Aligning the Language Criteria of a Group Oral Test to the CEFR: The Case of a Formal Meeting Assessment in an English for Occupational Purposes Classroom

Abstract

The Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) 2015-2025 has set in motion efforts from all stages of education to align programs, courses, and syllabuses to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) benchmark. This exercise has brought on major revamps in all aspects of English language education in the nation. This study will present such an undertaking in a public university in Malaysia and detail how the language criteria for an oral group test of an English for Occupational Purposes course have been aligned to the stipulated CEFR level. The actual assessment task involved groups of four or five students conducting a meeting of their established company. Data for the study came from an analysis of the audio recordings of nine group meetings, along with post-assessment interviews and focus group discussions involving three EOP instructors. Based on the data analysis, this study recommends a revised set of language criteria for the assessment. Furthermore, it demonstrates how an alignment of the scoring criteria with the descriptors of the targeted CEFR scale can be achieved through a systematic comparison of the language functions (LFs) produced in the meeting task to the targeted CEFR descriptor scales. The revised language component for the meeting assessment could help ease instructors’ assessment of students interactional skills and allow them to gauge better their students’ attainment of the skills required in a formal meeting context.

The Application of Language Proficiency Scales in Education Context: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Results showed high agreement for task judgments, acceptable reliabilities and consistency for examinee-centered ratings, and varying levels of agreement for descriptor choices. In Malaysia, scholars aligned CEFR with Competence Score Average (ELCSA), English Proficiency Tests (EPT) in universities, and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) meeting assessments (Baharum et al, 2021; Shak & Read, 2021; Sufi et al, 2021). Results showed an overall positive correlation between CEFR and these in-house tests, proving the acceptability and credibility of these tests.…”

Integrated foreign languages teaching: development of learning outcomes for IT majors

“…It is worth mentioning various ways of implementing CEFR descriptors: for designing scales and descriptors for separate levels [14; 17], specifying particular levels [9], as well as for elaborating CEFR-aligned assessment tools in the context of teaching FL spoken interaction to law and engineering students [27], and learner-centered self-assessment and reporting procedures [13]. The CEFR itself is used for assessing students' interactional skills [19] and for the European Language Portfolio which was successfully implemented in Russian engineering universities [3].…”