Unified tertiary level ESP exams in the Baltic states

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Unified tertiary level ESP exams in the Baltic
states

• Pille Rückenberg
• Tallinn University of Technology
• 14-15 Oct. 2004

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QALSPELL

• Quality Assurance in Language for Specific
  Purposes

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QALSPELL project Aims, the target
audience, partners Unified tertiary level ESP
examination Reading Listening Writing Speakin
g Results Dissemination activities
Applications
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What is QALSPELL?

• It is a two-year European-funded project under
  the Leonardo da Vinci programme
• It involves universities, higher educational
  institutions, educational authorities and
  companies from 5 European countries

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Aims

• to establish unified skills-based tertiary level
  LSP examination requirements and assessment
  criteria
• to provide employers with the tools for
  identifying the employees specific foreign
  language needs and assess their foreign language
  knowledge and skills

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Countries

• Estonia
• Germany
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• United Kingdom

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Partners

• ESTONIA
• Tallinn University of Technology
• Estonian Information Technology College
• Public Service Academy
• AS Tallinna Küte

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Partners

• LATVIA
• Riga Technical University
• Ventspils University College

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Partners

• LITHUANIA
• University of Vilnius
• Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
• Kaunas University of Technology

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Partners

• UNITED KINGDOM
• University of Surrey Roehampton
• GERMANY
• Dresden University of Technology

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Unified ESP examination

• Reading
• Listening
• Writing
• Speaking

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Reading

• Matching headlines or short summaries with
  paragraphs
• True/false statements with evidence
• Matching words with their explanations

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Listening

• Listening for gist (two 4- minute tasks)
• Listening for detail (two 3- minute tasks)

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Writing

• Argumentative essay
• 250 words
• 45 minutes

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Speaking

• Structured monologue
• (23 minutes)
• Interview or role-play
• (14 minutes)

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Results

• Unified skills-based tertiary level LSP
  examination requirements and assessment criteria
• Handbook of general specifications for unified
  tertiary level LSP examinations for students and
  educational decision-makers

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Results

• Needs analysis questionnaires
• Foreign language proficiency sample tests
• Website

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Dissemination activities

• Publications (articles, needs analysis
  questionnaires, reports) in journals, newsletters
  and publications of the proceedings of
  conferences
• Presentations, joint presentations, plenary
  presentations at international conferences,
  workshops, seminars in the Baltic states as well
  as in Finland, Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Spain

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Applications today

• providing any higher educational establishment
  with general specifications and sample tasks for
  creating a unified ESP exam which would meet the
  needs of this particular establishment (applied
  by the partner organisations of the project)

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Applications today

• providing the needs analysis questionnaires and
  assessment criteria for unified tertiary level
  ESP exams (used by the partner organisations of
  the project)

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Applications in the future

• Reliable basis and framework for creating unified
  tertiary level ESP exams for higher educational
  institutions with quality assurance and
  credibility as based on CEF

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Applications in the future

• Handbook available for teachers, students and
  educational decision makers who will be creating,
  performing and assessing the tasks of unified ESP
  exams or making decisions

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Applications in the future

• Providing the basis for employers for identifying
  and assessing the level of employees specific
  foreign language needs and skills (it may become
  a pre-requisite for recruitment if necessary)

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www.qalspell.ttu.ee
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?
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Thank you!