition. Accordingly, on the basis of the findings, suggestions for further revisions of the IDS were made. Conclusion: The study showed that, with some revisions, the IDS can be an apt professional development tool through which Japanese teachers of English can improve their classroom English proficiency. It also suggested that more research is needed to contextualize the IDS as such a professional tool more fully.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has been increasingly used to inform language policies and teaching practices in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Education proposed in 2011 that objectives of English curricula at the secondary education level ought to be stated using the “Can do” schemata of the CEFR and then announced a new English examination system for college enrolment to be launched in 2020. This top-down approach to implementing the CEFR, however, has caused practitioners great confusion and led to mis-conceptualisations of the CEFR. A group of practitioners conducted a research project aiming to develop a practical guide to CEFR-informed learning, teaching and assessment. It attempts to provide practitioners with CEFR-related resources and tools to implement the CEFR for course design. To design a course, users of the CEFR need to modify scaled illustrative descriptors in principled ways to fit local needs. The modified descriptors become the basis for daily lesson plans, and function as an assessment tool for teacher and learner self-assessment. This report summarises the research project and workshops held in 2017 and 2018.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) are effective in facilitating the learning of foreign languages. Professor Emiko Izumi, Graduate School of Education, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, is seeking to enhance motivation for foreign language learning among children and students using language activities and a can-do evaluation scale that facilitates self-efficacy and autonomy. The plan is for the effectiveness of the evaluation scale to be quantitatively and qualitatively verified. The can-do evaluation scale was developed by a team of 14 researchers and teachers with various specialities, including Professor Naoyuki Naganuma, an expert in language learning motivation and language testing theory, and Professor Mitsue Allen-Tamai, who has extensive experience in English education as a university teacher and has also taught English to toddlers and children. The evaluation scale is designed to be user orientated and help develop a set of performance-related scales. The team has developed can-do lists primarily concerned with a language proficiency scale for use in elementary school English. The researchers want individuals to conceptualise their personal goals in order that they can be motivated and their progress can be visualised. Classroom activities and evaluation are designed to encourage children's learning, support the learning process, foster autonomy, and promotes learners' ability to think, judge, express and learn.