for efficient teaching of oral skills - EMECOE

emec oeAsociación Estratégica para la Mejora de la Enseñanza de la

Comunicación Oral en Centros de Lenguas Europeos

Guidefor

efficient teaching

of oral skills

Foreign language learning among young adults

and adults in Europe

Authors · Helmut Renner

· Presentación Martínez Manzanera· Renata Klimek-Kowalska

G U I D E F O R E F F I C I E N T T E AC H I N G O F O R A L S K I L L S

Foreign language learning

among young adults and

adults in Europe

EMECOE | Asociación estratégica para la mejora de la enseñanza de la comunicación oral

Ti t le of the or iginal French vers ion:

G U I D E D ’ E N S E I G N E M E N T E F F I C I E N T D E S CO M P É T E N C E S O R A L E S

Apprent issage des langues étrangères chez les jeunes adultes

et adultes en Europe

Guide for efficient teaching of oral skills

A practical guide that leads you to reflect on the teaching of oral communication skills.

It does not want to tell teachers what to do but give tips and offer strategies and activities that have proven to be efficient.

This methodological guide is nothing more than a book that wants to offer food for thought and be a tool to faci-litate teaching oral commu-nication skills of teenagers and adults.

There are:• A reflection on the pro-fessionalization of foreign language teaching.

• Considerations on how to learn oral communica-tion skills efficiently such as listening comprehen-sion, spoken production and interaction as well as the pronunciation skills.• A presentation of strate-gies which have been proven to be effective regarding the development of oral com-munication skills. The stra-tegies are presented with relevant practical teaching observations.

G U I D E F O R E F F I C I E N T T E AC H I N G O F O R A L S K I L L S

Foreign language learning among young adults and adults in Europe

Intellectual product for the

Erasmus Ka2 project:

Nº: 2016-1-ES01-KA204-025600

Titulo: EMECOE Asociación estratégica para mejorar la enseñanza de la comunicación oral en centros de lenguas europeos.

Organización coordinadora / solicitante: ESCUELA OFICIAL DE IDIOMAS DE XATIVA

EMECOE is a KA2 European project in which foreign language teachers (English, French, Spanish, German and Italian) from 3 partner countries: Spain, Poland and Austria.

Their starting point was that of analysing the current situation of teaching speaking and listening skills in their language centres for young adults and adult learners, especially in levels A2, B1 and B2.

.

Printed in October 2018 by Stepan Druck, Ludwig Stepan GmbH & Co KG, Alte Bundesstraße 19-21, 5500 Bischofshofen, Austria [email protected] / www.stepandruck.at

Registration of copyright: V2691-2018

Editorial coordination: Helmut RENNER - VISION / Austria (in coopération with CEBS) Presentación MARTÍNEZ MANZANERA - APEOICVA - Spain Renata - ELC–Europe des Langues et des Cultures / Poland

Page layout: Helmut RENNER, VISION -Austria

English version: Ania Zarmutek - Poland, revised by Susan Ainslie Spain

ISBN : 978-84-09-05397-1 Copyright 2018 © emecoe

Contact : [email protected]

Page web : emecoe.eu

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.sepie.es

FOREWORD

Erasmus+ is the European Union’s greatest commitment to education and teacher training. A commitment to managing educational cooperation on a large scale made by organisations and people from 33 European countries.

The Erasmus+ programme and its predecessors is very likely the initiative that has helped the most in promoting European identity. During the 30 years it has been in place, millions of Europeans (students and teachers from all areas of education) and thousands of organisations have studied and worked together benefitting this joint project which we call Europe.

This guide, “Guía metodológica para la mejora de la enseñanza de la competencia oral en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras”, which has been created especially for adult students, is a perfect example of European cooperation. Four institutions - led by the official School of languages based in Xàtiva - in Spain, Austria and Poland have worked as a team for 2 years as an Erasmus+ strategic association.

The huge amount of hard work carried out by those working in these organisations will, without a doubt, show itself through the great impact the ma-terial presented here within will hopefully have. This being said, the journey cov-ered so far is outstanding.

This group consisting of 4 institutions from 3 different European countries, each with a different culture and language have worked together despite the difficul-ties entailed, and have brought together one unique result.

This is the real challenge and also the most gratifying. This is what Erasmus+ is all about.

Andrés Ajo Lázaro

Director de la Unidad de Educación Escolar y de Personas Adultas

Servicio Español para la Internacionalización de la Educación, SEPIE

Agencia Nacional Erasmus+

I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................8

1. Development of learners’ oral communi-cative competence: an issue still relevant today ....................................................................... 8

1.1. Oral expression and neurological evidence ................................................................ 8

1.2. Teachers and their level of professionalism ................................................... 8

1.3. Effective Strategies (examples) ..................... 9

1.4. Evaluation of oral production ........................ 9

1.5. Professionalization of language teachers.................................................................. 9

2. Members of the team .....................................10

2.1. EOI Xátiva ............................................................10

2.2. APEOICVA ............................................................10

2.3. ELC – Europe des Langues / Cultures ........10

2.4. VISION / CEBS .....................................................11

II. TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS ................ 12

1. Historical background: Before and after the CEFR .............................13

1.1. Before the CEFR .................................................13

1.2. After the CEFR ....................................................14

2. Professional development ............................15

2.1. From in-service training to CPD .................15

2.2. Knowledge of pedagogical actions ...........15

2. Statistical results of the survey ....................16

2.1. Analysis of students’ questionnaires .........16

2.2. The teachers .......................................................18

2.3. The different languages .................................18

3. Common teaching strategies Introduction .......................................................19

3.1. Pronunciation ....................................................19

3.2. Listening comprehension .............................20

3.3. Spoken production and interaction ..........21

4. Speaking and the Brain ...................................23

4.1. How does learning actually work? ............23

4.2. Why is speaking so efficient? What happens when we speak? .................23

4.3. Why do we need to know this? How can this help? ...........................................23

4.4. How to help learning? ....................................24

4.5. How can we use this to teach grammar? Isn’t grammar always boring? ......................25

4.6. I‘d like to summarize here. ............................25

4.7. How can we do this? How can we create conditions that enhance learning? ............25

4.8. Classroom situations .......................................26

4.9. Can you do this ?...............................................27

III. TESTING OF THE EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES ............................................... 28

1. Survey on the evaluation of the methodological proposals ............................29

1.1. The number of lessons per week ...............29

1.2. Foreign languages taught in the classroom ............................................................29

1.3. Questions concerning a potential increase in the lexical repertoire ................29

1.4. Questions concerning morphosyntactic structures .........................30

1.5. Questions concerning pronunciation and intonation ...................30

1.6. Questions concerning fluency ....................30

1.7. Questions concerning losing fear by using the proposed strategies ...............31

1.8. Questions concerning teamwork ...............31

1.9. Questions concerning learner’s motivation ..........................................................31

2. The linguistic tele-tandem of the EMECOE project ..............................................32

2.1. Objectives ...........................................................32

2.2. Functions of foreign languages ..................32

CONTENT

2.3. The originality of the project ......................32

2.4. The teaching aids .............................................33

2.5. Realization...........................................................34

2.6. Technical functionality ...................................35

2.7. Evaluation and conclusion ............................35

2.8. Examples for each level and language .....36

3. Concept maps / mind maps .........................38

3.1. Concept Maps/Mind Maps - Key Principles .....................................................38

3.2. Why should we introduce concept maps? ..................................................38

3.3. Methods of working ........................................38

3.4. Choice of levels and topics ..........................39

3.5. EMECOE concept maps ..................................39

4. Pecha Kucha .......................................................41

4.1. Definition.............................................................41

4.2. Method .................................................................41

4.3. Objectives ...........................................................41

4.4. Description of tasks .........................................41

4.5. The teacher and the learner .........................42

4.6. Evaluation ..........................................................42

5. From listening comprehension to speaking .........................................................43

5.1. Methodology ...................................................43

5.2. Objectives ...........................................................43

5.3. Description of tasks .........................................43

5.4. Procedure ............................................................43

5.5. Evaluation ...........................................................44

6. Prompt cards for speaking activities .......45

6.1. Working with prompt cards..........................45

6.2. Worried about the level of students? .......45

6.3. Scope of use .......................................................45

6.4. Teacher-animator .............................................46

6.5. Organizing a sequence of activities ..........46

6.6. Example activities ...........................................46

6.7. Conducting interviews ...................................46

6.8. Giving an opinion ...........................................47

6.9. Document accompanying interactions ...47

IV. EVALUATION OF SPOKEN PRODUCTION AND INTERACTION .................................. 48

1. From normative evaluation to learner-centered assessment .......................49

1.1. Self- and/or external assessment ...............49

1.1. The task and its evaluation ...........................50

1.2. Our criteria for assessing speaking skills ..51

2. LOLA – how it is seen & brought forward Learning-Oriented-Language Assessment 52

2.1. Definition ...........................................................52

2.2. Our background................................................52

2.3. Task based speaking activities .....................53

2.4. Developing competence oriented tasks .53

2.5. EMECOE tasks - best practice examples ...53

2.6. The role of the interlocutor ...........................54

2.7. The grids ..............................................................54

2.8. A formative grid ................................................54

2.9. Illustrations about reporting and LOLA-principle ...............................................................55

3. Examples of approved assessment grids for speaking .............................................56

3.1. AOC-Grid - Levels: A1 - A2 and beyond ...56

3.2. EOI-Grid - Level: B2 .........................................57

V. SYNERGIES: INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTS 59

How the product was designed ............................59

1. The portal ............................................................59

2. The guidebook .................................................60

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................... 61

VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................. 62

EMECOE - METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE - Project ERASMUS+ KA28

PREFACE

“Language is the road map of a culture.

It tells you where people come from and

where they are going.” (Rita Mae Brown)

Travellers through time and cultures that we are, we are in need of orientation. We need tools that help us see where we are and where we are going. We want to ask questions and need to understand answers. We may have worries as we travel and may want to seek company and shelter.

We have hopes and plans which we need to communicate in order to move for-ward. We need to make decisions and organise our thinking and planning.

While our very own linguistic repertoire, grown and developed in familiar environ-ments, may suffice as long as we stay where we are we need new guiding tools once we enter territories on our journey we have not been to before.

The EFFICIENT TEACHING GUIDE FOR ORAL SKILLS is precisely that. Compiled by an international group of experts - all of them committed “guides” in matters of lan-guage education -and targeted at a user group of adults young and not so young it is a rich source of ideas and guidelines designed to support the acquisition of a new language.

In other words, it is a road map of language, communication, understanding and meaning in the best sense of the word.

Franz Mittendorfer, language teacher, European.

EMECOE - METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE - Project ERASMUS+ KA2 9

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. Development of learners’ oral communicative competence: an issue still relevant today

2. The members of the project team


I. INTRODUCTION

1. DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNERS’ ORAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: an issue still relevant today

It has become common practice today to translate texts from one language to another by means of on-line translation applications, but the results are not always satisfactory.

The computer world has revolutionized access to foreign languages. The meaning of foreign language texts, even the most exotic ones, is easily accessible.

One can understand other languages through elec-tronic translation, and even have access to oral state-ments transformed into written texts (for exam-ple by using smartphones, Skype and many other applications)1).

However, oral communication is not only an aim to be reached among language skills but also a great

challenge for many learners. Thus the main objective of this book is to produce a methodological guide to facilitate the teaching of oral competence.

Demonstrating one’s linguistic skills in oral communi-cation requires:

� an extensive vocabulary, � good pronunciation and intonation, � a mastery of grammatical structures, � a certain flexibility and spontaneity, � the initiative to take the floor or to continue a

discussion, � linguistic mediation where necessary, � coherence and cohesion, and � especially if one considers the professional

perspective, the accomplishment of the task relating to the given situation and context.

1) Evernote, -Just Press Record, -Speechnotes, -NaturalReader, -Transcribe, Nuance Dragon Professional, -Google Docs Voice Typing, Windows Speech Recognition, ...

Taking into account the findings of a survey conducted shortly before the beginning of the project, we were able to confirm that the teaching and learn-ing of this particular skill is sometimes not very satisfactory for teachers or learners alike.

We therefore decided to analyze the current state of research, the needs and methodological strategies in order to create the tools that can help foreign lan-

guage teachers in their daily work to im-prove oral communication.

1.1. Oral expression and neurological evidenceIn February 2017, the EMECOE project team took up the challenge of improving oral communication in adult L2 classes. We considered the factors that hindered learning and mistakes that should be avoided. So, we worked with experts in neuroscience, mainly with the linguist Elisabeth Pölzleitner. She specializes in the field of neurolinguistics, the study of

neuronal phenomena that control comprehension, production and acquisition of language/languages. In that way we reflected on our own pedagogical practices and on all three partner institutions in order to obtain the best possible results.

1.2. Teachers and their level of professionalism

Another aspect we took into consideration was the problem of the teacher training level in relation to the teaching of oral competence.

We strongly believe that it is important for teachers to become aware of their level of training in teaching oral proficiency. They should ask themselves ques-tions: What is my level? What could I do to improve it? With this in mind, we decided to develop methodo-logical guidelines.


1.3. Effective Strategies (examples)In February-March 2017, thanks to the work of dif-ferent members of the EMECOE project and the col-laboration with neuroscience experts, the first ideas were introduced which later appeared in the guide. Then, between April and October 2017, thanks to the previous work and on the basis of the data col-lected in the initial survey we were able to elaborate the methodological guidelines that we believed to be the most successful. Thus “Pecha-Kucha (the code of best practice)”, “Audio prompts”, “Concept Maps “ and “Prompt Cards for speaking activities” were selected as examples of effective didactic resources for the de-velopment of oral expression.

1.4. Evaluation of oral productionAccompanying all these steps, evaluation according to the principle of LOLA2) has proved to be crucial for the individual learner’s progress.

Finally, once the effective strategies were developed, the results obtained from the analysis were taken into account and from the conclusions drawn from the surveys (made before and after the 4-month testing period of the strategies), we were able to create the structure and content of the guide.

2) LOLA - Learning Oriented Language Assessment See also: https://tea.iatefl.org/about-teasig/teasig-committee/ - Dave Allan

1.5. Professionalization of language teachers

Nowadays, in a globalized and competitive world, the urgent need to learn a foreign language requires high standards of teaching. Learners need to acquire a language as fast as possible to enter the world of work or higher education. They do not want to waste time, they demand from their teachers the best train-ing. This includes also mandatory ongoing training, as teacher’s for continuous improvement of their profes-sional skills and of the results they achieve.


2. MEMBERS OF THE TEAM

2.1. EOI XátivaThe Official Language School in Xàtiva has its main builduing in Xàtiva and a population of about 30.000 inhabitants. It is also the capital city of the La Costera region (Valencia). In addition, it has two school build-

ings in the prov-ince of Valencia.

The Offi cial Lan-The Official Lan-guage School is a state school where modern languages are taught. Nowa-days, the dif-ferent levels

for learning English within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) are offered at the main centre, according to regulations stipulated in specialized language teaching1). As to French, the levels taught are A1, A2, B1, B2. As to Ger-man, the levels offered are A1, A2, B1 and the 1st year of level B2. Finally, as to Valencian language, C1 and C2 are the levels taught.

With regard to the school buildings, it should be noted that in Ontinyent A1, A2, B1 and B2 are the lev-els offered in English and A1, A2 and B1 are the ones taught in French and German. In Ayora a 60-hour in-troductory course of English is offered as well as two B1 groups in English.

The official courses are comprised of 120 hrs, from September to late May, and in May-June 1st year stu-dents take their final exams, whereas the students en-rolled in the 2nd year take an official exam previously unified throughout the Valencian Community, which once it has been completed successfully, accredits students with the certificate of that level. The total number of students in Xàtiva, Ontinyent and Ayora is over 2500.

The class schedule offered to the students is from 9 a.m. to 9.p.m., at 2-hour intervals, 2 days per week. However, there are so-called “compact groups” which students attend for 4 hours consecutively on the same day. On the other hand, our intensive courses are highly appreciated as well in which students are given the opportunity to successfully complete a lev-el (2 years in A2, B1 and B2) in an academic year by attending 4 hours, 2 days per week.

http://mestreacasa.gva.es/web/eoidexativa/134 [email protected] / Tel. +34 962 249 345

1) – Decreto 155/2007 (DOCV 24.09.2007), Decreto 119/2008 (DOCV 17.09.2008), Decreto 138/2014 (DOCV 01.09.2014)

2.2. APEOICVAThe APEOICVA is the Association for Teachers of the Official School of Languages in the Valencian Com-munity. The Official Schools of Languages are state schools which operate under the Board of Education of each Spanish Autonomous Community and are included in the same administrative area as second-ary schools and primary schools. The teachers are civil servants, both those with permanent positions and those without, who operate under the Board of Education. There are currently 18 Official Schools of Languages in the Valencian Community. Due to the fact that they are state schools, any citizen above the age of 16 can enrol as a student. Some EEOOII, Official Schools of Languages, in Spain offer enrolment for up to 23 different languages, such as the EOI Jesús Maes-tro in Madrid, or the EOI Drassanes in Barcelona.

The APEOICVA, professional association and non-gov-ernmental organization, is part of the National Fed-eration of Associations for EOI Teachers and in 2016 there were as many as 145 members from language Schools all around our Autonomous Community, all of them with the same desire to teach students who feel the same desire to learn foreign languages to enable mobility around Europe and to increase their job opportunities. Added to the objective of improv-ing day to day conditions for its members, together with the education administration, the APEOICVA organizes language teacher training courses and conferences, as cooperating entity of the Valencian Community’s Board of Education. It also participates in European Projects linked to Language Teaching such as the project at hand, Asociación Estratégica para Mejorar la Enseñanza de la Comunicación Oral en Centros de Lenguas Europeos (EMECOE) which has 3 other European associates.

https://apeoicva14.wordpress.com [email protected]


2.3. ELC – Europe des Langues et des Cultures

Created in 2010, the Polish Association “Europe of Languages and Cultures” (Europa Języków i Kultur) is a non-governmental organization whose aim is to promote foreign language learning and to improve the quality of foreign language teaching through the use of innovative teaching methods.

The Association is comprised of foreign language teachers (mainly teachers of French) and it enables them to support each other and provides opportu-nity for continuing professional development.

The flagship project of the association is French-speaking classes in Silesia (Classes francophones de Silésie) which take place in approximately 50 schools that have introduced intensive French courses in their institutions. The project was made possible thanks to the involvement of teachers of French and the sup-port of local authorities and partner institutions such as Wallonie-Bruxelles International, the French Em-bassy, the Institut Français, TV5MONDE, various pub-lishing houses, etc. The presence of a WBI travelling language assistant in French-speaking classes was an invaluable asset of the project.

Among other achievements of the association are the Silesian Festival of the French Language (le Festival de la Francophonie en Silésie), the Festival of Contemporary French-language Song in Pszczyna (le Festival de la chanson francophone contemporaine de Pszczyna), the creation of Bibliomobile FLE (French Mobile Library), the podcast for children Nali and Paco in French-speaking countries (Nali et Paco dans les pays francophones) carried out in cooperation with the Institut français in Poland and Polskie Radio Dzieciom (Polish Radio for Children) among others. The mem-bers of the association also take part in European projects by creating innovative teaching aids thanks to considerable teaching experience (REAL, ProM, EMECOE).

Since 2013, the association has also been an accredit-ed DELF/DALF exam centre, involving a team of about 20 examiners working in accredited educational insti-tutions. A few years later, the association, supported by the Institut Français in Poland, signed cooperation agreements for DELF with the local educational author-ities in many Silesian cities. In 2018 the ELC joined the prestigious network of the International Association of Teachers of French.www.frankofonia.plwww.facebook.com/ELC.pol / [email protected]

2.4. VISION / CEBSFounded in 2003, VISION is the association that sup-ports the CEBS, an institution which is attached to the Austrian Ministry of Education, in its activities.

VISION is an association of professors to promote international language diplomas and the training of teachers in the field of teaching and vocational train-ing (EPF), the use of ICT in international relations. VISION with CEBS is a think tank which provides on-going professional development for teachers, evalu-ating learner’s competences and it also supports the implementation of their education programs in the EU and the COE.

It is also an evaluation centre for international diplo-mas such as the BEC exams, the diplomas of the CCIP, DELE and PLIDA. In partnership with different insti-tutions across Europe, VISION and CEBS work to im-prove teacher training in Austria and abroad.

https://www.cebs.at/https://www.cebs.at/vision/[email protected]


II.

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

1. Historical background: Foreign language teaching methodologies before and after the CEFR

2. Professional development

3. Common teaching strategies

4. Speaking an the brain


1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE CEFR

The increase in the social demand for language learn-ing has greatly advanced teaching strategies. That is why nowadays we have a wide range of possibilities especially in non-formal teaching where adult learn-ers require short-term satisfactory results. The evolu-tion of methods goes hand in hand with research and the development of new learning theories. In order to have an overview of the various methodologies, we will focus on those that appeared in the 20th century.

1.1. Before the CEFR1)

Methodological progress since the turn of the 20th century

1. The first method, the oldest and the most reliable one that continues to be practised nowadays is “the direct method” (also called the natural method). It is based on conversation classes, ex-changes between speakers, immersion in elite schools abroad and the use of L2 to explain aca-demic content. It neither follows a linguistic syl-labus nor uses translation or grammatical expla-nation. At present, the CLIL2) approach partially takes up this concept. We will discuss this later.

2. By using translation and grammar, the “gram-mar translation method” is quite the opposite to the previous one. This methodological op-tion, inexplicably, still exists today although it has been shown to be inefficient especially for oral communication. The “direct method” is at the heart of the current methodology because it constitutes a set of processes to which the later methodologies only make modifications. It advocates learning the spoken language wit-hout recourse to translation, written language or grammatical explanation. The teacher uses the L2 from the beginning and tries to convey meaning through images or gestures.

3. The “audio-lingual method” is the first one that is directly related to research in the field of phonetics and spoken language. It came into being in the USA in the 1950s. It is based on the theories of behaviourism and struc-turalism, developed by Bloomfield and Sapir. The audio-lingual method, validated by lin-guistics and psychology, gives priority to spoken language presented in the form of dialogue structures or “model” statements. The structural exercises and the language labo-ratory are the tools favoured by this method.

1) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Cambridge University Press. ISBN : HB 0521803136 PB 0521005310 www.uk.cambridge.org/elt 2) CLIL : Content and language integrated learning

4. The main advantage of the “structural global audiovisual method (SGAV)”, over the previous one, is the predominance of language in context. Nevertheless, it is based on a lan-guage that is too standardized and too general.

5. In the 70s, contrary to the previous methods which are characterized by a too authorita-rian and dominant role of the teacher, new methods appeared such as suggestopedia, based on the affective relations within the class and promoting cooperation, teamwork and a good atmosphere conducive to learning.

6. In the 1980s, the “communicative approach” appeared. This method suggests that teaching / learning should be adapted to the needs of each group of learners and that it should be based on meaning and context.

Texts favouring oral and written speech acts as well as related contextual exercises form, in particular, the pedagogical material of the communicative ap-proach. These tools are mainly used in the classroom as role plays, case studies or simulation. The latter can be in the form of a scenario proposed to a group of learners allowing them to be transported by imagi-nation into a fictitious universe (place-theme) where they will have to communicate appropriately (ficti-tious identities). There are two types of simulation, general simulation (everyday life) and functional sim-ulation (professional environment).

The beginnings of the Communicative Approach go back to the work of CHOMSKY, who revolutionized the world of linguistics. It contradicts the traditional approaches of structuralists like Saussure and Skin-ner. According to CHOMSKY, every human being has an innate ability to decipher and understand a lan-guage code through a specific intellectual function. It shows us how children master their mother tongue in a very short time and without formal learning. It is from this vision of learning that the beginning of con-structivist theories and cognitive approaches begin. Thus appears the concept of interlanguage, based on the observation of the evolution of the language of a child who gradually builds his own language starting from a phase of overgeneralization of syntactic rules and gradually achieving mastery of speech.

So, the development of the linguistic theories men-tioned above laid the foundations for the “Communi-cative Approach”. It was in 1975 that the method saw the light of day when the Council of Europe defined the “Threshold Level” for English that served as a tem-plate for all other languages.


1.2. After the CEFR(published in 2001 by the Council of Europe)

The communicative approach, which appeared around the 1980s, is still in use today. The Framework, published by the Council of Europe in 2001, has given rise to a new methodological approach, called lan-guage action perspective.

The action approach, advocated by the CEFR, em-phasises the participative and enterprising nature of action learning. Its main purpose is to teach the lan-guage to the learner in a dynamic way, so that learn-ers can transform the knowledge learned into skills. The action approach is designed to “actively” adjust the communicative approach. While traditional ap-proaches and the communicative approach want learners to be able to use foreign language in society at the end of the learning process, the action-based approach encourages the learner to use L2 in society during the process of learning, while performing an action, solving a problem or collaborating to accom-plish a specific task.

The authors of present-day textbooks follow this ap-proach so that learners acquire the knowledge and develop skills according to the guidelines of the CEFR.

The advantages provided by the CEFR

Thanks to the support provided by the CEFR levels, language teaching and assessment are more goal-oriented. The “descriptors” indicate which communi-cative skills are to be acquired. The goal of learning L2 has changed. Learners want to acquire a language to communicate within the society. Communication is at the centre of teaching. In oral tasks, the correction of mistakes is done discreetly without interrupting communication (always corresponding to the level of the student). Both in teaching and the assessment of skills the main emphasis is placed on the organization of speech, fluency, understandable pronunciation, the accomplishment of the task and, where required, professional know-how.

The fact that learners perform a real-life action and uses the language to achieve a goal makes them more apt to remember the language. In this regard, Delrue (2012: 15) reveals that learners remember words bet-ter if they are able to associate an action with a word. The same idea leads Puren (2009: 123) to characterize the action-based approach as a perspective of social action and to explain that in the action-oriented ap-proach for the first time, learners are considered in their learning activities as social actors.

The appearance of the CEFR and the demands of our times, where knowledge of foreign languages is absolutely indispensable, have made co-operative work essential and the learning of L2 according to CLIL gains an important place in the new method-ologies. Both lead learners to consider language as a necessary and useful tool that will allow content and knowledge to be passed on, explain their reasoning, tell a story or act with the right know-how to perform a “real” task.

To conclude, the evolution of theories of learning and the arrival of the CEFR have caused a real pedagogi-cal revolution in language teaching. Language teach-ing methods have changed, we have adopted a new methodology. The communicative/action perspec-tive gives precedence to communicative skills.

Taking into account all these considerations, EMECOE wanted to show the types of activities that are usually used in the institutions concerned (EOI, ELC, CEBS) to reflect the type of education existing in 2016, the year the project was launched in all three countries. Has it adapted to the new approaches? Can it improve if we take into consideration current pedagogical trends?

We strongly believe in the effectiveness of the new methodological movement and it is for this reason that we wanted to develop effective and efficient strategies for oral communication which proved to be a better choice in the partner institutions of the project.

With our methodological suggestions, we want to invite teachers and learners to work in an interactive and yet structured way. In particular, we want learners to be less constrained but also more engaged in the process of improving their oral communication skills.


1. FÜLLTEXT2. PROFESSIONALISM / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTThese days, in our globalized and competitive world, the urgent need to learn a foreign language has resul-ted in higher requirements with regard to the educa-tional level. Learners must learn a language as quickly as possible in order to integrate into the world of work or higher education. Learners don’t want to waste time. They demand the very best training from their teachers..

2.1. From in-service training to CPD For teachers, this includes a willingness to continually improve their teaching, their achievements, yet, also excellent in-service teacher training.

It is true that in recent decades we’ve been talking about educational sciences and we can see a clear determination to improve teacher training. We’re talking about professionalism, of professional training like in other jobs. However, we shouldn´t have negative connotations of these terms. What does continuous professional development (CPD) mean? Actually, it means that the professional expertise is an aim without an end, an ongoing process of in-service trai-ning and continuous professional (meaning often also personal) development. We never stand still, and we will never stop learning because the world that sur-rounds us is in continuous motion at all levels.

The idea of professionalizing teachers is not a recent one. As Maurice Tardif , Professor at the University of Montreal, explains this movement began in the United States in the 19th century. In order to be recognized by society in the same way as other trades like health or engineering, professional in-service training and clear regulations were needed.

So, over the years, in order to train teachers and to pro-fessionalize them various documents were produced. On the same day in 2001, the “Common European Fra-mework of Referencefor Languages” was published in Europe and a handbook called “Teacher Training: Orien-tations, Professional Competencies. A Learning Tool for Pre-Service Teachers” was published in Quebec. And in 2013, the Ministry of National Education in France pu-blished the «référentiel de compétences des métiers du professorat et de l’éducation - a framework of skills of the teaching and educational professions”. In the latter, one of its objectives is quite revealing: «… identify the skills expected. These are acquired and increased by pre-service training and this process continues during the whole ca-reer by professional experience and in-service training.»

Also note the huge work put in by the European pro-ject, «European Profiling Grid», the site of the EGrid tool, the interactive digital version of the EPG frame-work of assessment, that allows any teacher of for-eign languages to assess their level of professional

development. The EPG shows the desire and the need to professionalize and to improve the work of teachers1)..

2.2. Knowledge of pedagogical actions

Like Clermont Gauthier, Professor at the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Laval, we, as project team, are fully aware of the need to professionalize teachers and in our case, especially those who teach foreign languages for adults or for teenagers. It has been since the development of the research and of the theories on learning during the 70s and 90s that the language teaching profession has become more scientific.

We take this step to stop the «anti-professionalisa-tion» movement. This includes those who say that the effective teacher is the one whose teaching is based on common sense, intuition, and experience or who has an innate talent for teaching. Like in other professions, teachers need knowledge and that does not come by magic. In our case, in addi-tion, just mastering the language of instruction is not enough. The goal is to learn more and more and better and better about the “knowledge of pedago-gical actions», because teaching is a profession of ‘knowledge’2).

The skills that a teacher must apply is not only the knowledge of the language and culture but also the ‘knowledge of pedagogical actions’ including the knowledge of the curriculum (and the CEFR) and knowledge gained by his own experience.

Thus, today, it is an absolute necessity to professio-nalise, that means, to develop or keep up-to-date “the knowledge of pedagogical action“ via in-service language teacher training. As society is becoming more and more demanding, also the expectations of learners are rising and the challenges in the field of education and particularly those foreign language teachers are faced with have increased. They must adapt to a growing demand for efficiency in educa-tion in order to better prepare learners for their jobs and higher education. One of the key issues is to improve their oral communication skills.

Based on these ideas our pedagogical guide wants to suggest ideas/activities/strategies and resources in order to contribute to ongoing professional lan-guage teacher development, particularly for the effi-cient teaching of oral language skills.

1) EPG, European Profiling Grid, https://www.eaquals.org/our.../the-european-profi-ling-grid (03.2018)

2) Clermont GAUTHIER, Jean-François DESBIENS, Annie MALO, Stéphane MARTINEAU et Denis SIMARD, SainteFoy : Le savoir-enseigner et les savoirs des enseignantes et des enseignants; Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 1997, 352 p.


2. STATISTICAL RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

2.1. Analysis of students’ questionnaires

The EMECOE project involved developing question-naires addressed to learners and teachers from the pro-ject’s partner institutions in Spain, Austria and Poland. The questionnaires had the character of opinion polls to reflect their previous experiences. Thanks to the answers we were able to:

� mesure the subjective feelings of learners and teachers,

� evaluate the current state of oral competence and enhance the learning process in the quest for improvement of foreign language teaching in Europe.

2.1.1. Oral competence – learners’ opinions

In the first questionnaire we collected responses from 1,039 learners (357 Spaniards, 244 Austrians and 438 Poles respectively). We were interested in their oral competence. The first question concerned their feelings about the degree of difficulty of the four skills: reading com-prehension and writing, as well as liste-ning comprehension and speaking.

For the majority of the participants of the survey reading comprehen-sion seems to be the easiest (77% of the answers) while for 19% speaking is the most difficult skill and for 22% it is still rather difficult (41% in total). In contrast, only 12 % of respondents reported that speaking seems rather easy.

2.1.2. Degree of satisfaction with oral competence level in the first foreign language learned

In Spain we received responses from students of English (66%), French (22%), Italian (7%) and other languages (3%).

The majority (58.4%) express dissatisfaction with their level of oral proficiency. Speaking is difficult for 23.4% or could be better (35.0%). Only 13.5% of learners confirmed that they were quite satisfied with their level of this skill.


In Austria the majority learns English as their first foreign language (96%).

The opinions of the students are divided: 33% find speak-ing easy, 26% are happy with their level and for 41% this skill is rather difficult and for 21% difficult and for 20% it could be better.

In Poland, more than half of the learners (64.1%) say they are sat-isfied with the level of oral pro-ficiency, compared to 46% who are rather dissatisfied.

As for the answers related to the second foreign language taught, the findings are similar (as many as 54% of learners are dis-satisfied with their oral competence).

In general we have found that the res-ponses do not differ much between the three countries.

Apart from the statistics presented here, we were able to obtain a lot of informa-tion on the needs of the learners. Among other things, they revealed their prefer-ences for the way they are taught, their favourite communicative activities and the technical tools they want to use in and out of the classroom.


2.2. The teachers1)

The second questionnaire was addressed to the teachers. We asked them (among others) the following questions:

1. If they wanted to improve the oral skills of their students,

2. if they thought their students wanted to improve their speaking skills and

3. how they perceived skills of their stu-dents in spoken interaction.

The teachers are unanimous in their wish to improve the communicative competence of their students (76%) and they believe that their students also want it (61% absolutely and 23% rather yes).

The importance as well as the need for spoken interaction has been very strongly supported. More than 64% believe that oral communication will be “absolutely necessary” or “necessary” for their students in the future.

2.3. The different languagesIn general, we did not observe any major differences between the 4 languages taught with the sole exception that French teachers want their lear-ners to be more comfortable with oral communication.

Here we present only a very limited choice of the many questions to which our dear colleagues have been kind enough to respond. The survey has greatly helped us in desi-gning our project.

So, dear colleagues, we are very grateful for your active participation.

Thank you!

1) For the teaching colleagues, the questionnaire was established in the 4 main taught languages: German, English, Spanish, French. Please excuse us for the language mix due to the multilingualism of the project - thank you for your understanding.


3. COMMON TEACHING STRATEGIES

IntroductionAfter a decade, with the arrival of the European framework levels, many strategies aimed at improving lan-guage speaking skills have become more or less common place in the institutions which participate in the pro-ject. In this section you will find language learning ideas and web links which can help your students improve their speaking skills, listening skills and pronunciation.

3.1. Pronunciation

ICÔNE/ OUTIL DETAILS

Reading texts of all types aloud : Short stories, articles, poems, extracts from plays, etc (with or without audio).

In the classroom or at home.

Singing songs (to observe, re-view and work with difficult phonemes, links …).

In a large group or in teams for competition purposes (filling gaps, creating a different version of the song.

Audio or video recording of oral production (monologues, presentations, role plays, reading of their favorite passage in the book of which one can make a small comment, etc.) either at home or in class (in order to observe and evaluate collectively or individually for feedback)

Tongue twisters in order to work trough the various phonetic difficulties

Dictation of:• Small texts• Short phrases• Reading, memorizing and dictating to a colleague"

Games of different types

Pronunciation games in large group, in pairs.

Loto des sons.

Snakes and ladders adapted to words/sounds, the taboo.

Dominos des sons.

Games for memorizing or locating sounds, words.

Games of association : Sounds = gestures / drawings (body clapping games, Jolly Phonics).

Creative games.

Creating an audio book in a large group.

Inventing rhythmic poems (inventing four-line rhyming poems).

Phonetic exercises

Students should observe the way they pronounce whilst looking in a mirror so as to see the facial move-ments for themselves.

Exercises of phonetic transcription

Role Playing

Repeating small sketches or small theatrical scenes

Listening activities in class and at home (podcasts, youtube, etc …).

ADVICEThanks to all the weblinks, the students are encouraged to improve their pronunciation on their own. It should be worked at as often as possible in class and also at home.

Encourage students to become aware of their own learning process. Take note of the pronunciation of the words that are usually more difficult to pronounce.

Students should observe the way they pronounce whilst looking in a mirror so as to see their facial movements. Pronunciation is a physical competence.


3.2. Listening comprehension

ICON

LEVEL

A2 B1 B2 Activity/ Strategy3 types of listening comprehension :

X X X • listening for gist + listening for detail

X X • recording is cut if the audio is long (+3mn) or medium (from 1:30 to 2:30)

X X •progressive oral comprehension (partial listening, then back to the beginning etc... checking answers as a group)

Types of documents available for working :

X X X Songs

X X X Extracts from films or serials

X X X Extracts from news or radio/TV broadcasts

X X X Commercials

X X X Extracts from audio-books

Types of activities :

X X X MCQ with similar answers for phonetic distinctive feature training

X X General questions

X X X T/F

X X Filling the gaps

X X X Detecting and correcting incoherent information

X X Restoring order to fragments

X X X Reporting from visual/written elements with listening parts

X Note taking while listening (main and secondary ideas)

Games :

X X Quizzes

X X X Riddles

Preparation for listening :

X X X Contextualization of the topic

X X Revision/enlargement of the lexical field, discovery of « language chunks «, of expressions/suprasegments

X X Marking on the document what they will hear

X X X Analysis of visual elements when they appear/when possible

X X X Video projection without sound

Work based on songs :

X X X Contextualization of the interpreter

X X X With clips whose images are related to the lyrics

X X X Listening and understanding

X X X Systematic verification

Work without an external sound file

Interview/conversation back to back

ADVICEPhonetic exercises contribute to the improvement of the listening comprehension

• Provide systematically a minimum of 2 listenings ,• favour working with short audios,• be receptive to audio proposals made by students,• encourage students to listen to the songs in the particular language as much as possible and to surf

self- learning websites adapted to their level.


3.3. Spoken production and interaction

ICON LEVEL

A2 B1 B2 ACTIVITIES / STRATEGIESStarting spontaneous conversations, triggers:

X X Personal Questions

X X For example, at the beginning of the class: What was the toughest and most amusing moment of the last 24h?

X X An image, a photo, a comic vignette.

X X X An audio, a video, a song

X X X Reciting, singing

X X X Reciting poems, interpreting fables.

X X Singing songs.

Describing

X X X Describe an object or a person, a known character to be guessed.

X X Describing and image, a painting, a photo.

Presenting

X X A topic chosen by the student or imposed by the teacher.

X X X A monologue (The presentation can be recorded, and even shared on a platform to be observed and evaluated.)

Recounting

X X Drawing inspiration from real life facts: a testimony, a recipe, an anecdote, comic strips, etc…

X X Inventing, creating: a story, a tale, a poem.

Summarizing

X X Summarizing any document : a story, a chapter of a book, an article, an audio or video document: a testimony, an interview, a sketch, a report

X In pairs: writing the main ideas and the secondary ones and presenting them in a large group.

Debating about

X X A general topic

X X A lecture

X A current problem

X X An image, a video

X Zig-zag discussion: 2 groups (For / Against) that speak in turn and reject the arguments of the other. (Everyone plays a different role after preparing at home.)

Playing

X X X A play, an extract

X X A Sketch

X X Role play

X Mimes.

X X A text in a rap format.

Giving instructions

X X X Giving instructions to a partner or another group to do something: to draw, to move, to take steps.

X X Brainstorming after a reading, video or an audio exercise.


Presenting a subject.

X X Preparing, organising in groups a sightseeing tour and presenting it to the class

X X Creating an audio / video

X X X Creating an audio book collaboratively.

X X Preparing and conducting interviews.

X X X Creating videos representing everyday situations (cooking, following a recipe, shopping…)

X X X Hunting for videos.

X X X Recording news.

Working in linguistic pairs.

X X X Participating in linguistic pairs, in class and/or outside

X X Participating in chats (Skype, E-twinning, Hangouts…)

Games of any type / Expressing oneself by playing

X X X Treasure hunt.

X X X Game : talking, questioning to guess something or someone or a situation or something that is mimed or something that is hidden in the classroom, in a pocket…

X X X Finding differences between 2 pictures.

X X Snakes and ladders, taboo.

X X X Building a story together.

X X X Each student brings something new, a word, a sentence, a punctuation mark, everything depends on the level.

X X With logical connectors for students to assimilate and reuse them in their productions.

X X Board games (Trivial, Kahoot…)

X I spy with my little eye

X X Word market

X X Dictation of images.

ADVICE

• Avoid interrupting students during their speech or finishing the sentences for them.

• Assign a time to prepare the speech to boost their confidence.

• Give students opportunities to interact with their classmates before asking them to speak to an audience.

The lists of common strategies are completed by a choice of Internet sites offering the different oral competences

You can find them in the EMECOE portal:

http://emecoe.eu/en/prueba-ingles/ http://emecoe.eu/en/oral-comprehension/http://emecoe.eu/en/oral-expression-english/

We invite you to go to the pages and try out some

of them.


4. SPEAKING AND THE BRAIN (ELISABETH PÖLZLEITNER, PH GRAZ)1)

If you are a language teacher in Europe, you have certainly noticed that speaking has become a lot more important in recent years. If you ask me, that is good news, be-cause speaking practice will not only help your learners do well in the standardized exams.

It will also improve your learners‘ flu-ency, expand their vocabulary, and help them master new grammar concepts and structures.

Stay tuned to find out why speaking is such an effi-cient method and how to organize speaking practice even if you are teaching large groups and cannot af-ford to spend endless time on presentations in class.

4.1. How does learning actually work?

Let’s look inside the brain more closely. In recent years the neuro sciences have provided us with very helpful and interesting explanations. We can say that learning is a physicalchemical process. In a nutshell learning means that neurons that fire together – wire together – neurons that are active simultaneously --build neu-ral networks.

This is probably the most important single informa-tion that you need to remember here.

These active networks will get stronger and faster the more they are used. This process is called myelinisa-tion. Imagine these strong networks as railtracks in the brain. They are fast, reliable and run on auto-pilot, so we can use our working memory to juggle new things.

The second thing we need to understand is that learn-ing only works if our emotional brain decides to let the new information in, so we can engage actively with the new matter.

In order to maximize learning, we want to create situ-ations where our learners actively use as many areas of their brains as possible and thus create, expand and strengthen their neural networks.

Even these very basic bits of information show, that speaking is actually a very efficient method of learn-ing: It is ACTIVE and it involves large parts of the brain – and thus creates large neuronal networks that will fire and wire together.

1) Elisabeth Pölzleitner in a video produced for EMECOE (extracts)

4.2. Why is speaking so efficient? What happens when we speak?

In addition to other processes involved in language production (like recalling items from memory, mak-ing connections, planning and assembling language in the Broca area) speaking requires the use and control of a large number of muscles in the face, the tongue, the mouth, and hands as well as hearing our own words and message.

Speaking thus activates more different areas of our brains than any other language-related activity.

4.3. Why do we need to know this? How can this help?

Learning means adding new information – or new connections to existing networks. By first calling up existing knowledge, we can help learners add new bits at the right place.

If we want to start a new topic by giving a general overview – and then adding new details, good old „advance organizers“ – or pre-reading and pre-listen-ing activities do exactly this.

This will activate the same networks again and thus strengthen them through meaningful, repetition and use.

The magic of „neurons that fire together – wire to-gether“ is actually quite simple – but SOO powerful for learning.

Let‘s apply this new idea in a classroom setting and ask ourselves, why do we not remember wordlists as well as vocabulary learned in real life or multi-sensory contexts?

When we learn new vocabulary as single words with-out any context – as it is the case here with the two vocab words „used to“ and „hilarious“ - we cannot tie

process.In


them to our existing networks easily. Such new words will have very few connections or links and can there-fore not be retrieved easily. Imagine them as disor-ganized, floating vocab cards. How will you find the one you need?

So let‘s keep in mind: We always want to tie new infor-mation to existing networks

We need to understand that this process can be influ-enced from outside. TEACHING is the art of changing the brain – let‘s look at this in more detail.

4.4. How to help learning?We want to take a brief look at what teachers can do to help or hinder learning, what kinds of tasks and methods are most efficient so learning takes place right in our lesson, in the classroom.

The first thing we need to do is to find the KEY to the learners‘ brains.

Body, mind and soul are interconnected. We need to know that emotions are the key to the brain. Depend-ing on the kind of input we receive – our limbic sys-tem (that is the emotional centre of our brain) will lock up or open the door to higher order processing.

The importance of our learners’ emotional mecha-nisms is often underesti-mated. Actually, emotional and social aspects of learn-ing are at least as important as the intellectual and cognitive ones.

Children decide quickly and unconsciously whether to turn their brains on or stay in standby mode. With-in seconds, their brains’ emotional center that is the limbic system will decide, ...

� whether the teacher’s words, voice and body-language match and therefore seem authentic and reliable

� whether the topic is relevant and interesting � whether the situation in the classroom is re-

laxed or threatening…

Let’s follow the brain along the typical steps from in-put to learning.

A stimulus – in this case let’s assume it is sound waves – the teacher’s voice – enters the brain and reaches the (click) Thalamus. The Thalamus is an important part of our limbic system – our emotional center.

Here we have 2 options: The Thalamus filters incom-ing information: if the incoming signal is marked as irrelevant, it will be discarded . This is an important fil-ter – we do not want to worry about all kinds of back-

ground noise, cars passing by and other irrelevant signals in our environment.

If the stimulus is perceived as important or at least potentially important, the Thal-amus will let it through – and pass it on to the Amygdala. Here incoming signals are checked for their emotional content. Is the incoming stimulus associated with danger or does it seem harmless?

Let’s go back to the incoming signal and assume that the Amygdala has decided

that it is harmless.

Only then is the stimulus passed on to the Hippocam-pus and the Cortex and only then will any higher order processing take place in the Cortex.

What does this mean: fear and anxiety prevent learn-ing – we must create a relaxed, safe atmosphere to open our learners’ brains.

This is really important for speaking activities – here danger may not only come from a teacher who pe-nalizes every little mistake – danger might also come

from classmates, who laugh at you or find fault in your pres-entation. In all these cases no learning will happen.

Let‘s sum this up again: Higher-order processing and LEARNIG will happen IF and ONLY IF the incoming message is NOT as-sociated with danger and if it is

perceived as important, relevant and meaningful.

What this really means for teachers is that highly ef-ficient learning is taking place – and it is triggered by the learners‘ emotional systems.


4.5. How can we use this to teach grammar? Isn’t grammar always boring?

Let’s take a quick look at an example.

How do you normally teach the passive voice? Do you ask your learners to transform active sentences into passive ones? Is this meaningful? Can such sentences ever trigger an importance signal?

Why not try a different approach?

Have you ever asked yourself how ketchup is made? Do you know how I-phones are made? (click) Do you know how chocolate is made? (click) Why don‘t you ask your students to find out how

some of their favourite things are made by wat-ching some you-tube clips that explain these production processes.

Why not make them curious and thus turn on their importance signals, flood their brains with helpful neurotransmitters, while exposing them to the new passive forms in interesting and meaningful contexts.

After this kind of input ask them to explain the main steps of these production processes.

In this setting they will use passives naturally. They will use their brains in authentic ways to express meanings rather than just forms. They will engage with the topic and learning will happen right there in the classroom.

Apart from the key role of the emotional brain we must be aware of the importance of activating large networks across the learners‘ brains.

We cannot speak without hearing what we say. We cannot speak without moving our lips and tongue, often even our hands. We cannot speak meaningfully without thinking about words and making connec-tions in our frontal brain.

For all these reasons, speaking is one of the most ef-ficient ways of learning a language – our whole brains are involved and neurons all over the brain are firing and wiring while we speak.

Keep moving

If we want to activate even more parts of the brain, we can add more movement – more than just moving our lips and mouth.

Manuela Macedonia‘s studies on the role of move-ment in language learning show how added gestures can improve retention rates dramatically.

Manuela Macedonia uses VMIs – that is Voice Move-ment Icons to teach new vocabulary. Her studies show that gestures, -even meaningless ones, strongly enhance learning.

These results are not really surprising. They simply prove what we have said before: click

Neurons that fire together wire together – or, in other words, the bigger the network that is active at the same time – the more learning happens.

Meaningful, contextualized speaking activities do this perfectly.

4.6. I‘d like to summarize here: We understand that learning as an active process.

Information cannot be transferred from the tea-cher‘s brain into the learners‘ brains.

We know that learning is physical, it is a physical-chemical process of building and adding to existing neuronal networks. We also know that we can influence this process. James Zull says that teaching is the art of changing the brain, of creating conditions that lead to a change in the learners‘ brains.

We understand that learning involves the whole person: body, mind and soul.

We want to avoid stress and anxiety – because they lead to fight and flight reactions where higher order processing does not work.

We can turn the brain on by creating a relaxed lear-ning environment and offer input that is (click) NEW, INTERESTING and RELEVANT for the lear-ners.. More spines and more connections mean more learning.

Last but not least we want to make sure our learners use as many parts of their brains as possible. We know that NEURONS THAT FIRE TOGETHER WIRE TOGETHER. The more parts of our brains are ac-tive simultaneously, the bigger these networks.

Meaningful, engaging speaking activities, performed in a relaxed atmosphere will do all that.

4.7. How can we do this? How can we create conditions that enhance learning?

First of all we want to create authentic, interesting activities that the learners want to engage with. They must be relevant and related to the learners‘ lives, ex-periences and interests. Do all tasks in your textbook do this? Are the topics relevant and interesting for your learners – or are you discussing a text about pot-tery in ancient China – just because your textbook of-fers this topic in order to introduce a new tense?


Secondly, we need to create a relaxed atmosphere that invites learners to participate and to speak with-out worrying about mistakes. Mistakes they make can be important stepping stones of learning. If leaners are afraid of making mistakes, they will try to avoid them at all cost – these are called mistakes of omis-sion – no learning will happen without trying.

Thirdly, we want to involve as many senses and parts of the brain as possible. Speaking exercises will in-volve seeing, hearing, moving, and any other parts of the brain that are necessary to process language.

Last but not least, we want to create tasks that require the learners to make associations with their previous knowledge and experiences. This will make the learn-ing of new vocabulary a lot easier and it is even more important when we introduce new grammar. The English tense system can be really confusing – but if each concept, each notion is tied to specific memo-ries, experiences, situations… in the learners‘ minds, learning the new tenses will be a lot easier. That is why TRUE examples, rather than just correct ones – are so important for learning new grammatical concepts.

4.8. Classroom situationsWe all know that class-time is short and it is difficult to give all the learners enough speaking time. Group-activities can of course help, but they are not always efficient, especially at A1 and A2 level. One way to give learners extra speaking practice is speaking homework.

I do this all the time and it works perfectly. This is how we do it:

For speaking homework the students record a short presentation on a topic that has been dealt with in class. These topics can be very basic – such as: click talk about your favourite day in the year --or click de-scribe your room.

Or they can be advanced talks in preparation for their final exams, such as „talk about your views on modern technology and its influence on communication and social patterns among young people“.

By planning and preparing their speeches the learn-ers practice new vocabulary and structures and learn to talk to an audience.

They get immediate feedback and notice flaws in the content, the language and their pronunciation and often produce a second or third draft.

We usually get high quality language, because the students see and hear themselves and can thus moni-tor their production.

In most cases the learners are asked to prepare a few simple images of the things they are going to talk about. Young learners draw a few pictures, older learners prepare a few Powerpoint slides. These im-ages structure the presentations and it feels more natural to the learners to show something and talk about it, rather than just talking into their webcams. Showing pictures also discourages the learners from reading a text from the screen – which is not the same as talking freely about the same topic. You‘d hear the difference in intonation and wording immediately.

More advanced learners talk about more complex is-sues. Here we have a so called „elevator speech“.

In an elevator speech learners have 1 or 2 minutes to deliver their message. The term is used in business communication. Imagine you are riding the elevator with your boss and you have 2 minutes to convince him or her that your new project idea is worth pursu-ing. You have only got 2 minutes to get your message across.

This is excellent practice for essay writing – learners must package their message clearly and efficiently. By doing this orally, they learn to speak fluently and ef-fectively about fairly complex topics. If you have only 1 or 2 minutes your word choice must be effective and clear – you do not have time to paraphrase and beat about the bush.

To plan their elevator speeches the students follow a few basic steps:

The learners had worked on a topic of their choice and had to convince their classmates to read their project folders. They recorded elevator speeches to advertise their projects and to get the others interested.

Speaking tasks are also perfect for teaching grammar. Let‘s compare two tasks here:

Typical grammar exercise you find in workbooks or online practice a form – but does not tie it to any per-sonal meanings. Often it is really hard to find a pos-sible context for the sample sentences. You‘d have to think hard to create a new context for each one and to find out who is talking about his or her plans or in-tentions. The concept of „intentions“ is often totally blurred – learners will NOT be able to see it – they are just practicing a meaningless form.

The better way is to make learners think about their own plans, the real plans they have for an upcoming long weekend or holiday. By doing the activity they will tie the new form – the going –to – to the concept of „talking about plans“ – to their personal plans. Af-ter writing down their 10 personal examples, they will use the structure many, many times by interviewing their classmates. They will speak, move, hear – and lis-ten to their classmates‘ answers.


By finding similarities with other kids‘ plans the activi-ty serves the brain‘s emotional centre – we want to be part of a group – we want to belong and share things, have things in common.

The personalized speaking activity will work out perfectly.

Another example of a highly active speaking exercise is called Manner Mimes and is based on an exercise in David Newby‘s Grammar for communication. I‘ve just turned the exercise into a speaking game.

Adverbs are a tricky topic. Even university students of English often forget to use adverbs. They all know the traditional rule that „adverbs modify verbs“ and they can complete a traditional fill-in exercise for adverbs and adjectives correctly, but in spontaneous produc-tion hardly any adverbs are used.

The game consists of a set of cards (20 or more) that show a firstname and lastname on the front – and an activity on the back. For example: Eric Nutall – is eat-ing nosily. Notice that the names and the activities always start with the same initials.

The learners play in groups of 3-4. One player reads and shows the name on the first card and then acts out the activity – while the other players are trying to guess what Eric Nutall is doing and how he is doing it.

Let‘s try this out: Lenny Casey --Can you say what he is doing here? Right – he is listening carefully.

Let‘s do another one: Rita Quinn: What is she doing? She is reading quietly.

And Susan Haley? She is smiling happily.

The game is fun, it is quite loud – and the learners connect the idea of HOW you do something – to their brains. Movement plays an important role in this game – HOW we DO something is always connected to some movement – and thus, the concept of ad-verbs is linked to how we move – how we DO things in the learners‘ brains. The learners act, speak, hear and see – it is all happening simultaneously.

I have never had a class who did not use adverbs after playing this game.

Another interesting speaking activity are book trailers produced by the learners. After reading a young adult novel, they produce a short video where they present the book and advertise it to other kids online.

Book trailers are great speaking activities and they help share the reading-bug and encourage other kids to read these cool books.

These book trailers use very basic technology: The kids simply talk to their webcam as in the example on top or they upload a few powerpoint slides and use the online tool Knovio.

4.9. Can you do this ?At this point you might be saying „I cannot do this, I don‘t have the technical skills to do all this“.

Don‘t worry. Speaking homework does not need any fancy technical tools or know-how.

All examples have been produced with free and easy to use online tools that even young learners can use on their own.

Go to emecoe.eu to watch the video or to the website www.epep.at and check out the page on Web and ICT. There you will find lots of examples, detailed instructions and step-by-step guides for using the web-tools.

Give it a try – it is really easy

and will add a whole new dimension to your teaching

and to your students’ learning.

www.epep.at


III.

TESTING OF THE EFFECTIVE

STRATEGIES

1. Survey on the evaluation of the methodological proposals

2. The linguistic tele-tandems of the EMECOE project Realization of tasks, mode of operation and support

3. Concept maps/mind maps - interaction in action

4. Pecha Kucha

5. From listening comprehension to speaking (Level B1 and beyond)

6. Prompt cards for speaking activities


1. SURVEYS ON THE EVALUATION OF THE METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSALS1)

During the project’s duration, the EMECOE team was very much concerned with quality control.

A series of procedures were developed to make sure that what we did is what our colleagues need.

Therefore, the Tele-Tandem system and the proposed teaching strategies were surveyed with the use of Survey-Monkey.

In the following sections, we give you some examples of assessments from our many Austrian, Spanish and Polish colleagues who kindly tested our various methodological proposals.

1.1. The number of lessons per week In the surveys, we asked teachers to specify the number of lessons per week. Most teachers (52%) have only two lessons a week, 37% - three lessons a week and a very small portion (11%) can benefit from 4 lessons a week. Thus, we can easily describe the context of our target audi-ence in which learning takes place.

1.2. Foreign languages taught in the classroom

We have been able to test efficient strategies across a broad spec-trum of foreign languages. We can say that because 35% of our sur-vey’s respondents had French, 23% English, 19% German, 12% Ital-ian and 11% Spanish.

The choice of languages (both Germanic and Romance languages) is fairly representative of the most widely spoken and taught lan-guages in Europe and throughout the world.

1.3. Questions concerning a potential in-crease in the lexical repertoire (On a scale from 1 to 10, the highest number indicating the maxi-mum appreciation of the proposed activities)

The questions we asked teachers concerned different aspects of the problems encoun-tered in the teaching/learning of a foreign language in the classroom. The first question concerned a potential increase in the lexical repertoire. Looking at the graph, we can see that most respondents are convinced of the usefulness of efficient strategies in teaching/learning a foreign language. The answers were mostly favorable (on a scale from 1 to 10, the highest number of teachers opted for 8, 9 and 10 points.) We are also convinced that this type of strategy helps learners develop their linguistic awareness and strengthens their lexical skills both in speaking and writing.

1) Texts in graphs are in French, due to the fact that French was the project’s main language - thank you for your understanding


1.4. Questions concerning an improvement in the mastery of morphosyntactic structures

Improvement in the mastery of morphosyntactic structures is also of great interest to teach-ers. More than 50 participants awarded 8/10 points, more than 45 - 9 points and more than 30 - 7 points. We can be reassured that the strategies proposed by our team in the framework of the EMECOE project will facilitate the acquisition of morphosyntactic structures in the different lan-guages concerned..

1.5. Questions concer-ning the improvement of learners’ pronunciation and intonation Improving learners’ pronunciation and intonation was also an important point for us. We collected responses where we observed that more than 70 respondents also found it essential for clear intelligibility and awarded 8 points out of 10, more than 40% - 9 points and more than 30% - 7 points. Thus, as we

have seen, the strategies we have listed can make teaching a foreign language easier for teachers and make learning easier and more enjoyable for learners and make their efforts more profitable..

1.6. Questions concerning improvement in foreign language fluency Improving fluency in oral communication is another challenge for foreign language teachers. The results of

the survey are more than satisfacto-ry, as more than 70% of respondents awarded 8 points out of 10 points, over 40% - 9 points and over 30% - 7 points in answering this question. A wide variety of strategies that we have selected, categorized by level of lear-ning, can enrich teachers’ classroom practices and develop learners’ skills to improve oral communication.


1.7. Questions concerning losing the fear of speaking by using the pro-posed strategies

The notion of fear rarely appears in the pedagogical considerations among ex-perienced language teachers. Classroom techniques have evolved so much that this problem hardly ever arises. Never-theless, language teachers sometimes lack innovative didactic tools to boost learners’ confidence and make them feel at ease. For approx. 50% of teachers over-coming learner’s fear is still an important goal to achieve.

No teacher awarded fewer than 6 points, which shows that this question is still rel-evant and requires considerable debate and research. Respecting the opinion of the teachers we took this point into consideration.

1.8. Questions concerning the improvement of teamwork by using the suggested activities

If we look at the graph below, we can confirm that the vast majority of the teachers interviewed greatly appre-ciated the positive effects on the team-work when using the proposed examples. Teaching strategies have been developed to provide opportunities within the class-room where all students participate in small groups. They are encouraged to listen and talk to one another and thus to evaluate themselves and their peers. Teamwork is seen as an undeniable tool to develop confidence.

1.9. Questions concerning the level at which the proposed activities help to motivate learners.

Here as well, as the graph shows, an ove-rwhelming majority of teachers responded with a 10 to this question, which comforts and pleases the entire project team. These answers demonstrate that our strategies have been effective in motivating learners. And of course, this in turn reduces or eli-minates the fear usually associated with speaking.

To conclude this chapter, we can say that all the procedures adopted to ensure the quality of the products developed, have been very successful. Indeed, we have obtained effective strategies because the EMECOE team has relied on the quality and efficiency of its work. Thus, the strategies do indeed correspond to the performance criteria desired by the whole team.


1. FÜLLTEXT

2. THE LINGUISTIC TELE-TANDEMS OF THE EMECOE PROJECT REALIZATION OF TASKS, MODE OF OPERATION AND SUPPORT

2.1. ObjectivesThe EMECOE project aims, among other things, at form-ing a team of collaborators between the 3 partner coun-tries Spain, Poland and Austria.

Linguistic competence has a lot of constraints but at the same time there are many possibilities to improve the system of oral communication teaching, because «... the role of the school is not only to enable the students to ac-quire knowledge and skills in languages (tools in and out of the classroom) but also to enhance pupils’ autonomy and plurilingual competence so that they can use them in their future lives 1).

Teaching goes hand in hand with learning which means we should not only ask ourselves “what are we going to do in class?”, but focus on the learners and their active role in learning the foreign language in the various countries.

Looking for methods that would promote oral commu-nication, we have rediscovered linguistic tandems. In discussing the different ways of using tandems, we de-cided to work as follows:

1. use the means of electronic communication to create a network of cooperation between learners within our institutions and outside, even world-wide via the Web,

2. foster communication based on learners’ second language (L2),

3. help learners in their communication by providing cards with guidelines and topics to discuss,

4. improve speaking skills by offering a choice topics as well as prompts with audio or visual input.

5. facilitate lexical enrichment through vo-cabulary lists where it seems necessary.

Why integrate tandems into the project?

1) Guillaume Gravé-Rousseau ; L’EMILE d’hier à aujourd’hui : une mise en pers-pective de l’apprentissage d’une discipline en langue étrangère (http://www.emilangues.education.fr/files/par-rubriques/L_EMILE_d_hier_a_aujourdhui_G_Grave-Rousseau.pdf (Internet: 2017-02-28)

The typology of the tandems is based on the idea of the lingua franca. Just like Latin or Greek during the Renais-sance, the foreign language is the vehicle of teaching and learning in Europe and all over the world, it is the language that allows us to exchange knowledge of any type: cultural, technical, scientific, etc., it is the language that focuses not only on the absolute mastery of the second language but on its «utility” at all levels. It is the way to open the doors of the world, to explore it, to im-prove it. Like in the CLIL method, tandem learners speak to exchange information, to express their opinions, to argue, to learn.

2.2. Functions of foreign languagesSo, our project provides for communication only in the given foreign language in tandems between the different residential countries of the learners. After consultations and discussions with our partners and many positive tests in the classrooms that had been carried out, we were convinced of the usefulness of proposing tandems on an educational portal by employing the methods used so successfully in lan-guage courses, forming partner groups, putting into practice exchanges on various topics in a foreign lan-guage. Foreign languages function here as vehicular languages, which bring us to the ideas of CLIL.2) .

2.3. The originality of the project Unlike the eTandem (mother tongue + foreign lan-guage), we rely on the second language, which has con-straints but at the same time a lot of advantages.

We found in the tests on the use of this tandem format that

� learners enjoy talking with a partner who does not dominate them in terms of language com-petence (which happens if the speaker speaks in their mother tongue),

� they feel less embarrassed, they manage to fol-low the statements more easily, even if there are errors in the speech or speeches,

� they find that the partner sometimes has simi-lar problems expressing themselves or asking questions,

� they manage to communicate although their level is sometimes low.

Obviously, it was necessary to prepare the tandem field pedagogically. So we first decided on 3 levels (A2, B1, B2) and wrote prompt cards.

2) Content and Language Integrated Learning.

http://www.emilangues.education.fr/files/par-rubriques/L_EMILE_d_hier_a_aujourdhui_G_Grave-Rousseau.pdf

http://www.emilangues.education.fr/files/par-rubriques/L_EMILE_d_hier_a_aujourdhui_G_Grave-Rousseau.pdf


2.4. The teaching aids

2.4.1. The objectives of the teaching aids - Interaction Cards

To facilitate communication between tandem part-ners, we agreed to provide them with prompts.

As in language classes, where we use a variety of materials (maps, cards with mini-tasks, themed dialogues, role-playing cards or descriptions of com-municative situations and roles for mini-simulations), we agreed on the format and content of our ‘interac-tion cards’ that would serve as starting points for oral communication.

2.4.2. The choice of topics

One of the most important aspects of teaching is the aspect of motivation. It was therefore essential to choose topics that would correspond to:

1. the interests of learners whose age ranges from 15 to 30 (in our target groups),

2. the language levels of learners, 3. the diversity of languages taught in the project

partner countries (FR, EN, ES IT, DE),4. the learning motivation guidelines developed

by neurolinguistic experts, 5. each level of the Reference Framework.

Firstly, we used the key documentation of the Coun-cil of Europe, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and subsequently the Key Inventory of Linguistic Competences3).

There you will find an overview of the topics cho-sen by the EMECOE project teams. Each theme was worked on in detail by an author or a team of teachers teaching one of the 5 languages on which the project focuses. The outcome was 120 interaction cards cov-ering a great diversity of themes and contents to be talked about at tandem meetings.

3) Inventaire linguistique des contenus clés des niveaux du CECRL https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/Inventaire_ONLINE_full.pdf; Copyright Eaquals 2015 (Inter-net : 2016/11/01)

2.4.3. The composition of the cards

In order to provide clear and precise guidelines for the design of the cards, the project management team gave advice on the format, the structure, the length of the slides, the length of the videos, etc.

� The first slide shows the level, language and title of the tandem,

� the second specifies the communicative task and the time planned for its realization.

� It is followed by instructions, tasks and/or advice to facilitate communication and interaction.

� The penultimate slide contains the logo of EMECOE, the country and institution of the authors,

� photographic, textual and video sources are indicated in the last slide.

Recommended time for realization of the tandem by the interlocutors: A2 : from 8-12 min. minimum B1 : from 15-20 min. minimum B2 : from 20-30 min. minimum

Number of slides: A2 : 10 maximum B1 : 12 maximum B2 : 15 maximum

Maximum length of video per file: A2: 2 min. B1: 3 min. B2: 4 min.

https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/Inventaire_ONLINE_full.pdf

https://www.eaquals.org/wp-content/uploads/Inventaire_ONLINE_full.pdf


2.4.4. The choice of cards

In the 120 cards produced by the EMECOE project teams, it was necessary to find a balance in terms of the covered topics, the interests of the target audi-ence, the quality of presentation, the clarity of the instructions and a balanced linguistic representation which takes into account the dominance of English because of the larger number of learners.

The ‘no-go’ for prompt cards

1. Cards that ask one of the partners to use their mother tongue (use of the second language is mandatory!).

2. Cards that require too much oral or written comprehension.

3. Questions that are too open-ended, not framed in the communicative task (do not encourage learners to exchange ideas, opinions, argu-ments or to communicate), but also questions that are too closed-ended.

4. Videos that are too long (A2 max 2 min, B1 max 3 min, B2 max approx 4 min).

5. Video or audio material that is not adapted to the target level (please note: the receptive skill level may slightly exceed the productive level).

6. Cards with instructions that are too complicated.

7. Too many slides (depending on the language level).

8. Slides that cannot be used in a tele-tandem card = videoconferencing (for example: dia-grams or graphs that are too complicated), cards that can only be used in class, face to face).

9. Cards with images subject to copyright.

2.5. Realization

2.5.1. Trials

Tandem Interaction Cards have been mostly writ-ten either in Word or PowerPoint format. Colleagues who work in the same institutions as the card-making teams offered to test them in class with their learners. Of course, the situations were simulated, not authen-tic because learners were given the cards either in pa-per form or they were looking at them on their mobile or tablet sitting next to each other.

Nevertheless, the reactions of our test takers were very encouraging. As they were motivated by the ac-tivities of tandems, they spoke freely, without embar-rassment and found that the activities corresponded to the level of their oral competence. Many asked for

more or were willing to look for tandem partners in another country.

A few remarks and improvement tips were taken into consideration where necessary and the cards were corrected.

2.5.2. The transformation into html format

The project leaders were faced with the challenge of finding a format for Internet dissemination. This for-mat had to meet the following requirements:

� Be relatively easy to produce without the use of ‘html’ programming knowledge,

� be readable by all users in all countries, � be adaptable and modifiable without much

effort, � be able to be reworked in international coope-

ration, so as to be shared on the Web, � be attractive and motivating for users, � have a user-friendly interface, in other words

be easy to handle by users.We decided to follow the Spanish suggestion and choose the MS-SWAY product. This is a web applica-tion offered by Microsoft Office. SWAY allows users to create and share an interactive web panel, adapt-able to any type of screen. Designers can add content directly from the “OneDrive” application, some social networks, but also other Web 2.0 sources.

2.5.3. Coordinators and their roles

EMECOE’s system of linguistic tandems provides for international cooperation to ensure that the prompt cards are valid and applicable in partner countries or throughout Europe. Thus, language coordinators (responsible for one language) have been appointed from two or three partner countries.

The task of the coordinators was to view, try and fi-nally select the interactive cards that best fulfilled the previously established criteria (see above).

The coordinators met and spoke via video-confe-rencing, exchanged their experience with the cards, tried to improve the instructions or the formats (thanks to the feedback from the learners) and finally selected the best output in each language.


2.5.4. Self-evaluation sheets

One of the aspects of language teaching that the project group advocates among learning strategies is learner autonomy. In fact, the idea of the linguis-tic tandem highlights the freedom of decision and speech, the non-existence of external evaluation.

Nevertheless, everyone wants to have feedback about their performance and if it is not provided they will actively look for it in other people, colleagues, su-periors and subordinates. In fact, skills assessment al-lows everyone to evaluate themselves. In our case, it eventually comes from the tandem partner.

In order to allow the learners to reflect on their oral skills, their strengths and/or weaknesses and the im-provements desired or already made, we have cre-ated a self-assessment grid available to each tandem.

The categories we aim to take into consideration in the linguistic tandem largely depend on the level of competence according to the European Framework, although they are mainly based on the capacity

� to listen and understand, � to react and to engage in conversation, � to talk continuously.

Coming back to the quality of the tandems, i.e. the in-teraction cards provided, this will be verified through a small questionnaire of the following type:

Opinions on the tandems:

Learners also formulated their opinion freely, for example: I liked the cards because …

� The format is nice � The instructions are clear and understandable � The activities are interesting / motivating and � they are made for my level

2.5.5. Implementation

The quality control that was done before the publi-cation of the tandem cards selected by the coordina-tors was carried out in language courses in various countries and in the languages covered by the EME-COE project. To achieve this, the tandem cards were uploaded to the project portal, opening the portal to a small audience, or even to colleagues working with

the EMECOE team and their learners. We called this approach: “Opening the closed gate”.

After obtaining feedback from learners and their teachers, the tandem cards were re-selected, clas-sified, possibly eliminated or improved where necessary.

Finally, we proceeded to declare a limited number of cards as the best choice and towards the end of the project we will make our «open tandem cards” avail-able to the general public, to all web users.

2.6. Technical functionality

2.6.1. The final format of the tandem cards

The digital format is realized thanks to MS-SWAY. All members of the EMECOE project’s different teams have received instructions on how to create Sway files. From the documents «Word, Power-point or PDF”, it is possible to merge the texts and images and to produce a readable format in html.

2.6.2. Video-conferences

Throughout this process, teams used Skype as a means of communication and in most interviews, the tool “share the screen”. Thus the training of the col-leagues and the exchange between them were car-ried out not only in an efficient way but also with very satisfactory results.

Using Skype is also recommended for learners and end users of tandems. Of course, the choice of type of electronic communication will be left to the tandem partners. So they can choose “Hangouts”, “WhatsApp” or other applications.

2.7. Evaluation and conclusionIf we look at some of the barriers that limit the de-velopment of oral proficiency, such as, for example, the fear of speaking in public and having nothing to say, lack of vocabulary and self-confidence, the use of TANDEM Cards developed for EMECOE has proven their kinds of difficulties.

TANDEM Cards facilitate interaction in the following ways:

� They are less stressful, without supervision, � without the teacher, without the «sword of

Damocles», � motivated by inspiring content, we have things

to say,


� integrating the words and phrases that appear in graphic, audio and/or video documents helps encrease learners’ vocabulary,

� they are more attractive thanks to ICT and they are free from the limitations of the «class-room» space or constraints of the teaching environment.

Taking into account all these reasons the TANDEM Cards are an attractive learning aid, and in addition they follow the guidelines of the Framework. In ac-cordance with the findings of the action perspec-tive and the CLIL methodology, the L2 becomes a vehicular language that allows the communication and transmission of knowledge and know-how.

Learners communicate to talk about their lives, to give their opinions on a current topic, on an aspect of culture, to express their feelings about a specific situation or problem, or to give advice. The impor-tant thing is that communication takes place. Taking risks is no longer a problem and the more exchanges the learners take part in, the more their linguistic competence will develop.

The students’ assessment of their experiences using EMECOE TANDEMS confirms that the TANDEM Cards helped them to facilitate exchange, enrich vocabu-lary and that they are an ideal learning tool for im-proving oral proficiency.

2.8. Examples for each level and language

ENGLISH FRENCH


SPANISH GERMAN

ITALIEN


3. CONCEPT MAPS/MIND MAPS - INTERACTION IN ACTION

The number of teaching methods and tools that ac-company the teaching of foreign languages available on the educational market is constantly growing. By observing this field being explored by research-ers, authors, teacher trainers and language teachers, we can see that the only constant thing in teaching is change. The authors very often carry out serious research work, combining techno-pedagogical inno-vation with professional experience. Attracting the target audience, facilitating progress and learning on the part of both learners and teachers have become major goals of today’s world. Our work is of the same nature.

3.1. Concept Maps/Mind Maps - Key Principles

Concept maps appeared for the first time in 1972, introduced by the American researcher Donald Jo-seph Novak, who, while sorting and processing a lot of important data, wanted to clarify and structure his ideas. He relied on the cognitive theories of David Au-subel, an American psychologist, a follower of Piaget. Ausubel proved that it was important to take into ac-count existing cognitive structures, the students’ prior knowledge, before teaching them new concepts. A similar claim was made by Jacques Tardif1), a professor at the University of Sherbrooke, who in his theory of learning transfer asserted that “the cognitive mecha-nism depends on using in a target task prior knowledge or a skill developed in a source task”.

Finally, Tony Buzan2), an English psychologist, pro-posed in the 1970s the theory of “mind maps” or heuristic maps (the name of which comes from the famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes: “Eu-reka” “I have found it!”). A mind map is a graphical rep-resentation of words that helps to organize ideas and also to find, draw and memorize keywords, being at the same time an effective way to take notes, facilitate preparation of a presentation and develop creativity.

Taking into account these concepts, we decided to create, within the framework of the EMECOE project, our own models of concept maps classified by level according to the CEFR and by the language taught. They constitute a set of tools developed for our target audience, teachers and learners of foreign languages. It often happens that learners are not afraid to express themselves, they use the language well enough, but they do not know what to say and how to do it. We hope that introducing concept maps regularly during the courses will help them overcome the problem of “what to say and how to say it”.

1) Tardif J., (1999) Le transfert des apprentissages. Montrél, les Éditions Logique2) Buzan T., (1999) Rusz głową, Łódź, Wydawnictwo RAVI.

3.2. Why should we introduce concept maps?

Objectives

After careful reflection, we decided to work on learn-ing strategies and classroom techniques that help to improve spoken production and spoken interaction in language courses. The tools available online, devel-oped by the EMECOE partners had several objectives:

� to reflect on good practices, � to list the most effective strategies, � to diversify teaching methods through educa-

tional resources.While creating new didactic materials we tried to ful-fil three criteria proposed by Dominique Beau (2002, p.63)3): effectiveness, relevance and coherence. By testing the concept maps, after each learning se-quence, we checked whether the intended objec-tives were achieved, whether the educational materi-als were attractive and relevant, and what new skills were acquired by the learners. We also tested whether the skills developed were in line with the expecta-tions of the target audience. The criterion of cohesion prompted us to reflect on the choice of lexical con-tent, and its adaptability to the level specified in the standards. This multitude of ideas was accompanied by reflection on the use of techniques, so that the pedagogical sequence would be effective, successful and would differ from the usual concept of a standard course, which can sometimes be a little monotonous.

Concept maps assume that our mind organizes and stores information in a structured way, reflecting the organization of the declarative (or explicit) memory system. Thanks to the maps, learners can become fa-miliar with the words, deduce their meaning, organize and prioritize their ideas in a synthetic way. By visual-izing a structure of meaningful relationships, learners can enrich and systematize the thematic vocabulary (not comprehensive), use the words accompanied by useful structures and they are able to express them-selves better.

3.3. Methods of workingTo our knowledge, there is no official document based on concept maps that lists vocabulary accord-ing to CEFR levels by allowing learners to learn, use or expand appropriate lexical content. For those who are used to pedagogical innovations as well as for teachers who prefer traditional techniques, we offer concept maps developed for different levels, in five languages: German, English, Spanish, French and Italian.

3) Beau D., (2002) La boite a outils du formateur. Paris, Editions d’Organisation.


We deliberately did not use existing software on the Web so as not to impose our preferences or to avoid a single model to follow, since the authors prefer free-dom of choice. Those interested in the subject can use software (free or with costs) such as: Framindmap, XMind, Freeplane (an enhanced version of FreeMind), iMindMap etc. or find tools on the site: petillant.com.

All our concept maps are available on the EMECOE project website.

3.4. Choice of levels and topics The Polish team working on the concept maps chose the A2-B2 level vocabulary to test the newly created teaching materials. Car-rying out tests with adult learners and adolescents turned out to be a very interesting experience but also time-consuming. That is why the vocabulary was chosen according to the syllabus.

3.5. EMECOE concept maps – how to use them

Level A2

For this level we suggest several possi-ble ways of using the concept maps: as a prompt, a warm-up, the central ele-ment of a course or as an assessment tool to verify the acquisition of the newly learned vocabulary. Photocop-ied, projected, sent by email or posted on Facebook, easy to access, the con-cept maps have numerous applications in class or for self-study.

For the German language, we have selected vocabulary related to food, meals and cooking (see below).

For French, we have worked on the theme of school: places, subjects and timetables. For Italian we have cov-ered the domain of everyday life and we chose vocabulary revolving around cafés.

In class, learners can work with our cards on their own, in pairs or in small groups. Those who are shy and not so self-confident, can be helped by those with a bet-ter command of the language. You can use the entire map to ask questions, choose one or two sections, or expand one of the categories. If the vocabulary is not known, learners can ask their classmates, consult dictionaries or ask the teacher for an explanation as a last resort. All cards are accompanied by questions that can be used by the teacher or the learners in the proposed order (questions 1-10) or randomly.

Level B1

For level B1 we have developed two maps in French:

� the first one about everyday life: leisure; � the second, presenting vocabulary connected

with people, that is, physical description, cha-racter and clothing.

For English we have covered the topic of travelling (see opposite).

We suggest giving the learners a lot of freedom in us-ing these didactic tools. At the beginner level (A1 or A2) they can be guided by their teacher, while at more

advanced levels, they can decide in which order they will use the vocabulary and content. The teacher can just indicate the minimum number of arguments to provide. To help learners use modifiers and/or idioms to facilitate oral expression, the teacher can prepare an appropriate document as an appendix to the card. The class/group can also try to complete the map with new information: missing words, new categories or new relationships between existing categories.

The map is thus a starting point and not an exhaus-tive document. It can also serve as a model for devel-oping maps dedicated to other linguistic areas.


Level B2

B2 level maps follow two different models. For Spanish (politics) and Italian (health) they provide specific vocabulary that in-volves associations and connections re-lating to the given topic.

As for the document in French, we have focused on culture: more specifically, how to present, describe, analyze and interpret a work of art (see below).

The map contains structures, expres-sions and phrases that should help learners describe a work of art.

The order in which the sections of the map are to be used is indi-cated by arrows. We start from the presen-tation of a work of art, we go through the de-scription and the anal-ysis and finish with the interpretation. The questions that ac-company the concept map can introduce the theme, but they can also be used as a basis for speaking.

We are convinced that concept maps can facilitate language learning.

They can help learners to improve both vocabulary and language proficiency, while for teachers they can be an interesting, ready-to-use tool that will allow them to bring variety to their courses and ensure the active participation of students.


4. PECHA KUCHA

4.1. DefinitionThis funny name is actually a Japanese term meaning «chatter». Since 2003, it has been used to describe a strategy employed in the professional and educa-tional world, for example in primary and secondary education in Catalonia. It consists of an oral presenta-tion of 20 slides with a maximum of 20 second expla-nation per slide (maximum duration: 6’40 ‘’); the writ-ten text on each slide must be reduced to the strict minimum (words, never phrases) to avoid simply reading the content. To make the presentation more attractive, special attention is given to images and/or photographs.

4.2. MethodThis strategy is largely based on the CLIL method (Content and Language Integrated Learning), in French called ÉMILE (Enseignement d’une Matière Intégrée à une Langue Étrangère). Indeed, through the content, learners work on cognitive skills and of course on all communicative skills:

� they are looking for the best options, ideas, knowledge, while reading, listening and watching,

� they choose, � they select and � they order ideas.

Thus, they develop writing skills and the ability to analyze and synthesize, summarizing the content which they want to adapt to the Pecha Kucha format. This task is in some ways related to mediation skills in a foreign language since, through Pecha Kucha, a learner of the L2 tells the other students the content he/she has just learned and summarizes it at the same time.

Indeed, with Pecha Kucha: � the L2 is the language of communication du-

ring the activity � the learner searches for information on non-lin-

guistic content and then he/she transmits it to his/her classmates

� students who listen acquire linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge through the presentation of one of their classmates.

With students who feel anxious at the prospect of public speaking, we recommend conducting this activity in pairs, especially at B1 (independent user, threshold level), which can be a bit complicated for adults because it is the first stage of acquiring confi-dence and fluency necessary for oral expression.

Finally, to improve the Pecha Kucha presentation, we must not forget the benefits brought by the tech-niques of public speaking.

4.3. ObjectivesThe main objectives of Pecha Kucha for learners are the following:

� to promote spoken production in the L2 � to develop motivation through the free choice

of the topic to be presented � to develop the ability to synthesize the content

to be presented � to develop and improve public speaking skills � to increase self-esteem and self-confidence � to develop digital competences � to use the L2 to transmit knowledge, and not

merely from a “communicative, utilitarian” perspective

4.4. Description of tasksIn order to achieve these objectives, several steps must be taken. The teacher must firstExplain the task to learners

Select topics / types of texts to be dealt with according to the level of the group

Explain the procedure to be followed before moving on to preparing the slides. Indicate how to look for information/content, how to select it, how to process it, and

finally how to organize it and present it in the slides. During the presentation, pay attention to the tone of voice, gesture, body language.

Determine the anual schedule of presentations in a collaborative and consensual way.

Define the evaluation criteria


- agree on the list of content to work on and set the date of the presentation of each project

- develop a list of language requirements for lear-ners based on the level and the time of the school year

TIPS for learners - believe in the project - choose a topic to present - search for and select information

To process information1): - identify the main and secondary ideas - summarize the information in your own

words - develop the outline of the presentation (intro-

duction - points to develop - conclusion) - reduce ideas to concepts that will be displayed

on each slide - schematize the information to be shown on each

slide on the accompanying worksheets - look for images - prepare the slides - check whether you have fulfilled the linguistic

requirements - rehearse your presentation - note down reminders and phatic elements of

interaction ! “Is it clear?”, “Do you follow me ?” etc. on the accompanying worksheets

- record the presentation at home or practise your talk in front of an audience (phonetics, intonation, body language, etc.)

- drink a cup of calming tea and do a session of mind-fulness before the talk to avoid stage fright (“Yes, I can do it!”)

4.6. Evaluation Since the main objective of this activity is to develop the communicative competence of the learner, the evaluation will be mainly formative.

If our annual schedule allows each student to give several presentations during the year, we can consid-er carrying out a summative evaluation of a presenta-tion made at the end of the school year.

1) See example about migration (screen shot)

4.5. The teacher and the learnerTaking into account the benefits of collaborative work and motivation to learn, the teacher must :

� create cohesion and a good atmosphere in the group using teamwork activities and only then introduce Pecha Kucha

� select the topics according to the level of the group and submit his/her proposals via the website https://sway.com

� select sources of information adapted to the level of the learners and list them

� prepare a presentation template and a Power-point/Openoffice model (The number of slides and the duration will vary depending on the level in order to reduce the stress caused by the presentation.)

� prepare a checklist of things to do for the lear-ner (see link to the portal) TABLE

� prepare the peer evaluation sheet and an eva-luation sheet for the teacher (see link to the portal) TABLE

� record the presentations (don’t forget to have the students sign the authorization prior to the task) to provide the learners with feedback (formative assessment according to the LOLA principle - see chapter …)

� make the first presentation in smaller groups from a text/information provided by the tea-cher in 4 phases:

PREPARATION- work on the technique of identifying the main

ideas (whole class) - work on the technique of summarizing (whole

class) - work on the technique of synthesizing by means

of drafting of the text of each slide and the accom-panying worksheet (in small groups)

- digital work: search for images using a computer/smartphone (in small groups)

DEVELOPMENT (in groups of three)- slides with text and images - accompanying worksheets for each slide: it is not

a full transcript but rather a diagram with the key ideas/keywords to be displayed on each slide

PRESENTATION- one of the groups gives their presentation

(between 6-7 slides each) - the other learners listen and complete the peer

evaluation grid EVALUATION

- self-assessment - peer review - teacher evaluation

TIPS for teachers- agree on the frequency of presentations


5. FROM LISTENING COMPREHENSION TO SPEAKING (LEVEL B1 AND BEYOND)

5.1. Methodology Starting from an audio or audiovisual material on non-linguistic content related to a topic already cove-red in class, the students, in groups of 3 or 4, make a summary/analysis in the second language (L2). In addition, the recycling of the content during the dif-ferent phases of work necessitates speaking: asking questions, answering, completing information, giving presentations in small groups or to the rest of the class. Each pupil then talks and listens, which enables them to acquire linguistic and non-linguis-tic knowledge thanks to their friends’ presentations. Using this strategy helps to avoid two of the major difficulties associated with speaking:

� not knowing what to say, � lack of vocabulary (worked on before, while

and after listening to or watching a recording).

5.2. ObjectivesMost of the time, in order to develop oral comprehen-sion, authentic audio and video materials are used for which textbook authors create various listening exer-cises (such as “Indicate if the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE” or “Match the sentences to the speak-ers”, etc.) Unfortunately, it is not often the case that one derives substantial benefits from it as far as the development of oral competence is concerned. And so we decided to develop an activity/strategy whose main objectives are:

� promoting L2 spoken production � developing the ability to summarize the

content to be presented � developing the technique of note taking � reusing linguistic content covered before in a

non-linguistic context � use of L2 to transfer knowledge and not just to

communicate � encouraging listening and attention among

students.

5.3. Description of tasksIn order to achieve these objectives, the tasks to be performed in class are as follows: The teacher explains the task to be carried out and the different stages of the activity.

� The teacher plays the recording several times for students to work on.

� The students identify the key ideas and the additional ideas, and the order in which they appear (whole-class activity).

� The students prepare a summary/analysis in small groups.

� The students present their summary/analysis to the rest of the class.

5.4. Procedure5.4.1. Stages of the activity

First of all, the teacher must select an audio/video recording, the content of which is to be recounted/summarized by the students. If possible, choose an expository text of 2 to 3 minutes. Then:

� prepare a list of key ideas and additional ideas of the recording

� prepare a list of new expressions that may be problematic for understanding the recording

� prepare model sheets for note taking (Appen-dix 3 and 4 at the end of the guide)

� prepare a word cloud based on the lexical field of the recording (activity to be done before the listening comprehension task) using for example https://nuagedemots.co or https://nuagesdesmots.fr, etc.

5.4.2. Progress of the activity

After preparing the activity, the teacher can finally im-plement the strategy. The activity starts with:

� a brainstorming of the vocabulary covered be-fore which appears in the recording (using the website nuagedemots.co)

� an introduction to the difficult expressions that will appear in the recording

Then the listening phase takes place:

1st listening: the students identify the key ideas indi-vidually and take notes (Appendix 3) then they com-pare their answers. The teacher notes down the ideas on the board in the form of noun phrases or verbs in the infinitive. 2nd listening: the students identify the additional ideas and details, individually (Document 1), then they compare their answers. 3rd listening: the students organize the ideas as a whole-class activity. (Appendix 4)

Finally, the teacher organizes the class for the speaking activities:Speaking activity 1 (in groups of 3 or 4 learners):The students prepare an oral summary of the record-ing based on the document 2, under the supervision of the teacher who will remind them that the length of a summary is about 1/3 of the original document and that they must formulate it in their own words (ban “copy and paste”).

The teacher will go from one group to another to listen to their oral productions, which he will cor-rect in a constructive and positive way (e.g. “Very good”, “Excellent”, “Perfect”, “Pay attention to...”, “Do you remember ...?”).


Speaking activity 2 : Presentation of the summary of each group.It is the teacher who specifies the order in which the members of a group speak. This avoids the fragmentation of the content of the summary (each student working on and presenting a piece) and makes 3 or 4 stu-dents familiar with the summary they have prepared so that they are able to elaborate on any part of it.

The other groups can enrich their presenta-tion with the linguistic and non-linguistic elements used by the preceding groups. (If this activity is repeated in later sessions, we must vary the order in which the groups give their presentations so that it is not always the same student who begins the cycle of presentations.)

5.5. EvaluationWe do not plan a summa-tive evaluation of this activity to avoid the stress it causes in students. Since the main objective of this activity is to reinforce the learner’s oral communicative competence, we will make a formative eva-luation based on self-assess-ment questionnaires concer-ning expectations and results for both the learner and the teacher, which will be used at the beginning and at the end of this series of activities.


6. PROMPT CARDS FOR SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

Long before the recent advances in neuroscience, we knew that it was necessary and effective to vary the working methods and forms of interaction.

So let us use different forms of communication in pairs or small groups! Your students will take great pleasure in communicating with each other and their oral communication skills will improve significantly.

Concerning the organization of groups, you can form homogeneous groups (learners of the same level) or heterogeneous ones (of different levels). Everything depends on the activity and the phase of learning (discovery, research, conceptualization, reuse ...), etc. 1).

6.1. Working with prompt cardsYou can launch countless speaking activities with interaction cards. The preparation is extremely easy

provided that the teacher has a large ‘toolbox’ or a large repertoire of communicative situations.

The activities are in line with the principle of “action teaching” which considers the learner of a language as a social actor who performs tasks.

The tasks favoured by the action perspective are those that lead to communicative actions. They are authen-tic, close to real life situations whether they take place in the classroom, or outside the institutional frame-work. So it’s not just about communicating but about learners taking action with their classmates.

The use of interaction sheets is usually linked to � a given situation and � a role defined or chosen by the learner.

1 Adapted from http://tenseignes-tu.com/le-point-sur/cours-de-fle/ 2017-05-21

6.2. Worried about the level of your students?

There is no need to worry. Interaction cards are suit-able for all levels. You can start from level A1.

The interaction sheet is as good for asking questions as it is for giving answers. It is therefore an example of a guided micro-dialogue, easy to prepare, effective in its realization and functional from the point of view of the action perspective.

6.3. Scope of useAs the example above demonstrates, you can use interaction cards in FLT (foreign language teaching) from level A1 onwards. You will be able to use them in countless situations at levels A2 and B1 (the levels targeted by our project). The domains can vary from situations of everyday life with or without taboo top-ics (conflict situations) to situations of a professional or semi-professional nature.

Referring to the definition of the CEFR which advo-cates that «The competence to communicate linguis-tically can be considered as consisting of several com-ponents: a linguistic component, a sociolinguistic component, a pragmatic component «, we suggest respecting all these aspects of communication, with-out forgetting the functions of linguistic mediation sometimes underestimated by teachers.

Taboo topics?

Typically, gender/sex, national politics and religion can be considered as sensitive topics and possibly make learners uncomfortable. If you know your stu-dents well, you will be able to avoid high-risk topics, so as not to make your students feel uncomfortable!

http://tenseignes-tu.com/le-point-sur/cours


6.4. Teacher-animatorYour role will be to guide the learner in carrying out tasks, to help with phonetics, to manage the organi-zation of varied teams and pairs that will help and motivate each other. Let the learners think aloud. Mis-takes are very often evidence of a willingness to com-municate and are an integral part of learning. Trying to adopt a positive attitude towards the error (wheth-er it is in the pronunciation or in the use of linguistic structures) does not mean turning a blind eye and not correcting anything. The amount of correction made by the teacher depends on many factors, including when the error occurs1) .

This strategy is also aimed at facilitating learning, promoting learning through the pleasure of learning, strengthening and reassuring the learner and making able to assess him/herself..

The most significant things to be taken into consid-eration while creating optimum working conditions in general but also when using interaction sheets should be to empower the learner, create a favora-ble atmosphere for free expression and believe in the power of imagination of your group.

6.5. Organizing a sequence of activities

6.5.1. Preparation

It is always useful in a didactic strategy to set the stage for a sequence of activities. By this we mean to approach the theme by different means adapted to the level of its learners: questions / news stories, audio recordings, videos, articles, blogs, songs, labels and packaging, menus, leaflets, graffiti, tickets, sched-ules , images etc.

The idea of this step is to arouse the interest and cu-riosity of learners for the topic or the teaching objec-tive. You will acquaint the learners with the following activities.

6.5.2. The instructions

Every teacher is aware of the importance of good in-structions so that the learners, the group, or the indi-vidual can perform the communicative task request-ed without any problem. The CEFR in the chapter «Interaction and production” (7.3.2.1) mentions that help with roles, content, goals, framework (including visual aspects) can facilitate the execution of the task; as well as the relevance, clarity and adequacy of the instructions or directions.

The interaction sheets, however, can in most cases be limited to simple instructions, easy to understand and especially easy to design.

1 http://tenseignes-tu.com/le-point-sur/cours-de-fle/ 2017-05-21

6.6. Example activities PERSONAL QUESTIONS

� Use the maps below to ask your partner questions.

� Answer all his questions as well. � You can also ask your own questions about

topics that interest you.

6.7. Conducting interviews2) Preparing the questions:

Each learner draws one (or more) questions present-ed on the cards. He / she puts the question to his / her partner and takes notes of the answer (given orally).

Reflection phase � setting a time limit, organizing the activity � collection of information � classification of information � synthesis � presentation of the results � anonymous opinions � oral training before speaking in front of the group � drawing a random question � in large classes put the students into groups.

Presentation: Each learner presents his results to the class.

Note: This activity is stressfree and it is really student-friendly.

2 Adapted from « Le savoir de la communication orale « (stage avec Michel Boiron, questions établies par les collègues)

http://tenseignes-tu.com/le-point-sur/cours


6.8. Giving an opinion

6.9. Document accompanying the interactions

Thematic interaction sheets / prompt-cards

EXAMPLES OF PROMPT CARDS3):

There are 10 general topics and 236 cards to choose from.

It’s up to you how you are going to use them!

You will find all the materials on the EMECOE website http://emecoe.eu/

3) We are grateful for the coopération with M. Michel Boiron - CAVILAM de Vichy

Rules of the game:

You have to justify your answer or give details!

If you don’t know what to say, take another card.

TOPICS:

1. FREE TIME2. SCHOOL, EDUCATION3. FRIENDS AND FAMILY, PERSONAL QUESTIONS4. FOOD AND DRINKS5. DREAMS AND PLANS6. HEALTH, THE ENVIRONMENT7. LANGUAGES AND CULTURES8. COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA9. SOCIETY, POLITICS10. WORK, ECONOMY


IV.

EVALUATION OF SPOKEN PRODUCTION AND INTERACTION

1. From normative evaluation to learner-centered assessment

2. LOLA – how it is seen and brought forward the EMECOE-PROJECT of Learning-Oriented-Language Assessment


1. FROM NORMATIVE EVALUATION TO LEARNER-CENTERED ASSESSMENT

We cannot talk about skills assessment without look-ing at Bloom’s taxonomy first. Bloom has established a classification based on 5 levels of new knowledge acquisition and we invite you to look at it, taking speaking into account:

1. Remembering: the learner knows how to repro-duce learned and memorized facts and infor-mation. This is useful in the context of a simple knowledge check.

2. Understanding: the learner can explain some-thing in his/her own words, selecting the right concepts. This can be useful when the learner needs to choose the correct answer in a multiple choice test or as part of an oral exam.

3. Applying: The learner must use what he/she has learned in the context of an activity or a problem to be solved. This is necessary when the (oral) ex-amination assesses the ability to perform tasks for which the learner has already been trained.

4. Analysing: the learner knows how to connect new knowledge with previously acquired knowledge (= compare, criticize, classify, sort, prioritize, etc.). This is necessary when the task does not simply require the learner to use a known approach (= standard activity), but also to draw on other in-formation (= more complex tasks).

5. Synthesising (evaluating): the learner is able to propose new analyses, to think critically and to generate new knowledge. In these situations, he/she is able to build new links between various bits of information1).

1.1. Self-assessment and/or external evaluation

While learning, it is also important to acquire the ability to self-evaluate in order to adjust learning strategies accord-ing to the objectives that the learner has set for him/herself, naturally taking into account his/her cur-rent level and what-ever goals he/she wants (or is obliged) to achieve.

Countless language tests are available on the Internet to meas-ure writing and lis-tening skills, but the technical formats are quite limited and

hardly allow assessment of speaking skills.

It is therefore necessary to resort to external evalua-tions, most often evaluations carried out by teachers.

Teachers can be interlocutors and evaluators at the same time, or these functions can be separated to en-sure greater objectivity.

There are also numerous analysis grids or assessment grids for speaking that have been established accord-ing to the different levels of the CEFR and according to the teaching objectives (general language teach-ing or specialized language), which aim to optimize the objectivity of the evaluation.

1) Adapted for our content from: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxonomie_de_Bloom

Source : http://seduc.csdecou.qc.ca/taxonomie-de-bloom/jpg


Main functions of the evaluation1. Experts generally agree that evaluation per-

forms three main functions1).2. Placement, which is mainly used to find out the

level of the learner. This will be used for place-ment tests (standardized and calibrated), pre-tests and post-tests. The prognostic assessment serves to assign the student to a class that cor-responds to his/her level and helps the teacher to establish the level of the learner’s language skills. We can also offer learners the self-evalua-tion grids available in the various European Lan-guage Portfolios (ELPs).

3. Diagnosis takes place after the prognostic eva-luation throughout the language course. The main role of this evaluative function is to analyze the student’s competence at a given moment, in order to make a judgment on it and to look for ways of improving pedagogical practices and remedial work. This kind of assessment shows not only whether the student needs remedial education, but also what he/she needs. The dia-gnostic function is educational. It allows the stu-dent to reflect on how to learn and implement strategies for making progress.

4. A type of evaluation that serves to certify edu-cational outcomes is called summative eva-luation. It is an evaluation which tests end-of-course student learning. It may also appear at the beginning of a course in the form of crite-rion-referenced formative evaluation. It assesses both knowledge and know-how. The role of this type of evaluation is therefore to certify that a certain level has been reached2). Such tests are often developed by a group of experts or a reco-gnized institution.

1.1. The task and its evaluation3)

Unfortunately, and this is an unforgivable negligence, there are still forms of evaluation that do not suffi-ciently take into account the absolute concordance that must prevail between THE TASK (included in the scenario4)) and its EVALUATION.

Let us now make some remarks on the importance of the task for an objective evaluation.

“A task is defined as any action-oriented aim that the actor perceives as a result to be achieved in relation to a problem which has to be solved, an obligation to be fulfilled, a goal that has been set”.

1 E.g.: Tagliante, Cuq Gruca, Bertocchini et Constanz2 Adapted from: http://www.su.lt/bylos/fakultetai/humanitarinis/uksk/bikulciene_

cours_de_didactique_du_francais_langue_etrangere_2007.pdf; 07-10-20183) Confer: F. Georges, M.F. Brundseaux, S. Géron & J.F. Van de Poel,LabSET–IFRES–Ulg

20094 Used as such in: British Council | EAQUALS Core Inventory for General English

The characteristics of the tasks are as follows: � Authenticity: the task must refer to real

problems. � Rigour: the task must be understandable,

achievable, explainable. � Fairness: the task must be fair and not favor

learners of a particular group or culture � Coherence: the task must allow for resource

mapping � Validity: the task must provide useful data to

guide learning, progress, improvement.A well-designed task must lead to acts of communica-tion. In a monologue we speak to someone (speech-es, radio, announcements, etc.), on the other hand, we speak with someone in a dialogue (interaction)..

A good task requires the understanding of a topic (of a problem to be solved) and allows learners to acti-vate their whole repertoire of skills (a combination of knowledge, know-how and also the attitude and be-haviour or social skills) in order to complete the task, typically following instructions (the latter facilitate an objective evaluation).

A good task is clearly structured, easily understand-able and contains elements that require research capabilities and concrete proposals for solutions or contribution to discussion. All of this will provide the opportunity for the learner or candidate to show their individual skills.

Finally, a good task acknowledges the fact that oral communication is a deeply social act.

In the Core Inventory the authors prefer the term “scenario”. A scenario “provides a meaningful context for simulated yet realistic language use by the learner. In a real-world derived scenario, simulations replace mere role-plays as we move from fictional personalities in artificial situations to real people acting as themselves in real contexts. Finally and fundamentally a scenario suggests a holistic setting that encourages the integra-tion of different aspects of competence in real (istic) lan-guage use. Properly conceived scenarios automatically create an appropriate background to support learning and teaching ....”

CEFR-based scenarios are frames that in the context of a set of defined real world variables (domain, context, tasks, types of language activity and texts involved) integrate holistically: “Can-Do” descriptors (as objectives); quality criteria (for evaluation); As teachers and/or evaluators, we also find that people who communicate effectively tend to use ver-bal and non-verbal strategies consistently to unders-tand or get the message across, regardless of their relative proficiency in the language. It is therefore essential to practise identifying them and to include them in an evaluation of speaking skills.


These non-verbal strategies obviously do not replace knowledge of the language, but the most effective «communicators» are people who are good at using both verbal and non-verbal strategies5).

5) see CERCL: aspects of competence, from strategic, through pragmatic to linguistic (as enabling objectives). – EAQUALS Core Inventory 2011, p. 13

These strategies do not replace the systematic study of the vocabulary and the morphosyntactic system but are an indispensable part. Well-used strategies go unnoticed.

1.2. Our criteria for assessing speaking skillsTaking into account the aspects mentioned above we suggest the following five criteria to assess oral com-municative competence:

Communicative effectiveness

Interaction Range Accuracy Proninciation

• relevance, • coverage, • coherence, •organisation of ideas,• sequencing

• comprehension, • initiation, • response, • independence, •participation, •negotiation of

meaning, • turntaking &

accommodation,•fluency

• lexical and structural range,

•flexibility and appropriacy

•adequacy of repertoire in relation to tasks and topics

• lexical and grammatical

• frequency and com-municative signifi-cance of mistakes and errors.

• comprehensibi-lity and effective communication of meaning, inclu-ding word stress, sentence stress and intonation

Next, we focus on our primary role as a teacher: helping the learner in their learning process through-out the language course. We know that each individu-al learns at their own pace, with their own intellectual processes.

Moreover, not all learners have the same way of learning, of remembering things. According to Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences6) some are rather visual, others auditory and others even kines-thetic. Some have a complex language biography, others do not know any other foreign language.

6 Gardner H., Les intelligences multiples, la théorie qui bouleverse nos idées reçues, Retz, 2008

It is therefore obvious that we must use a variety of teaching aids testing tools that allow us to make a di-agnosis of learners’ speaking skills from time to time, to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Profi-ciency tests of our students’s speaking skills which are based on the criteria mentioned above can improve their learning strategies if necessary and/or encour-age and motivate them when they are making pro-gress fairly quickly.

Learning oriented tests of students’s speaking skills which are based on the criteria mentioned above can improve their learning strategies if necessary and/or encourage and motivate them when they are making progress fairly quickly.

It is for this reason that we will now introduce the principle of L.O.L.A.


1. FÜLLTEXT

2. LOLA – HOW IT IS SEEN AND BROUGHT FORWARD THE EMECOE-PROJECT OF LEARNING-ORIENTED-LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

2.1. Definition We consider that learners are individuals who should be supported by differentiating their education and their language learning and this partly with the help of learning oriented assessments.

After a period of test invasion overflowing also lan-guage teaching and leading sometimes to the strange phenomenon of “teaching to the test”, we in-sist on (re-) concentrating primarily on teaching and learning and on formative testing.

Following Liz Hamp-Lyons and Tony Green (University of Bedfordshire) and Dave Allan (NILE) we start with the following statements:

LOLA should have:

Learning-focused tasks � Scaffolded task completion (breaking lear-

ning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure)

� Interactive/exploratory questioning � Learner-involved assessment � Possibility for self-assessment and/or peer

evaluation � Immediate and learning-focused feedback � Interlocutor/assessor scaffolding � Focus on feed-forward

Focusing on speaking skills LOLA should, at the end of the day, lead to a greater independence in the learn-ing process.

The basis for the development of a learning oriented assessment grid are practice and feedback of teach-ers, learners, materials and classrooms activities.

2.2. Our background The Austrian project team members have started in 2008 with the development of a so called “diagnostic assessment”.

The team-members and the cooperation partner from NILE (Norwich) immediately enlarged the objective of the assessment and provided concrete feedback on learners’ competences. The online product was called AOC-check (Awareness-Orientation-Coaching) a term which expresses the intention to offer not only a diag-nostic tool but also marks the beginning of a learning process, thus corresponding to formative assessment. The AOC online-check provided valid results for the following criteria:

A. LISTENING DISCRIMINATION B. LISTEN AND READC. LISTEN AND WRITED. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY IN CONTEXTE. READING SIGNS, NOTICES AND VISUALSF. READING LONGER TEXTS

The AOC online-check also provides precise informa-tion for teachers about the aims of this kind of assess-ment and the way of delivering the results. It gives advice on how to start working on students’ strengths and weaknesses.

As online-assessments are reduced to limited formats, teachers asked the team also to develop assessment materials for writing and speaking.

The AOC check provides three parts:

1. the online-check2. a writing assessment3. a speaking assessment.

The following statements deal explicitly with the development of a speaking assessment check and a speaking assessment grid.

During different seminars the Spanish partners also developed speaking assessment grids, so that the EMECOE team could rely on profound knowledge and skills concerning diag-nostic assessment grids which are CEFR- related and provide feedback on the student’s lan-guage skills.

The question came up whether a new grid should be developed or whether existing grids based on the participants’ experience in assessment during the last years could be combined.

In Austria and in Spain many recordings and videos have been checked and evaluated by the team mem-bers with the help of the existing grids. The outcome was that a practical and effective formative speak-ing assessment could not be reduced to a kind of diagnostic grid but should provide clear statements about communicative skills (not only language skills!) Thus, the grid has to include criteria for task fulfilment (for interactive dialogues as well as for sustained monologues).Effective communicative competence means that the interlocutor as listener or communication partner judges not only language skills but in many cases also all kinds of social competences like eye contact, body language, self-confidence, initiative taking, reacting to interlocutor’s ideas, asking for clarifications or for


the interlocutor’s opinion, active listening, taking up interlocutor’s ideas and combining them with his/her contributions, risk-taking, …

All these elements, and perhaps some more, contrib-ute to a successful communication and ensure the achievement of the given task.

This leads us to the essential question about tasks as bases for grids assessing communicative competence.

2.3. Task based speaking activities

Definition :We suggest that formative assessment should be based on a commitment between educator and learner.

The learners have to be informed clearly about the aims of the formative assessment because a general competence check about speaking skills seems to be too difficult to build up and there is the risk of asking too much from teachers and giving too much and diverse feedback to learners.

The feedback of formative assessment should, besides others,

� build on students’ strengths, � highlight students’ gaps in learning

goals, � provide methods and hints for stu-

dent’s learning goals and � help to improve where gaps have

been discovered.• Specific aims of a formative speaking as-

sessment might be:

� Communicative effectiveness (Task achievement)

� Pronunciation � Social skills for communication � Active listening and responding � Language accuracy and use of vocabulary � Fluency

2.4. Developing competence oriented tasks

It is recommended to use topics for Level B1 and then, if needed, adjust the contents for the specific level of the students.

Important elements (theory and implementation)1)

The papers testing oral competency have to consist of two separate and independent speaking tasks:

a sustained monologue and an interactive dialogue.

Both the monologue as well as the dialogue are char-acterized by various fundamental elements. Both tasks of the oral exam paper must be embedded in a given context.

This exam context is defined in short and precise words and specifies

the situational framework,the identities of the candidate and the audience/

interlocutors,the task as such,

the individual steps of the task andthe requirements for a successful completion.

In addition, tasks must contain an input and/or impulse.

2.5. EMECOE tasks - best practice examples

The team of EMECOE has worked out some strategies of good practice which take in account the above mentioned criteria for competence oriented tasks.

Thus, teachers are provided with material respect-ing situational environment, identities and input. In the case of the TELE-TANDEMS learners are provided with worksheets, explaining exactly what they should

1) CEBS, Framework Plurilingualism – Designing and Implementing Plurilingual Oral Exams, p 9 (adapted)


Questions:

1. How could a formative grid differ from the exis-ting ones?

2. What would be the criteria / categories?3. How could the feedback be given to allow speci-

fic answers to strengths and weaknesses? 4. Which could be the best recommendations for

the learners?

2.8. A formative grid The team came up to ask about effectiveness of exist-ing grids concerning future learning strategies, pos-sible improvements and helpful hints for social skills in communication.

In a very much simplified approach the following sce-nario was developed:

� The learner has to know about what he/she is asked to do in order to fulfil the task. (See illus-trations about reporting below in German)

� The teacher’s feedback-grid should clearly mention strengths and weaknesses

2.8.1. Feedback on speaking for teachers (based on presumed level A2/B1 )

e.g. for ACCURACY: Very good: “Reasonably accurate use of more unfamiliar and complex structures and expressions”Quite weak:“Errors and mistakes are frequent and sometimes prevent communication” or“generally accurate use of only a few simple patterns and vocabulary

e.g. for PRONUNCIATION: Very good: “stress and intonation largely appropriate and natural “Quite weak:“asking for repetition may sometimes be necessary”

e.g. for COMMUNICATIVE EFFECTIVENESSQuite good:“ideas developed mainly logically and coherently”Very weak:“can use the most basic linear connectors only to link single words or short phrases”, ...

The teacher has to ask himself/herself, how to help the learner (according to the presumed or certified level): What could help him/her to improve…

talk about. They get detailed input and find steps to follow which also give enough room to be presented in an individual way.

The input on PROMPT-CARDS deals with situations of everyday life or professionally oriented situations.

PECHA KUTCHA offers plenty of opportunities to train presentation techniques and support speaking activities in form of monologues.

2.6. The role of the interlocutor

The interlocutor’s behaviour is crucial for the success of the candidates, to enable them to show the maxi-mum of their competences which are:

� Topic maintenance and management � Intonation, pacing, pausing � Clarification strategies (or absence of ) � Error correction or repair � Management of turn-taking in paired section � Elicitation of candidate-candidate interaction � Use her/his professional (interlocutor) skills in

order to provide individualised supplementary tasks/opportunities

� Body languageIn terms of the principles of LOLA we would suggest that the different parts of speaking activities consist - at least - of 3 stages:

Phase one: warming up Phase two: interaction (dialogue)Phase three: long turn (monologue)

2.7. The gridsGeneral statement:

A formative speaking assessment grid differs in many ways from a summative (normative) one.

Learners enter the assessment knowing that the re-sults do not evaluate their skills in the traditional way of giving marks.

The formative assessment will not qualify their competences and link them directly to the CEFR-criteria and descriptors with the outcome of putting them into the CEFR-boxes as an A2, B1, B2 -speaker.

Candidates will not be left alone struggling with the task, but be guided by the interlocutor who plays a crucial role to help the candidate to show the best of his communicative competences.


2.8.2. Feedback on speaking for learners

Following the LOLA principle, the most important part is the information for the learners. Here we sug-gest a kind of “can do statements”: “You were able to show…

e.g. for COMMUNICATIVE EFFECTIVENESS

� how well, accurately and de-tailed you have completed the task

� how clearly organised you put your ideas across

e.g. for INTERACTION � how well you can hold a

conversation and respond to your partner’s ideas

e.g. for RANGE � how wide your range of voca-

bulary and structures is

e.g. for ACCURACY � how well you use the words and structures

e.g. for PRONUNCIATION � how well other people can understand you

2.8.3. Tips for study techniques

In the example taken from the AOC-Check, learn-ers receive detailed feedback including strategies they can use to take responsibility for their learning process.

Here are some extracts taken from the tips to improve their speaking skills: • Ask your teacher for

detailed feedback.• Get yourself talking.• Use the foreign

language also for group-work.

• Give your vocabulary and grammar a boost.

• Listen to songs, pod-casts, watch TV or You-tube (try to imitate an actor…).

• Record yourself (mo-bile phones, etc), then listen and check / correct your own pronunciation.

LOLA puts the responsibility of learning on the learners but teachers will support their learning pro-cess through coaching. Individual consultations on e.g. learning strategies will enhance the students’ speaking skills.

One of the aims of Learning Oriented Language As-sessments is to help students to become better learners.

2.9. Illustrations about reporting and LOLA-principle

Chart for students shown, when digitally analysed: The graph below shows how learners get feedback about their speaking competence when teachers put marks in for digital analyses (here for the CEFR-levels A1 to A2 and beyond):

Whatever form language assessment takes, class-room based or large scale standardized, the issue should be to provide feedback or evidence, support learning and reflect on teaching strategies and learn-ing strategies as shown in the graph.1)

1) adapted from: https://www.slideshare.net/eaquals/assessment-literacy-apr-14-fiona-barker, slide 51.


3. EXAMPLES OF APPROVED ASSESSMENT GRIDS FOR SPEAKING3.1. AOC-Grid - Levels: A1 - A2 and beyond1)

The objective of the AOC-Speaking Check is that the learners can show their communicative competence in a situational context, that means in a situation which should be as close, authentic and near their respective horizon of experiences as possible. The tasks also have some B1 elements which give way to describe also aspects of their speaking skills on the level beyond A2.The AOC-Speaking Check is carried out in pairs, takes only 7-8 minutes and comprises 3 parts: A) 1-2 min. Warming Up (small-talk between teacher and student), B) 1 min. Individual Monologue and C) 3 min. Talk between students (both based on tasks corresponding to the A2 - B1 level).

1) Austrian diagnostic check for young adults entering vocationnaly oriented schools


3.2. EOI-Grid - Level: B22)

At B2 level, students should avoid the following typical mistakes in every speaking test3):Very brief answers: I come from XY. (They should add more information)Listing things: I like the music, football…Not justifying your answers: Yes, I do.Using phrases without subject or predicate: Sweets, cakes, fish and meat.Talking about unrelated events or talking too much.Leaving your answers unfinished.The tasks are based on international recommandations for speaking tests (e.g. Cambridge FCE, ...)

2) EOI Quart de Poblet, València (Escuela Official de Idiomas) has developped the grid within a Erasmus+ project.3) See also Cambridge B2-speaking test


V.

CONCLUSIONS

Synergies: Intellectual Products How the project was designed

1. The portal

2. The guide book


SYNERGIES: INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTS (INTELLECTUAL OUTPUT) 1 AND 2

HOW THE PROJECT WAS DESIGNED

The EMECOE project, with its objectives, was designed to develop two products (Intellectual Output) to im-prove the oral skills of young adults and adult learners. The synergy between the two products makes the por-tal and the guide converge and contribute towards the same goal. Therefore, both focus on the effectiveness of the teaching of oral competence in the second language (L2).

Our project was born after analyzing the current situation of the teaching of oral proficiency in L2 in the cent-ers of the partners of the EMECOE project, specifically for levels A2, B1 and B2. Thanks to our research we have found that oral competence deserves the greatest attention in the foreign language learning process.

1. THE PORTAL

Thus, we wanted to create an educational portal, www.emecoe.eu, a platform where teach-ers could exchange their opinions on com-monly used teaching strategies, share ideas for speaking activities, and find practical information.

But, the portal is also a site on which learn-ers can find tandem partners of the same foreign language and level. The tele-tandem incorporated into the portal is a simple and effective tool that teachers can offer to their students.

Thanks to the online worksheets, which of-fer genuine support and prompts for speak-ing, students can interact in a stress-free environment (the teacher is no longer necessary) and embark on an adventure of oral communication.

The EMECOE portal is designed in a multilingual way to serve foreign language teachers as follows:

It is subdivided into 3 mini-webs, one in English, one in French and one in Spanish. On each of them one can find the same sections: home, KA2 (project pres-

entation), members, news, resources, contact and tele-tandem. In the «resources» category we can find all the elements and activities that can contribute to improving the teaching of oral competence. We have

also included the strategies commonly used in our in-stitutions to improve pronunciation, oral comprehen-sion and oral expression which proved to be efficient during the project’s duration

As we can see on the screenshot of the EMECOE web-page, there is a section dedicated to teacher self-as-sessment with regard to the anchoring of the levels A2, B1 and B2 according to the CEFR (see screenshot below).


Acquainting our colleagues with formative evaluation according to the LOLA (Learning Oriented Language Assessment) principle also plays an important role in the portal because one of the objectives we have set ourselves was to contribute to the professionalization of language teachers as evaluators.

The first section of the portal was the Tele-Tandem, developed mainly to facilitate oral interaction. Here speaking is triggered by means of interactive prompt cards.

We are convinced that the use of EMECOE’s Tele-tan-dem system will transcend the 3 project countries, or even the European area.

As for the training and dissemination of results, the portal served as a communication platform for the design of the respective programs and subsequently the output was made available to our colleagues in the partner countries..

2. THE GUIDEBOOK

In addition, we wanted to add to the contributions of the educational portal by developing a methodologi-cal guide that contains our reflections and provides a tool for improving the teaching of oral proficiency.

In this product, we reflect on : � teaching practices and mistakes to be avoided

and we present strategies that have proved ef-fective in the development of oral proficiency in adults during the testing period,

� the need to integrate professionalization into foreign language teaching and more specifical-ly into the use of oral competence, while taking into account the CEFR (anchoring of levels) and formative evaluation, according to the LOLA principle.

All the proposed procedures will reinforce the self-construction of learning and interactivity. This will promote ongoing professional development and col-laborative knowledge building.

The guide is innovative because its main objective is to take the hassle out of the acquisition of oral com-petence by presenting methodological guidelines

The expertise of the 4 partners of the project (EOI XÁTIVA and APEOICVA in Spain, VISION-CEBS in Austria and ELC in Poland) in the field of oral profi-ciency allowed us to reach our objective of designing an educational portal, including the writing of this teaching guide as a complementary component.


VI. BIBLIOGRAPHYBeau Dominique (2002), La boîte à outils du formateur, Éditions d’Organisation, ParisBoyer Henri et Michele Rivera « Introduction à la didactique du français langue étrangère » (Ed Clé International-

1979) Sous la direction d’André Rebouillet : Guide pédagogique pour le professeur de français langue étran-gère. (Librairie Hachette, 1971)

British Council | EAQUALS Core Inventory for General English (free download)Buzan Tony (2004), Booster sa mémoire, Paris, Editions d’Organisation.Buzan Tony (1999), Rusz głową, Łódź, Wydawnictwo RaviCadre européen commun de référence pour les langues(2001), Strasbourg, DidierCEBS-Wegweiser, (2018), AOC-Check English: Formative Beurteilung, autonomes Lernen, Kompetenzaufbau © CEBSCourtillon Janine (2003), Élaborer un cours de FLE, Paris, HachetteCuq Jean-Pierre (2003), (Dictionnaire de didactique du français langue étrangère et seconde, Paris, CLE Internatio-

nal, ASISIFLECuq Jean-Pierre, Gruca Isabelle (2002), Cours de didactique du français langue étrangère et seconde, PUG, GrenobleDelrue, A. 2012. Agir pour apprendre et apprendre pour agir : la pédagogie actionnelle au service de la motivation

des élèves. Mémoire. Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres. Ecole interne de l’Université d’Artois. Nord Pas de Calais. http://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-00735884 [consulté le 3 janvier 2015].

Karolak Wiesław, (2006) Mapping w twórczym rozwoju arteterapii, Łódź, Wydawnictwo WSHEMangiante Jean-Mars, Parpette Chantal (2004), Le français sur objectif spécifique : de l’analyse de besoins à l’élabo-

ration d’un cours, HachetteMacedonia, M. & Repetto, C. Why Your Body Can Jog Your Mind Frontiers in Psychology, March 2017, doi: 10.3389/

fpsyg.2017.00362Newby David, (1994) Grammar for communication, ÖBVPeretti de André (1991), Organiser des formations, Paris, HachettePuren, C. 2009. « La nouvelle perspective actionnelle et ses implications sur la conception des manuels de langue

». L’approche actionnelle dans l’enseignement des langues. Onze articles pour mieux comprendre et faire le point. Paris : Editions Maison des langues.

Puren Christian, Bertocchini Paola, Constanzo Edwige (1998), Se former en didactique des langues, Ellipses; Rebouillet André, sous la direction de ... (1971), Guide pédagogique pour le professeur de français langue

étrangère, Paris, HachetteRobert Jean-Michel, (2018) Typologies linguistiques et stratégies didactiques: Réduction et superposition, Éditions

universitaires européennes Santasusana Montserrat Vila, Castellà Josep (2014), Ensenar la competencia oral en clase Barcelona, GraóTagliante Christine (2005), L’évaluation et le Cadre européen commun, Paris, CLE International, Tardif Jacques, (1999) Le transfert des apprentissages. Montrél, les Éditions LogiquesVechi de G (2000), Aider les élèves à apprendre, Paris, HachetteWeiss F (2002), Jouer, communiquer, apprendre, Paris, HachetteWicke, R.E., (2004). Aktiv und kreativ lernen: projektorientierte Spracharbeit im Unterricht Deutsch als Fremds-

prache. Ismaning: Max Hueber Verlag.Yaiche Francis, (2002), Photos-expressions, Paris, HachetteRecommandation 2006/962/CE du Parlement européen et du Conseil, du 18 décembre 2006, sur les compétences

clés pour l’éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie [Journal officiel L 394 du 30.12.2006]

Picture credits:

p4, https://cashaa.com/roadmap.php, 6 https://blogs.mediapart.fr/christian-creseveur/blog/010618/feuille-de-route-digression, 8 1,2, CEBS, concours des langues, 9 1,2,3 : Fotolia, droits achetés,10 1,2 : EOI Xátiva, CEBS,11 1 : ELC, 2 : CEBS,16-18 CEBS-HR, 23,24 E. Pölzleitner, 29-31 VISION-HR, 32-33 EMECOE, 35 EMECOE, 37 EMECOE, 39-40 ELC, 41; APEOICVA, 44 ELC, 45-47 VISION-CEBS, 49 http://seduc.csdecou.qc.ca/taxonomie-de-bloom/jpg, 53 CEBS, Framework Plurilingualism – Designing and Implementing Plurilingual Oral Exams, p 9 (adapted), 55 Adapted from: https://www.slideshare.net/eaquals/assessnent-literacy-apr-14-fiona-barker, slide 51, 59 EMECOE, 60 EMECOE


VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSAt the end of September 2018, after many days and months of hard work, it is a great pleasure to present this work to you. It has come about thanks to the work carried out by 4 fantastic teams: teachers from 4 different institutions and 3 different European countries.

We would first like to thank all the partners and collaborators from the various different institutions who have worked towards accomplishing the EMECOE European project ...

in Spain:

Susan Ainslie AllenSakina Chakkor-L’Alami AztoutAlfredo Juan RodríguezClaudia Llopis MorenoJosé Luís Delgado de la MarinasDaniel Miralles SaézAndrés Raga ReinosoSara Sebastián ÁlvarezAlicia Ureña BenaventChristine Varillon TerrelSebastiana VenutoTamara Veselic Zlojutro

in Poland:Alina JaworskaAnna ZarmutekJustyna StrzelecBarbara KlimekCarlos Alonso HidalgoBarbara MuchaAlina WojaczekAleksandra ChrupałaMałgorzata BorysławskaDominika PieczkaBeata GałanUrszula JojkoManon CuppensJacek PradelaProf. Arkadiusz Rojczyk

in Austria:Gerda PiribauerIsabella GruberBelinda SteinhuberUte AtzlesbergerIsolde TauschitzUrsula Renner

and the whole team at CEBS for their efficient support throughout the survey stages, for the creation of interaction cards in the 5 different languages, for the assessment of the efficient strategies and for their constructive feedback during the drafting of the guide.

We would like to thank dr hab. prof.de Politechnika Śląska, Madame Beata Pituła, for welcoming us in the Foreign Language and social science department (Département des sciences sociales et des langues étrangères) at the Université de Technologie of Silésie in Gliwice.

A big thankyou to dr Małgorzata Borysławska for her help in organising the EMECOE seminar in Poland. Without her advice and personal investment this pro-ject would never have been carried out.

We would also like to thank the fantastic work carried out by all the coordinators in each country and for each country involved in the project. Thanks to their enthusiasm and their efforts, and also many hours spent in Skype meetings, they have been able to co-ordinate and bring together all the great ideas which have been enhanced and matured during the project

We would like to thank our colleague Elisabeth Pölzleitner - expert in neurolinguistics - for her valuable collaboration, and we would also like to thank Begoña Espejo Tort, professor at the Faculty of Psychology in Valencia for her advice regarding the drawing up of the surveys on Survey Monkey.

We would especially like to thank the National European Agency for enabling us to live this experi-ence and learning, the work carried out and the good practice exchanges. The products and especially the guide here in would have never seen the light of day had it not been for the opportunity given to us by the National Agency.

At the EOI in Xátiva, coordinating centre of the Euro-pean project, we would like to give special thanks to María Virginia Gandía Orts, headteacher, for her warm welcome and hard work in managing the project.

And, last but not least, we would like to thank all our colleagues without exception for their endurance and everlasting patience, for their words of encouragement and we especially would like to thank their families, without whom this task would have been infinitely harder..

Expand your experience and develop new ideas with NILE’s expert trainersShort courses, CELTA, Delta and MA for language teachers and trainers in the UK, overseas and online.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

www.nile-elt.com

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Expand your experience and develop new ideas with NILE’s expert trainersShort courses, CELTA, Delta and MA for language teachers and trainers in the UK, overseas and online.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

www.nile-elt.com

NILE A4 Landscape Portrait.indd 1 25/09/2018 13:14

Guide for efficient teaching of oral skills Foreign language learning among young adults and

adults in Europe

emecoeAsociación Estratégica para la Mejora de la Enseñanza de la

Comunicación Oral en Centros de Lenguas Europeos

for efficient teaching of oral skills - EMECOE

Documents

Transcript of for efficient teaching of oral skills - EMECOE