It's a tradition of ours that English is designated as the 'first foreign language'. In recent years, we've grown accustomed to the idea that other languages are needed and important: French, Spanish, German, Italian, and an international certificate in them is not at all useless. But in Europe, where until recently the range of 'second' languages was also mostly limited to the aforementioned five, it is now believed that the study of any language, even the little-used Basque or Welsh, should be approached with all seriousness. After all, this promotes 'the movement of people and ideas' that the Council of Europe advocates for, as well as cooperation and mutual understanding between different peoples. And from a more down-to-earth perspective, in connection with this very movement, it is necessary that knowledge be assessed soberly and that language qualifications obtained in different European Union countries be comparable.
Therefore, various national and international organizations are paying so much attention to developing common criteria for assessing language knowledge. The Council of Europe, the ALTE association, universities, methodological associations, and examination boards of European countries are working on this. After all, on the one hand, you cannot lump all languages together—the differences are too great. On the other hand, every certificate issued must correspond to a certain level of knowledge, regardless of which language the exam was taken in.
There is no limit to perfection
Actually, the boom in foreign language learning did not start yesterday, but back in the 60s and 70s of the last century. It was then that the first standards were developed: first for English, then for French. Over the decades, the system of levels was improved, broken down, and applied to an increasing number of languages. In 1990, ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) was created, which today includes organizations from 24 countries. ALTE develops a six-level scale of examination standards for 24 languages. These are Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Welsh.
As is easy to see, this list does not fully correspond to the list of official languages of the European Union, let alone include all the languages of Europe. Those left out follow another scale – the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), also six-level. It was created by the Council of Europe based on the previous one, which consisted of only three levels – Waystage, Threshold, and Vantage (some places still use the old names). Let us emphasize that we are talking about exams, not about the teaching levels of language schools - there their number may not coincide, varying from three to twelve.
The existence of a coherent system of assessments does not mean that a system of tests corresponding to each level has already been developed throughout Europe. Only English and German can perhaps boast of this. In other countries, work is literally in full swing to improve the examination system. And today we will not be talking about the traditional IELTS, DALF, DELE, and the 'lineup' of the Goethe Institute. But about exams in those European languages that are still considered 'rare' and are not a recognized means of international communication. Although, perhaps, through the efforts of examination boards, the situation may someday change.
How tests are structured
Most tests for international exams, especially the higher levels, which are the only ones that count when entering university or finding a job, have approximately the same structure regardless of the language. All language skills are tested: listening comprehension, reading, writing, and – with few exceptions – speaking. Accordingly, the exam consists of an interview, listening to a text with comprehension exercises, reading a text, again with comprehension exercises, and a short written assignment. Naturally, the content of the tests is updated every year. The texts and topics for the interview and written assignment are chosen to be the most topical. For reading and listening comprehension, fragments of TV and radio programs, newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, reference books, and contemporary literature are used. Factors such as the level of language difficulty, lexical richness, suitability of the material for demonstrating certain skills and abilities, relevance of the topic, and sometimes also country-specific, sociocultural components are taken into account.
It is clear that with such an exam structure, one cannot rely on luck: the tests cover knowledge of the language as a whole, and there is no hope that you will come across exactly the grammatical rule you know. Asking about rules is even not yesterday's, but the day before yesterday's approach; no one will do that anymore.
For applicants in some countries, there are separate tests that are outside the level scale. But most often, one of the exams at the highest level is counted.
By countries and peoples
Norwegian. The University Studieforbundet Folkeuniversitetet and the University of Bergen, which have been cooperating since 1990, decided in 2000 to formalize their cooperation and created the 'Examination Consortium for the Norwegian Language'. Since the autumn of 2005, the consortium has offered three official exams that test language knowledge and communication skills. The Department of Scandinavian Languages at the University of Bergen is responsible for composing the tests and evaluating the results.
Portuguese. The University of Lisbon was one of the founding members of ALTE in 1990. And in 1998, the Examination Center for Portuguese as a Foreign Language (CAPLE) was organized in the country, which today represents the University of Lisbon in ALTE. CAPLE's competence includes conducting and evaluating exams, composing examination tests, training examiners, and assisting examinees.
As of today, Portuguese exams are taken at five levels: beginner – CIPLE; elementary - DEPLE; intermediate - DIPLE; advanced - DAPLE and "university", i.e., fluent level - DUPLE. But CAPLE doesn't want to stop there and is developing a number of additional exams.
Irish. Irish, or Gaelic, along with English, is the official language of the Republic of Ireland. The role of the examination board for Gaelic is performed by the Maynooth Language Centre of the National University of Ireland. Exams in Gaelic as a foreign language for adults (Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, TEG) were introduced in 2005. They are taken at four levels corresponding to levels A1, A2, B1 and B2 on the CEFR scale. All four exams are taken once a year at the National University of Ireland. Although, honestly, on the Emerald Isle a foreigner can get along perfectly well without Gaelic, with English alone. Alas, the Irish themselves do not have a strong command of their native language.
Finnish. In Finland, the exam in Finnish for foreigners is administered exactly the same as foreign language exams for Finns. Those who pass receive Yleiset kielitutkinnot – the National Certificate of Language Proficiency. This examination system came into effect in November 1994 and includes three levels: Perustaso (basic), Keskitaso (intermediate), Ylintaso (advanced). However, the certificates assess language proficiency on a six-level scale corresponding to the ALTE scale. Finnish knowledge can be tested at more than 100 examination centers throughout Finland twice a year – in November and April.
Greek. Greece has everything, except a well-developed system of tests in Greek as a foreign language. Previously, the Greek exam (Veveosi Elinomathias) was taken only by applicants wishing to study at the University of Athens. Its level only roughly corresponded to the Threshold level. Today this exam has been improved and brought closer to the necessary requirements of that level. Last year, experimental tests were launched at the Waystage and ALTE 5 levels. They will be administered this year as well – in revised and expanded form. The first is intended for 'exchange students' arriving under the ERASMUS program who do not know Greek. The second is for individuals who already have a good command of the language and wish to teach Greek as a foreign language in their home country. However, unlike Veveosi Elinomathias, both new exams may only be taken by those who have attended the relevant courses at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens.
Latvian. LLTALC – that very 'citizenship' exam that frightens 'non-citizens' who have lived their entire lives in Latvia and have not bothered to learn its language – corresponds to just level 2 on the ALTE scale, and to PET on the Cambridge system. Let us recall that the PET certificate is the second level in difficulty and in Britain is good only for hanging on the wall. Nevertheless, in Latvia they believe that a foreigner who successfully passes the LLTALC 'fits' them: with such knowledge they can communicate normally and easily integrate into Latvian society. By the way, the Cambridge examination board UCLES actively assisted the methodologists of the Latvian Naturalization Board in developing the test structure.
Luxembourgish. Did you know that about a third of Luxembourg's population are immigrants, and Luxembourgish is among the three official languages? So there are people to test and things to test. Certificates in Luxembourgish are issued by the Luxembourg Language Centre (Centre de Langues Luxembourg, CLL), exams are held twice a year. The distinguishing feature of tests in this language is that they have a modular structure. One can choose one or two components from three (reading, writing, speaking and listening) or take different parts at different levels. This does not apply to IDL, however – there all skills are tested.
Well, let's stop here before the reader gets completely confused by the languages and levels. We will tell about the examination systems of other European and non-European countries in the next issues.