International SIG Meeting

Update

• The programme is already available.
• Remember to connect to this Google Meet room to attend the International SIG Meeting.

Description

The research project "Making the CEFR/CV more user-friendly: fine-tuning descriptors with Learner Corpus Research (LCR) results" (Grant PID2020-117041GA-I00, funded MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) organizes an international SIG Meeting on the use of the CEFR descriptors in the learning, teaching and assessment of languages and the results obtained. Special attention will be paid to CEFR descriptors supplemented with learner language information obtained thanks to Learner Corpus Research. This hybrid workshop will take place at the University of Jaén (Spain) on 26th April 2024 in a hybrid format (face-to-face and online via GMeet).

As the literature shows, the CEFR has had a pronounced impact on language testing (Little, 2007; Figueras, 2012; Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2018; Díez-Bedmar & Luque-Agulló, 2023) and on language learning/teaching, as seen in the changes implemented in textbooks and in national curricula in Europe and beyond. However, teachers struggle to evaluate learners' communicative use of the language by using CEFR descriptors and the imposed grading system in each language teaching/testing context. Furthermore, learners, teachers, and testers report encountering difficulties when approaching the can-do descriptors (Díez-Bedmar & Agulló, 2023: Agulló & Díez-Bedmar, 2023), which encapsulate information on the communicative language activities that the learners can do with the language at their disposal, as they acquire it and progress up the CEFR levels. Further specifications of the language expected when putting into practice the communicative language activities in learning, teaching, and testing situations are demanded by end-users so that the CEFR descriptors are efficiently used. Therefore, fine-tuned CEFR descriptors (Díez-Bedmar, 2018), i.e.,descriptors which are supplemented with LCR results regarding the language produced in communicative language activities at different CEFR levels may be an option to facilitate the implementation of descriptors in the learning, teaching, and assessment of languages.

Therefore, this international SIG Meeting aims to be a forum in which researchers, teachers, testers, and materials writers may discuss:

a) the findings obtained when implementing descriptors in the learning, teaching, and assessment of languages;

b) the LCR methodology employed to fine-tune the descriptors; and

c) the results obtained when piloting fine-tuned descriptors in the learning, teaching or evaluation of languages.

Call for presentations / participation

We invite contributions on the topics above. Abstracts, written in English, should be between 500 and 600 words (excluding references) and are expected to include a brief literature review. If the CEFR descriptors have been implemented in the learning, teaching or assessing of languages, abstracts should indicate the methodology employed to obtain the results of such implementation as well as preliminary results. If descriptors have been fine-tuned with LCR results, abstracts should a) clearly state the methodology employed to do so; b) illustrate the fine-tuned descriptors; c) if the fine-tuned descriptors have been piloted, describe the context, methodology and results.

Proposals should include the title, name of the author(s), affiliation of the author(s), and type of presentation (face-to-face or online), if accepted. Proposals should be submitted here before April, 1st . Notification of acceptance will be provided by April 10th.

Fees

Attendance and participation is free, but registration is required here before April, 14th. Face-to-face participation/attendance is possible until full capacity.

Programme

The SIG Meeting will take place on April, 26th. The final programme will be published on the webpage of the project https://web.ujaen.es/investiga/finedesc/index.php by April, 15th.

Invited speakers

• Brian North (CEFR co-author)
• Neus Figueras (Departament d'Educació, Generalitat de Catalunya)

Organizing committee

• María Belén Díez Bedmar (University of Jaén)
• Gloria Luque Agulló (University of Jaén)
• María del Carmen Méndez García (University of Jaén)
• Arturo Montejo Ráez (University of Jaén)

Contact: María Belén Díez Bedmar (belendb at ujaen dot es)

Scientific committee

• Marisa Carrió Pastor (Universitat Politècnica de València)
• María Belén Díez Bedmar (Universidad de Jaén)
• Neus Figueras Casanovas (Departament d'Educació, Generalitat de Catalunya)
• Natalia Judith Laso Martín (Universitat de Barcelona)
• Gloria Luque Agulló (Universidad de Jaén)
• Carmen Maíz Arévalo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
• María del Carmen Méndez García (Universidad de Jaén)
• Jennifer Thewissen (University of Antwerp)

Grant PID2020-117041GA-I00, funded MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033