English » National Foreign Language Exam System (KPG)

National Foreign Language Exam System (KPG)

 

 

DIFFERENTIATED AND GRADED NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE EXAMS (2010-2013)

The main aim of the new project in support of the KPG exams, with a 3.500.000 grant from the European Social Fund and the Greek state, is to develop graded pen-and-paper exams for the three basic levels of language competence (i.e. 1. Basic User Level –the graded A level exam; 2. Autonomous User level –the graded B level exam; 3. Proficient User – the graded C level exam). It also aims at introducing ICT in the exam system in two ways: (1) to develop an e-test generator and e-test item banks in all the KPG languages, and (2) to create an e-learning platform through which to offer distance learning and training opportunities to KPG examiners and script evaluators.

The new project, which has just begun, and is planned to be completed in 2013, also aims to facilitate the exams in one of KPG’s new languages, Spanish, as well as the most recent KPG language to be introduced –a neighbouring language of Greece: Turkish.

Another important goal of the new project is to link the KPG exams with the mainstream educational system and make it possible to offer exam preparation classes in school.

Subprojects 07 and 08 : Turkish language

Subproject 07: Differentiated, graded and adaptive Turkish language exams. The goal of this subproject is to a) develop conventional (‘pen and paper’) graded Turkish language exams for two language levels, and b) develop graded and adaptive Turkish language exams in e-test format.

Subproject 08: Developing an Assessor’s Registry and training the Turkish language assessors. This subproject aims to a) select and train new oral examiners and script raters to be included in the Assessors’ Registry, b) develop e-learning and distance learning materials for the distance and life-long training of the assessors, and c) create an e-learning platform for the distance and life-long training of the oral examiners and script raters. This includes conducting ‘webminars’ and operating a help desk.

 

The Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, in conformity with the relevant decision of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, is responsible for the KPG exams of Turkish since November 2009. See Past Papers and Examiner Training.

Responsible Professor: Eleni Sella elesella[at]turkmas.uoa[dot]gr


 

The project entitled “Differentiated and Graded National Foreign Language Exams” (with the Greek acronym DiaPEG) seeks to the support and further develop the KPG exam system. It extends and builds on the products and services produced as a result of another funded project (with the Greek acronym SAPiG), which was completed in 2008.

 

The present project, co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Greek state, through the operational programme entitled Education and Lifelong Learning, is implemented by the University of Athens in partnership with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and in collaboration with the Computer Technology Institute of the University of Patras. At the University of Athens, DiaPEG it is realized by the Research Centre for English Language Teaching, Testing and Assessment of the Faculty of English Studies (http://rcel.enl.uoa.gr).

 

Its aims, in brief, are the following:

 

·         To develop further  the KPG exam system to include:

 

  1. differentiated exams which cater to the needs of candidates of different age groups, candidates with special needs, etc.

  2. graded ‘pen an paper’ exams for the three basic levels of language competence, i.e. 1) the graded A level exam, corresponding to the Basic User Level, 2) the graded B level exam, corresponding to the Autonomous User level and 3) the graded C level exam, corresponding to the Proficient User

  3. graded e-tests, which will also be adaptive, for all levels of language competence (on the scale of the Council of Europe)

  4. exams in two additional levels of language competence for the most recently introduced language in the KPG system, Turkish.

 

  • To make use of ICT to develop e-tests in all the KPG languages for off and/or on-line use and to offer distance learning and training opportunities to KPG examiners and script raters of all the KPG languages.

  • To link the KPG exams with the compulsory education system, offering primary and secondary education students opportunities for KPG exam preparation in school.

  • To systematically disseminate information about the KPG exams  to the general public and to special interest groups

  • To evaluate and assess the quality of the system through internal and external procedures which have as an important point of reference the degree to which the KPG exams respond to the goals of the European Commission in supporting multilingualism and developing intercultural awareness.

 

There are in total 18 subprojects, 11 of which are being realized by the University of Athens as described below:

 

  • Subproject 01: Differentiated, graded and adaptive English language exams. The goal of this subproject is to a) develop sample tests for the graded B (B1/B2) and C (C1/C2) level English language exams, b) enrich the already existing test item bank with conventional (‘pen and paper’) differentiated and graded English language exams, c) develop an e-test item bank with graded English language e-tests and d) develop adaptive, graded e-tests for the English language.

  • Subproject 02: Training the assessors and developing materials for the distance training of the English language examiners. This subproject aims to a) train the assessors, i.e., the oral examiners and the script raters, who belong to the Ministry’s KPG Assessors’ Registry, for the needs of the ‘pen and paper’ graded exams, b) train the new assessors, i.e., the potential oral examiners and script raters, who have applied for the post and are waitingto be trained, c) train the trainers of the oral examiners, the coordinators and trainers of the script raters and the observers of the oral exam procedures, d) develop e-learning and distance learning materials for the distance and life-long training of the assessors, and e) collaborate with EAITY to create an e-learning platform for the distance and life-long training of the oral examiners and script raters. This includes conducting ‘webminars’ and operating a help desk.

  • Subproject 03: Differentiated, graded and adaptive German language exams. The goal of this subproject is to a) develop sample tests for the graded B (B1/B2) and C (C1/C2) level German language exams, b) develop conventional (‘pen and paper’) differentiated and graded German language exams, c) developgraded German language exams in ‘pen and paper’ and e-test  format, and d) develop adaptive, graded German language exams.

  • Subproject 04: Training the new assessors and developing materials for the distance training of the German language examiners. This subproject aims to a) train the assessors, i.e., the oral examiners and the script raters, who belong to the Ministry’s KPG Assessors’ Registry, for the needs of the ‘pen and paper’ graded exams, b) train the trainers of the oral examiners, c) develop e-learning and distance learning materials for the distance and life-long training of the assessors, and d) create an e-learning platform for the distance and life-long training of the oral examiners and script raters. This includes conducting ‘webminars’ and operating a help desk.

  • Subproject 05: Differentiated, graded and adaptive Spanish language exams. The goal of this subproject is to a) develop sample tests for the graded A (A1/A2), B (B1/B2) and C (C1/C2) level Spanish language exams, b) develop conventional (‘pen and paper’) graded Spanish language exams for all language levels, and c) develop graded and adaptive Spanish language exams in e-test format.

  • Subproject 06: Developing an Assessor’s Registry and training the Spanish language assessors. This subproject aims to a) select new oral examiners and script raters to be included in the Assessors’ Registry, b) train the oral examiners for the needs of the ‘pen and paper’ graded exams, c) develop e-learning and distance learning materials for the distance and life-long training of the assessors, and d) create an e-learning platform for the distance and life-long training of the oral examiners and script raters. This includes conducting ‘webminars’ and operating a help desk.

  • Subproject 07: Differentiated, graded and adaptive Turkish language exams. The goal of this subproject is to a) develop conventional (‘pen and paper’) graded Turkish language exams for two language levels, and c) develop graded and adaptive Turkish language exams in e-test format.

  • Subproject 08: Developing an Assessor’s Registry and training the Turkish language assessors. This subproject aims to a) select and train new oral examiners and script raters to be included in the Assessors’ Registry, b) develop e-learning and distance learning materials for the distance and life-long training of the assessors, and c) create an e-learning platform for the distance and life-long training of the oral examiners and script raters. This includes conducting ‘webminars’ and operating a help desk.

  • Subproject 09: Promotion of the innovative actions of the KPG exam system. The main goal through this subproject is to a) develop a coherent communication/ advertising plan to promote the KPG exams system to the education community, b) prepare and write the contents of the promotion leaflets, posters, and general advertising materials and c) organize, together with the other collaborating bodies, two conferences addressed to the education community. The advertising campaign to promote the KPG exams system to public institutions, organizations and the labour market will be organized and run by an external contractor, who will be selected through a tendering procedure.

  • Subproject 10: Linking the English, German and Spanish KPG language exams with the state compulsoryeducation system. The main goal of this action is to give primary and secondary school students the opportunity to prepare, in school, for The KPG Exams
    , German and Spanish. The final     outcome is the presentation of a ‘Uniform KPG exam preparation programme’. This is realized through the following actions: a) the development of separate KPG exam preparation syllabi and teaching guidelines for each language (English, German and Spanish) to be used in primary and secondary schools interested in the project, b) the preparation of materials for the development of the candidates’ test-taking strategies in all four tests of each exam battery for each language, c) the design and implementation of a KPG exam preparation piloting phase, within specific time schedules for each language, using the designed syllabi and materials, d) the development of materials by the participating teachers of each language, who will be trained through specially designed seminars and webminars, and the evaluation and feedback from the students, e) the writing of material specifications reflecting the linguistic and pedagogical approach of the KPG exam system, to assist the preparation and publication of relevant course books, and f) the study of student participation in the exams.   

  • Subproject 11:  Project coordination with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and EAITY. The main aim of this subproject is the coordination of the actions undertaken by the three collaborating bodies implementing the project, namely the University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki andthe Computer Technology Institute of the University of Patras (EAITY). This includes a) overseeing the smooth implementation of the assigned actions, b) monitoring the project’s compliance with the internal control and quality assurance mechanisms and c) undertaking the financial arrangements concerning the subprojects of the University of Athens.

 

The 7 subprojects that are being realized by the University of Thessaloniki belong to two distinct groups. The first one includes the subprojects 12, 13, 14 and 15, all aiming at developing measurement instruments or offering in-service training to language teachers involved in oral or written KPG exams. The distinctive feature of the first group is the linkage of each subproject to a single language certification, namely French (12 and 13) or Italian (14 and 15). The second group comprises subprojects 16, 17 and 18, having to do with more than one language. Here is brief description of Thessaloniki University subprojects:

 

  • Subproject 12:Differentiated, graded and adaptive French language exams. The main goals of this subproject are to a) develop specifications as well as sample tests for the graded B (B1/B2) and C (C1/C2) level French language exams, b) prepare 7 sets of exam papers (measuring instruments) respecting the above specifications and to be used in exam centresall over the country by a big sample of examiners and examinees, c) develop criteria and grids for assessing written and oral production ability as well as mediation ability, d) enrich the existing pen and paper item bank, e) develop specifications for on-line French language use assessment, f) create an e-test item bank and g) develop adaptive, graded e-tests for the French language.

  • Subproject 13: Training the assessors and developing materials for the distance training of the French language examiners. This subproject has 5 main objectives. They are the same as those described in subproject 02 that is being realized by the University of Athens.

  • Subproject 14: Differentiated, graded and adaptive Italian language exams. The description of the subproject 12 above also applies to the present one. The only difference regards the target language.

  • Subproject 15: Training the assessors and developing materials for the distance training of the Italian language examiners. See description of subproject 02.

  • Subproject 16: External evaluation of the KPG certification system. The present subproject aims as obtaining feedback for examiners, examinees and the work market. It also aims at establishing procedures for constant quality insurance, with the help of external evaluators of international recognition. More specifically,  the goals are to: a) measure the face validity of the system, i.e. the degree of acceptance of the system as valid and reliable by the users (language teachers, examinees, employers, academic staff), b) compare the quality of the system to that of other systems present in the language certification market in Greece, c) estimate the washback effect of the system, i.e. the degree of positive or negative influence it has on language teaching and learning in Greece, d) control other types of validity of the system, such as construct validity, content validity and scoring validity.

  • Subproject 17: Linking the French and Italian KPG language exams with the state compulsory education system. The main goal of this action is to give primary (only for the French language) and secondary (for both languages: French and Italian) school students the opportunity to prepare, in school, for the KPG exams. The final outcome is the presentation of a ‘Uniform KPG exam preparation programme’. This is realized through the following main actions: a) the development of separate KPG exam preparation syllabi and teaching guide­lines for each language, b) the preparation of materials for the develop­ment of the candidates’ test-taking strategies in all four parts/modules of the exam, c) the design and implementation of a KPG exam preparation piloting phase, d) the development of materials by the participating teachers of each language, who will be trained through seminars and webminars.  

  • Subproject 18:  Project coordination with the University of Athens and EAITY. The main aim of this subproject is the coordination of the actions undertaken by the three collaborating bodies implementing the project, namely the University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Computer Technology Institute of the University of Patras (EAITY).