Choosing language competence descriptors for language assessment: Validity and fairness issues

Abstract

n language assessment, can one set of language competence descriptors be used regardless of the mandate and the context of the language test being developed and used? This article addresses the complex issue of fairness in favoring a set of guidelines, namely the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), in the development of language tests. In many educational and language assessment contexts outside of the EU, the Framework is being used without a thorough understanding of the mandate and the context in which they have been developed and used. Taking as references the Framework, the “Canadian Language Benchmarks” (CLB) and the “ACTFL guidelines” (‘American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language’ guidelines), this paper argues that while the core competence in language skills is almost identical among these descriptors, the political, social, and cultural implications of the purpose and the agencies behind their development are quite different. The very notion of multiculturalism on which each of these guidelines is built differs greatly. Guidelines descriptors are deeply rooted in the realpolitik of the context in which they are used. They are developed and sponsored by governments to serve a social, cultural, political and linguistic mandate within a very precise geopolitical region. Furthermore, economics and the philosophy of education within each context play a major role in the making and the objectives of these guidelines