Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP)

The Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP) is a public institute of the French Ministry of Education. It contributes to the promotion of French abroad as an international language of communication and schooling. As such, it leads audits and expertise missions, both in France and abroad.

The Département évaluation et certifications has developed the Test de Connaissance du français with several versions (general French, Quebec specific, international relations) and twelve exams which include qualifications in general French both for adults and schoolchildren (DELF DALF), vocational French (DELF Pro), French for young learners (DELF Prim), and for immigrants (DILF).

The CIEP also works closely with the Council of Europe. It has for example organised a benchmarking seminar in 5 languages in cooperation with ALTE partners. These samples of spoken performances from teenagers, illustrating the 6 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), can be seen on http://www.ciep.fr/publi_evalcert/index.php . The CIEP has also introduced international certifications in the secondary school system to promote the CEFR. Furthermore, the CIEP has helped several European countries to develop their French exams.

The CIEP is proud to bring its expertise to the development of the European Survey on Language Competences. It is one of the many ways in which it contributes to the development of international cooperation in education.

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Gallup Europe

Gallup Europe is a research-based consultancy in applied behavioural economics that helps leaders from business, government and society to improve organisational performance. Gallup has been operating in Europe since 1937.

Gallup plays a leading role in high-profile projects, many of which have covered all the languages, language variants, countries and regions of Europe. Examples include the Flash Eurobarometer surveys for the European Commission, the EU Minorities and Discrimination surveys (EU-MIDIS) for the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS).

In the Flash Eurobarometer polls alone, Gallup has conducted approximately 1.5 million interviews: over 1 million with the general public and half that number with specific target groups. The latter interviews have included institutions, including schools and special populations like teachers and students. Gallup’s leading-edge centralised Internet-based infrastructure covers every NUTS2 region of the 27 EU member states. Experts working on complex evaluation designs have brainstormed a robust system of translation and validation infrastructure that delivers the results from EU-wide surveys in a matter of weeks and to the highest quality standards. Gallup also brings to the project its experience in the field of educational measurement, having designed and executed thousands of student tests and hundreds of school evaluation projects, and developed systems to track value-added educational measures at classroom, school and city levels. The project also benefits from Gallup’s strengths, knowledge and technical ability in relation to sample design, including that of PISA. Gallup’s team is lead by Robert Manchin, professor at College of Europe (Bruges) and former Vice President and Executive Director of the Gallup International Research and Education Centre (GIREC).

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Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s cultural institution, operational worldwide. It promotes the study of German abroad and encourages international cultural exchange. It also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on its culture, society and politics. With the network of Goethe-Instituts, Goethe-Centres, cultural societies, reading rooms and language centres, Goethe has played a central role in the cultural and educational policies of Germany for over 50 years. The Goethe-Institut works on the principle of dialogue and partnership, offering support to all those actively involved with Germany and its language and culture. It is an autonomous body and politically independent.

The Goethe-Institut contributes to the SurveyLang project with its rich and extensive experience. Since 1999, Goethe has been offering exams at levels A1, A2 and B1 specifically designed for young students of German. It has gained special know-how in modern communication technologies applied in language testing, e.g. CommuniCat and BULATS. Moreover, the Goethe-Institut has established cooperation with over 1000 schools as centres of German as a foreign language learning around the globe. In 2009, more than 3300 young students of German are attending one of the 49 language courses offered by the Goethe-Institut in Germany. The Goethe-Institut is also engaged in curriculum-design and policy-making in close collaboration with its international partners.

Participating in SurveyLang can be seen almost as a natural consequence of being engaged in the above mentioned projects. Furthermore, this high-ranking project will enhance competence through international cooperation and entail transfer of expertise between the SurveyLang Partners.

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Instituto Cervantes

The Instituto Cervantes is a state organisation created by the Spanish Parliament in 1991 under the auspices of the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores for the promotion of the Spanish language and for the diffusion of Spanish and Hispano-American culture. The centres of the Instituto are now located all over the world. Among its aims are: to organize general and specialised Spanish courses and courses in the co-official languages in Spain; to issue, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science, Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) and to organize the diploma examinations; to offer up to date teacher training; to support the work of scholars of Spanish; to participate in programs for the dissemination of the Spanish language and to carry out cultural activities in collaboration with other Spanish and Hispano-American organisations.

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Cito

Cito is a leading testing and assessment company based in the Netherlands. Measuring and monitoring human potential has been its core competence since 1968 when it was founded by the Dutch Government as a national institute for educational measurement. It became fully privatised in 1999. At present Cito has two subsidiary companies: one in Germany (Cito Deutschland GmbH) and in the USA (Cito USA Inc.). CITO works for educational institutions, governments and companies, with learning performance and performance in the workplace as its focal points. Its work builds on the latest developments in ICT and Psychometric research. Cito consultants have already worked together with the examination- and assessment centres of ministries in 30 countries. They have helped to make education in these countries more accessible and have built up test expertise.

CITO has extensive expertise in the construction, design, delivery and analysis of questionnaires, having previously worked on other significant international contextual Questionnaires, such as PISA (OECD, 2008), TIMSS and PIRLS (IEA, 2008). Their wealth of knowledge and experience has now been brought to the development of the Questionnaires for the European Survey on Language Competences.

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University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations

The University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) is a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge. More than two million people a year in 130 countries take its world-leading range of certificated exams for learners of English. Exams include qualifications in general English, business and academic English, legal and financial English, and English for young learners, as well as qualifications for language teachers. Cambridge ESOL exams are supported by the largest dedicated research team of any UK-based provider of English language assessment.

Cambridge ESOL advises governments and other agencies around the world on language assessment for education, immigration and economic development. Cambridge ESOL is at the heart of the latest thinking about language assessment. It is a founding member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), and is also involved in the further development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) through its work as a core member of the English Profile project.

Cambridge ESOL contributes its extensive experience of language assessment and research to the project through its roles as the team developing the English Language Tests, coordinating partner of the language test development group and coordinating project management partner of SurveyLang. Cambridge ESOL is excited to be involved in the development of such an ambitious project that will deliver fascinating data through this, the first survey of its kind, which will contribute to European policy on language learning, teaching and assessment.

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Universidad de Salamanca

The University of Salamanca, which is considered the oldest and most prestigious of the existing Spanish universities, was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX of Leon. Cursos Internacionales is a department of the University founded in 1929, since then more than 150,000 foreign students from all over the world have come to Salamanca to gain some or more insight into Spanish language and culture. Particularly in the last several decades, these students and teachers, yearning to improve their knowledge of Spanish or to study the theory and practice of Spanish teaching and assessment in greater depth, have found that this is the place to come.

Cursos Internacionales issued its own Diplomas in Spanish until in 1991, when an agreement made with the Spanish Ministry for Education involved the University in developing, setting, marking and evaluating the tests for the official Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE). Today, the University of Salamanca works jointly with the Instituto Cervantes in the creation and scoring of the DELE (Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language) exams. More than 45.000 people a year in 100 countries take its world-leading range of certificated exams for learners of Spanish, Exams include qualifications in general Spanish, (DELES) and business Spanish (BULATS). Through its Cursos Internacionales, the University of Salamanca is a founding member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).

Cursos Internacionales is a member partner of the language test development group in Surveylang and it contributes with its extensive experience of language assessment and research to the project. Cursos Internacionales is excited to be involved in the development of such an ambitious project, the first survey of its kind, which will contribute to European policy on language learning, teaching and assessment.

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Centro per la Valutazione e la Certificazione linguistica dell'Universita' per Stranieri di Perugia

The "Centro per la Valutazione e la Certificazione Linguistica"(CVCL) is a Research Centre of the "Università per Stranieri di Perugia", the oldest and most prestigious Italian institution involved in teaching and research activities and the dissemination of the Italian language and civilisation all over the world. CVCL is responsible for the production and administration of the CELI certificates for general Italian and the CIC for business Italian. The CELI Exams are aimed at different users: adults, young learners and immigrants with poor schooling. CVCL assures the application of quality standards required in the field of language testing. More than 12.000 students a year, in more than 200 Examination centres all over the word, take the CVCL exams.

CVCL participates in teacher training for the assessment of Italian language proficiency; contributes to research on language testing and assessment in relation to the Italian language and specifically in relation to the last two roles, the contribution of the CVCL in promoting and introducing in the Italian educational context a professional approach to the assessment of language proficiency has been extremely significant. CVCL is a founding member of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), and is also involved in the further development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) through a deep involvement in two major projects related to its application to teaching and assessment: first, the piloting of the “Manual: Relating Language Examinations to the CEFR” and its relation to language assessment; second, the development of the Reference Level Descriptions (RLDs) for national and general languages, which will provide CEFR users with content for the Italian language necessary to design syllabi, curricula and to create related teaching materials. Both these projects require a profound knowledge of the CEFR and have allowed CVCL experts to better understand its implementation in the field of Italian language as L2, teaching, learning and assessment. Because of the competence and experience acquired in the field, CVCL is one of the language partners of SurveyLang. CVCL is very proud to be involved in the development of such an ambitious project, the first survey of language competences in Europe. In relation to all the above mentioned activities, the CVCL has been collaborating closely for many years with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Italian Ministry of Education, and more recently with the Italian Ministry of Labour.

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