Yugoslav Association of Language Schools
Jugoslovenska asocijacija skola stranih jezika
N E W S L E T T E R

broj
 issue 
5

AKTIVNOSTI YALS-A U PERIODU

OD NOVEMBRA 2003 DO NOVEMBRA 2004

SASTAVLJANJE TESTOVA I JEDINICA ZADATAKA

Beograd, 14-18.06.2004

GODIŠNJA SKUPŠTINA EAQUALS-a

Minhen, 21-24.04.2004

REGIONALNI SEMINAR ‘CEF U IZRADI NASTAVNIH PROGRAMA

Beograd, 12-13.12.2003

GODIŠNJA KONFERENCIJA EAQUALS-a

Antibi, Francuska – 28-29.11.03

DRUGA GODIŠNJA QLS KONVENCIJA – ˝UJEDINJENI U KVALITETU˝,

Atina, 15-16.11.03

SEMINAR ˝PRIMENA CEF-A NA SASTAVLJANJE TESTOVA˝Beograd, 11.-12.11.03

IZVEŠTAJ SA GODIŠNJE SKUPŠTINE EAQUALS-a U MINHENU

Izvestilac: Eva Bako

REPORT FROM EAQUALS AGM MUNICH

by Eva Bako

EAQUALS Annual General Meeting XXXV was held at the Goethe Institute Head Office in Munich from 21st to 24th April, 2004.

There were a number of activities, some open to all members, some restricted to working groups. 92 participants came from 17 European countries.

The meeting included the INSPECTION and INSPECTORS DAY as a pre-annual activity, a lot of presentations, workshops, forums and other information sessions.

At the “INSPECTION” session, Version 5 of the EAQUALS Inspection Scheme was presented regarding background, organisation, procedures, inspection, criteria and standards of teaching and management and finally assessment and grading. It was held by Ludka Kotarska (Poland) and Maria Matheidesz (Hungary) on behalf of the Inspections Sub-Committee.

The following FORUMS involved lively discussions:

1. Academic issues
It was, in fact, a panel discussion on assessment issues, approaches to classroom observation systems, comparing and contrasting curriculum and syllabus. Thus, the conclusion being that, generally speaking, it all depends on the target groups, themselves and a proper needs analysis. (Mark Hammond, Pat Lodge, Sara Aitken)

The information session for new members and attendees was about the contents of EAQUALS CD ROM and legal seeking a permission to translate the Portfolio (Peter Brown, Laura Muresan)

2. Coping with adverse market conditions
Going beyond EFL – Pros and Cons of diversification and how additional services have contributed to success on EFL market. (Robert Hull)

3. Idea for drawing maximum benefits from EAQUALS membership
It was an invitation to consider possible initiatives and opportunities for informal co-operation Europe wide. (H.A. Swan)

4. Maintaining your identity in a changing world
A Greek Case Study – It was a look at the case of FL in Greece, examinations quality considerations and action plans. (George Drivas)

5. New opportunities through co-operative ventures and projects
It was an exchange of information on projects and possibilities of joining and initiating co-operative ventures to the mutual benefit of students and providers of language services. (Anca Colibaba)

The PRESENTATIONS were extensive and well done:

1.Opening plenary “Possible Ways to improve an already Very Successful Portfolio”
It looked at different portfolios particularly from the Geman School System in order to highlight recent developments, discuss problems and derive suggestions for a possible improvement of the EAQUALS Portfolio. (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Quetz)

2. The Management of Instability and Business Security Plans
To what extent are security matters seen as a key responsibility of the top management or are they merely logistics and administrative issues? (Liviu Muresan)

3. Plenary presentation: The Online Language Course “REDAKTION D”
A multimedial German course for beginners presented by Mrs Steiner in an attractive and interesting way. (Goethe Institute)

4. “I’ll Never Manage”
It was about roles and skills that may be required for LTO management and how through training and professional development LTO staff would be able to “manage”. (Ron White)

5. The development of the new EAQUALS website
(Michael Carrier, Zoltan Rozgonyi)

6. The Portfolio Mark 2 and EUROPASS
(Peter Brown)

7. Academic Management issues related to the introduction of the CEF levels
It was led by Hildegard Kirchner from Goethe Institut Head Office in Munich which was proclaimed as the 100th full member of EAQUALS.

8. Closing plenary “Electronic tools for the language class”
(Prof. Dr. Jörg Roche)

The WORKSHOPS sessions were relevant and resourceful:

1. Quality standards for exam boards
What could be the content of a charter for examination boards? (Frank Heyworth)

2. Preparing for your EAQUALS re/inspection
It was about benefits and pressures of meeting EAQUALS standards. (Maria Matheidesz)

3. “Giving your staff the best chance possible”
It looked at how behavioural skills could be used in individual staff development and effective performance management. (Rachel Appleby)

Formal Business of the Association

-  At the beginning, EAQUALS Chair Peter Brown officially welcomed YALS at the Conference and strongly supported further co-operation.

-  Brian North has been elected a new Vice-Chair.

-  The revised version of the Inspections Guide Version 5 has been accepted.

-  An advisory board for associate membership invitations has been appointed.

-  Charter for Associate Members has been proposed by Frank Heyworth.

EAQUALS CHARTER FOR ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Associate members of EAQUALS are committed to supporting and promoting quality in language education.

They undertake to:

Take part in EAQUALS activities and contribute to the achievement of the association’s aims.

Have clear public statements of their commitment to quality in their domain of activity – in the form of charters, codes or other appropriate documents.

Implement appropriate and effective procedures for quality assurance and control.

Take account of, and where it is relevant, comply with and implement the principles of the Common European Framework of Reference.

Institute appropriate complaints and grievance procedures for users of their services.

Provide EAQUALS with an annual report of activity demonstrating their involvement in EAQUALS activities*.

* This last requirement might be more appropriately placed in a set of regulations for associate membership procedures.

* The next AGM meeting has been scheduled for November in Dublin, Ireland.

Finally, viewing the organisation and content of the EAQUALS AGM XXXV Conference in Munich, I think that all forums, presentations and workshops were interesting, useful and relevant. The programme was ambitious but the idea of having interesting parallel sessions was not approved by most participants. Goethe Institute in Munich once again proved its traditional Bavarian hospitality and excellent organisational skills.

REGIONALNI SEMINAR ‘CEF U IZRADI NASTAVNIH PROGRAMA
Beograd, 12-13.12.2003

Izvestilac: Zorica Kovačević

Regionalni događaj PRIMENA CEF-a: IZRADA NASTAVNIH PROGRAMA

je organizovan od strane Yugoslovenske asocijacije škola stranih jezika (YALS), Britanskog saveta, Geteovog instituta, a podržali su ga Savet Evrope i EAQUALS. Ovo je drugi regionalni događaj u nizu od tri planirana koji će se organizovati u periodu od maja 2003. do juna 2004. godine. Zemlje partneri u ovom projektu su bile Bugarska i Rumunija.

Učesnici:

Ukupan broj učesnika je bio 60 i za englesku I za nemačku sekciju. Zemlje koje su predstavljene u okviru ovog događaja su bile Bosna I Hercegovina, Hrvatska, Rumunija, Bugarska, Grčka, BJR Makedonija i Srbija i Crna Gora. Učesnici su došli i iz državnog i iz privatnog sektora zemalja u regionu (Ministarstvo prosvete Srbije, Pedagoški fakultet Srbije, Filološki fakultet, Beograd, Tehnički univerzitet, Sofija, Elektrotehnički fakultet, Sarajevo, nacionalne asocijacije jezičkih škola iz Bugarske, Rumunije, Makedonije, Grčke i Srbije I Crne Gore, kao i iz privatnih jezičkih škola).

Opšti ciljevi događaja su bili:

·        Unapređenje razmene iskustava i saradnje između zemalja u regionu

·        Obezbeđivanje obuke u primeni CEF nivoa u oblasti testiranja, izrade nastavnih programa i obuke nastavnika

·        Podsticanje stručnog usavršavanja na lokalnom nivou

·        Stvaranje mreže stručnjaka koji će nastaviti da organizuju obuku u primeni CEF nivoa

Predavači  su bili g. Kadavi (Geteov institut), Dr. Sauli Takala i Dr. Džon H.A.L.De Jong (Savet Evrope) i Dr Laura Muresan (EAQUALS ).

Program:

Program je uključio plenarne sesije obe sekcije – engleske i nemačke, koje su održane prvog i drugog dana, kao i radionice koje su se odvijale oba dana za obe sekcije.  

Plenarne sesije su uključile izveštaje o napredovanju u primeni CEF-a u izradi nastavnih planova u Nemačkoj, Holandiji i Finskoj, kao i izveštaje o povezivanju kriterijuma ocenjivanja sa ciljevima kurseva (Studija slučaja iz Rumunije) i CEF-u i jezičkim ispitima u Grčkoj.

Na radionicama se intenzivno radilo na primenama CEF-a u oblasti testiranja, planiranja nastavnih programa i standardizaciji. Učesnici su prošli kroz proces postavljanja ciljeva, vršenja izbora u okviru izrade nastavnih programa i planiranja kurikuluma, kao i upoznavanja sa deskriptorima nivoa I reprezentativnim uzorcima nivoa.

Evaluacija

Ovaj regionalni događaj je ocenjen od strane učesnika kao veoma praktičan I intenzivan. Pokazao se dragocenim izvorom informacija o razvoju ne samo u regionu nego I u ostalim evropskim zemljama. Takođe je razvio svest o složenosti procesa primene CEF-a i koraka koji treba da se preduzmu u tom procesu.

Ponovo je ispoljena velika važnost regionalnog povezivanja, ne samo u cilju razmene iskustava već i u smislu planskog razvoja. 

Posle sastanka regionalne radne grupe koja se sastojala od predstavnika iz Grčke, Makedonije, Rumunije, Bugarske i Srbije, donesena je odlluka o daljem razvoju I zaključeno je da bi bilo dobro za region da se organizuje obuka u oblasti sastavljanja zadataka testa, probne primene Priručnika i kalibirsanja testa u periodu od septembra 2004 do oktobra 2005. Dogovoreno je das e obratimo Savetu Evrope u vezi mogućnosti obezbeđenja stručne podrške za ove događaje. 

APPLICATION OF CEF : SYLLABUS DESIGN,
 12 & 13 December  2003 Belgrade

by Zorica Kovačević

The regional event APPLICATION OF CEF: SYLLABUS DESIGN was  organized by the Yugoslav Association of Language Schools ( YALS ) , the British Council, the Goethe Institute and was supported by the Council of Europe and the EAQUALS. This was the second regional event in a series of three planned to be organized in the period May 2003-June 2004 . Partner countries in the project were Bulgaria and Romania.

The participants :

The number of  participants totalled 60, both for the English and German sections. The countries represented in the event were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, FRY Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro. The participants came both from the state and private sectors of the countries in the region (Ministry of Education of Serbia, Teacher Training Faculty of Serbia, the Faculty of Philology , Belgrade, the Technical University, Sofia, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Sarajevo, national associations of language schools from Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Greece and Serbia & Montenegro, as well as from private language schools).

The overall aims of the event were:

• To promote exchange of  experience and cooperation of  the countries in the region
• To provide training in the application of the CEF levels in  testing, syllabus design, and teacher training
• To encourage local expertise
• To create a network of the professionals who would further provide training in the application of the CEF levels

The presenters were Mr Kadavi (the Goethe Institute), Dr Sauli Takala and Dr John H.A.L.De Jong (the Council of Europe) and Dr Laura Muresan (EAQUALS).

The programme :

The programme involved the plenary sessions of both English and German sections held on the first and the second day as well as the workshops  which took place on both days for both sections.

The plenary sessions covered  reports on the developments in the application of the CEF in curriculum development in Germany, Netherlands and Finland, as well as reports on linking evaluation criteria to course objectives (Romanian case study) and CEF & language exams in Greece.

The workshops covered intensive work on the applications of CEF in testing, curriculum planning and standardising.The participants were guided through the process of setting targets,making choices in syllabus design and curriculum planning as well as familiarization with the level descriptors  and samples of  level performances.

Evaluation

The regional event was assessed by the participants as most practical and intensive. It proved to be a valuable source of information on the developments not only in the region but also in other European countries. It also raised awareness of the complexity of the process of application of the CEF and the steps to be taken in the process.

Regional networking again proved to be very important not only for the exchange of experience, but also in terms of structured development.

After the meeting of the regional working group consisting of the representatives from Greece,Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria  and Serbia, the decision on the further development was made and it was concluded that it would be good for  the region to organize training in test item writing, piloting the Manual, calibration of the test in the period September 2004-October 2005. The agreement was achieved to approach the Council of Europe for the possibility of providing expertise for those events.

GODIŠNJA KONFERENCIJA EAQUALS-a
Antibi, Francuska – 28-29 Novembar 2003.

Izvestilac: Vesna Stakić

Godišnja konferencija, tokom koje se održava Redovno generalno zasedanje EAQUALS-a, ima za cilj obezbeđivanje tribine za informisanje o trenutnim aktivnostima I predstavljanje tekućih projekata, dok je glavni poslovni sastanak ove asocijacije Godišnje generalno zasedanje, koe se održava svakog proleća.

Konferencija je počela sa Uvodnom plenarnom sednicom na kojoj je Brajan Nort iz ‘Eurocentres’ predstavio Priručnik za ocenjivanje u odnosu na Zajedničku evropsku referentnu skalu. Učesnicima je izložen nacrt članka od B. Norta pod naslovom ˝Povezivanje školskog ocenjivanja i javnih ispita sa CEF-ovim ‘Ume da uradi’ deskriptorima i nivoima’, za planiranu knjigu o CEF-u.

Održane su sledeće prezentacije i radionice:

1) Majkl Kerier iz ‘International House’ je podneo izveštaj o novom EAQUALS-ovom web sajtu (www.eaquals.org), koji sada uključuje Pretraživačku listu kurseva svih jezičkih škola koje su članice EAQUALS-a i programe jezičke obuke koje one nude. Takođe je predstavljen upečatljivi novi poster, koji prikazuje sve redovne i pridružene članice EAQUALS-a.

2) Promene u šemi inspekcije EAQUALS-a je predstavila Ludka Kotarska, Predsednica Pododbora za inspekcije. Glavni predlozi su uključili novi sistem ocenjivanja (dve umesto dosadašnje tri ocene) za škole koje prolaze kroz inspekciju, kao i prezentaciju novog kompleta dokumenata umesto dosadašnjeg vodiča, koji se sastoji iz brošure od 16 stranica sa opštim prikazom EAQUALS-a i njegove šeme inspekcije i datoteke sa listovima koji mogu da se vadei koja sadrži sve dokumente potrebne za školu i inspektore.

3) Laura Muresan je predstavila Nove šanse preko evropskih projekata, npr. ˝Podjednake šanse preko ELP-a, ˝Obuka za upravljanje kvalitetom˝ koje finansira Savet Evrope, a većinom ih koordinira Evropski centar za savremene jezike (ECML). Izvestan broj brošura i knjiga koje daju detaljne informacije o ovim projektima su stavljene na uvid, od kojih je, po mom mišljenju, najinteresantniji ˝Vodič za upravljanje projektima˝ od Frenka Hejvorta, koji je veoma koristan za sve koji rade na projektima u vezi jezičkog obrazovanja.

4) David Van iz ˝Richard Language School˝ u Bormutu je govorio o Integraciji CEF-a u programe EAQUALS-ovih škola u Velikoj Britaniji,  od kojih je njegova škola bila među prvima koja je to uspešno primenila. 

5) Portfolio za mlađe učenike  je predstavio Tim Prisek iz Italijanskog udruženja jezičkih škola za učenike između 9 i 15 godina.

6) Članovi Irskog savetodavnog veća za škole engleskog jezika predstavio je njihov  Test interaktivnog engleskog  za učenike engleskog, koji se direktno pridržava CEF skale i priznat je od strane Irskog ministarstva prosvete i nauke, kao i Italijanskog ministarsta prosvete. Test se sastoji iz pet delova: usmenog I pisanog testa i unapred sastavljenih zadataka koji se fokusiraju na projektni rad I istraživanje.

Na EAQUALS-ovom generalnom zasedanju  saopšteno je da EAQUALS ima 92 redovna člana i 12 pridruženih članova. Glasalo se o revidiranom statutu udruženja, a godišnja članarinma za pridružene članove je povećana sa 600 na 650 evra.  Podnesen je izveštaj radne grupe, koja se sastala u Milanu u julu 2003. godine da bi pregledala kriterijume i uslove za pridruženo članstvo. Dogovoreno je da je potrebna Povelja za pridružene članove u kojoj će se navesti da pridruženi članovi treba da obezbede  EAQUALS-u godišnji izveštaj koji će pokazati njihovo uključivanje u EAQUALS-ove aktivnosti. Takođe je predloženo da ispitni odbori kao što je UCLES treba da postanu redovni članovi.

Interesna grupa pridruženih članova je bila zainteresovana za trenutne aktivnosti YALS-a, a onima koji su bili manje upoznati sa YALS-om (predstavnici Irske, Italije, Nemačke) dala sam YALS-ove brošure, Bilten br. 3 i našu vebsajt adresu.

Report on EAQUALS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2003
Antibes, France – 28th and 29th November 2003

by Vesna Stakić

The Annual  Conference, during which the Ordinary General Meeting of EAQUALS is held, is intended as a forum for information about on-going activities and presentation of current projects, the main business meeting of the Association being  the Annual General Meeting held each Spring.

The Conference started with the Opening Plenary where the Council of Europe Manual for Assessment in Relation to the Common European Scale of Reference was presented by Brian North of Eurocentres. Participants were presented with the draft of an article by B. North  entitled “Relating School Assessment and Public Examinations to the CEF ‘Can Do’ Descriptors and Levels”, for a planned book on the CEF.

The following presentations and workshops  were held:

1) Michael Carrier from International House reported on the new EAQUALS website (www.eaquals.org) which now includes a Coursefinder listing all language schools which are members of EAQUALS and the language training  programmes they offer. Also an effective new poster was presented, showing all full and associate members of EAQUALS.

2) Changes to the EAQUALS inspection scheme were put forward by Ludka Kotarska,chair of the Inspections Sub-Committee. The main proposals included a new grading scheme ( two instead of the present three grades) for schools undergoing the inspection as well as the presentation of a new set of documents instead of the present guide which includes a 16-page brochure giving a general presentation of EAQUALS and its inspection scheme and a loose-leaf file containing all the documents needed by schools and inspectors.

3) Laura Muresan gave a presentation on New Opportunities through European Projects which are funded by the Council of Europe e.g. “Equal chances through the ELP”, “Training in quality management” and are mostly coordinated by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) . A number of brochures and books giving detailed information on the projects were available, the most interesting in my opinion being “A Guide to Project Management” by Frank Heyworth,  which is very helpful to those involved in projects related to language education.

4) David Vann of Richard Language School in Bournemouth talked about the Integration of CEF into the Curriculum in UK EAQUALS Schools, his school being among the first in the UK to successfully achieve this.

5) A Young Learners Portfolio was presented by Tim Priesack  from the Italian association of language schools for learners between 9 and 15.

6) Members of  the Irish Advisory Council for English Language schools presented their Test of Interactive English  for learners of English,which closely follows the CEF scale and is recognized by the Irish Department of Education and Science and also the Ministry of Education in Italy . The test consists of five tasks: an oral and written test and pre-prepared tasks which focus on project work and research.

In the EAQUALS general meeting it was reported that EAQUALS has 92 full members and 12 associate members. The revised Articles of Association were voted on and the annual fee for associate members was increased from 600 to 650 Euros.  The report of the working group, which met in Milan in July 2003 to review eligibility criteria and conditions of associate membership, was presented. It was agreed that a Charter for Associate members is needed which would state that associates members should provide EAQUALS with an annual report demonstrating their involvement in EAQUALS activities. It was also proposed that examining boards such as UCLES should be able to become full members.

The Associate members interest group was interested in on-going YALS activities and those less familiar with YALS (representatives of Ireland, Italy, Germany) I presented with YALS brochures, Newsletter No. 3 and our website address.

 During one of the breaks, representatives of the national associations of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland Hungary Croatia and SCG had an informal meeting where Harry Nikolaides put forward some interesting suggestions for closer cooperation  between schools from these countries such as organizing exchange visits between students, international camps for students aged from 12 to 15, drama troupes which could visit different countries and  teacher training sessions. H. Nikolaides agreed to prepare a proposal for the Council of Europe in order to obtain funding for the project.
 
In the Closing Plenary Scott Thornbury in his provocative talk presented  the Dogme ELT Group (WWW.groups.yahoo.com/groups/dogme) which is pledged to reinstating the learner in the space now colonized by the course book. In his opinion teachers should move away from course books and too much material and organize more social interaction between students.

The next EAQUALS General Meeting - the Annual General Meeting will be held on 23rd and 24th April 2004 in Munich.

DRUGA GODIŠNJA QLS KONVENCIJA – ˝UJEDINJENI U KVALITETU˝

Izvestilac: Dijana Kisić

Druga godišnja QLS konvencija je održana u Atini 15. i 16. novembra 2003.godine. Preko 600 nastavnika se okupilo da iscrpi što je moguće više praktičnog znanja iz izlaganja 16 domaćih i stranih predavača.
Grčko udruženje privatnih škola jezika – QLS – zaista je dokazalo veliku sposobnost za organizovanje ovakvog događaja. Trenutno je 19 članova Udruženja angažovano u brojnim važnim projektima. Neki od njih su:
- Grčka šema inspekcije
- Priprema izrade ELP (Europian Language Portfolio)
- Evropski programi – u saradnji sa PASE – poljskim udruženjem i QUEST – rumunskim udruženjem
Svi ovi projekti su imali jedan cilj - podizanje standarda u podučavanju engleskog jezika u Grčkoj.

Pomenuću samo nekoliko radionica koje su bile organizovane tokom ovog skupa:

Zlatna ribica i Slon: Moć testova, radionica koju je održao poznati pisac udžbenika i predavač na mnogim konferencijama, g. Luke Prodromou. Njegovo predavanje je još jednom dokazalo ogroman efekat koji testovi imaju na kvalitet podučavanja i učenja i ukazalo na praktične tehnike za prelazak sa «testirajućeg» na «podučavajući» metod nastave. Takođe je objašnjeno i kako rezultat svakog testa može pomoći nastavniku da planira svoj budući rad u određenoj grupi.

Zagonetka non-native tečnog govora: kontrola i kreativnost EFL
Sledeća radionica istog predavača se usredsredila na kreativno korišćenje idioma od strane native i non-native speaker-a u cilju rasvetljavanja prirode idioma prisutnih čak i kod non-native speakera koji tečno govore jezik. Bazirajući se na jezičkoj osnovi non-native speaker-a, on je ilustrovao način na koji uspešni non-native speaker-i dele zajedničke karakteristike sa svojim native speaker parnjacima, ali se sa njima i razilaze po pitanju primene jezika, naročito u oblasti upotrebe kreativnih idioma.

Dobre osobine je radionica koju je održala H.A.Swan, direktorka Swan School of English iz Oksforda, nastavnik i teacher trainer, sa dugogodišnjim iskustvom na ovom polju. Stoga je i prirodno da se njena tema bavila činjenicom da su nastavnici, iznad svega, ti koji stvarno predstavljaju najvažnije preimućstvo svake škole. Šta je to što čini izvanredne nastavnike; šta je to u njihovom radu što ih čini tako posebnim; možemo li svi mi težiti da to postignemo? Ovo su samo neka od pitanja na koja je odgovorila iz svog ugla.

Na koji način se učenje i ponašanje razlikuju kod dečaka i devojčica?
Radionica koju je održala Magdalene Agrafiotou ilustrovala je značaj razumevanja razlika između dečaka i devojčica za bolji rad u grupi. Nedavne studije pokazuju da kada pogledamo izbliza na razlike u pristupu učenju i u ponašanju između dva pola, možemo bolje razumeti učenike i postati efikasniji kao nastavnici.
Postavljena su pitanja – kako devojčice i dečaci različito usvajaju jezik, koje metode bi najviše odgovarale devojčicama, a koje dečacima? Kada je najbolje dati više vremena učeniku da odgovori na postavljeno pitanje? Kada je najbolje dati verbalno, a kada neverbalno ohrabrenje? Kako da izdvojimo primenjivanje discipline od našeg ličnog (samostalnog) rada na času? Kako da izađemo na kraj sa agresivnim ponašanjem i kako da se nosimo sa nemotivisanim učenicima?

Ova konferencija je omogućila svim učesnicima da se bolje upoznaju, tako da će sve prisutne zemlje zaista moći da budu UJEDINJENE U KVALITETU u predstojećim godinama.

THE SECOND QLS ANNUAL CONVENTION – ˝UNITED IN QUALITY˝

by Dijana Kisić

The second QLS Annual Convention was held in Athens on 15th & 16th November 2003. Over 600 teachers gathered to acquire as much practical training as possible from the sixteen foreign & domestic presenters.
The Greek association of private Language Schools – QLS has indeed proven capable of organising such an event. At present, the nineteen member association is involved in a number of important projects :
- The Greek Inspection Scheme
- Preparing the production of the European Language Portfolio
- It is involved in European programs in collaboration with PASE – the Polish  Association & QUEST – the Romanian Association.
All these projects have had only one goal and that is to raise the standards of
Language Teaching in Greece.

From all the workshops organised  I will mention only a few:
 
The Goldfish & the Elephant: the Power of tests, was held by the well-known
text-book writer & lecturer at so many conferences, Luke Prodromou.
His session proved once again what a powerful effect on the quality of teaching & learning testing has, with practical techniques for crossing from a 'testerly' way of teaching to a 'teacherly' way of teaching. As well as how the result of any test can help the teacher to plan his future work in that particular class.

The puzzle of non-native-like fluency: control and creativity in EFL
Another workshop by the same presenter, focused on the creative use of idioms by native and non-native speakers in order to throw light on the nature of idiomaticity present for even fluent non-native speakers. Drawing on a corpus of non-native spoken discourse,
he illustrated the way successful non-native speakers of English share common features with their native speaker counterparts but also diverge from native speakers in the way that they deploy language, especially in the area of creative idiomaticity.

 Good qualities was held by H.A.Swan, the principal of the Swan School of English in Oxford, who is at the same time a teacher and a teacher trainer with many years experience in the field. Taking this into consideration, it is no wonder her topic dealt with the fact that it is the people in the school above all - teachers who really represent the most important asset of every school. What makes excellent teachers; what is it that they do that makes them so special; can we all aspire to be one?
These are only some of the questions that she answered from her own point of view.

How boys and girls learn and behave differently?
This workshop held by Magdalene Agrafiotou illustrated the importance of  understanding how  differences in boys and girls help us manage the classroom better. Recent studies show that when we look closer at the differences in learning approach and behavior between the two genders, we can be in a better position to understand the students and become more effective as teachers.
Questions such as, how girls and boys process language differently, which method(s) would be most appropriate for girls and which for boys? When is it most appropriate to give time to the student to answer a question? When is it best to give verbal and when non-verbal encouragement? How we can distinguish our disciplining from our teaching behavior? How can we cope with aggressive behavior and how do we cope with non-motivated students?

The conference has give all the participants a chance to get to know each other better so that all the countries present may really stand UNITED in QUALITY in the years to come.

SEMINAR ˝PRIMENA CEF-A NA SASTAVLJANJE TESTOVA˝,

11- 12 NOVEMBAR 2003, BEOGRAD

Izvestilac: Zorica Kovačević

Jugoslovenska asocijacija jezičkih škola (YALS) u saradnji sa Savetom Evrope, Sektor za jezike, organizovala je obuku u oblasti različitih segmenata primene CEF-a na sastavljanje testova, kao pripremu za kalibrisanje i verifikacije budućih testova koji bi mogli da se koriste u školama članicama YALS-a.

Broj učesnika je bio 25 i svi oni su došli iz YALS-ovih škola.

Predavači su bili:

• Dr Sauli Takala
• Dr Felianka Kaftandjieva

Program je obuhvatio sledeće :

 (Glavni predavač: Sauli Takala)
• Kratak uvod u Referentni okvir (podsećanje na pristup i glavni aspekti
• Uvod u Priručnik (pristup i preporučeni postupci)

 (Glavni predavač: Felianka Kaftandjieva)
• Razvijanje skala, vrednovanje i povezivanje – metode, faze, problemi i opasnosti za validnost koje treba izbegavati
• Pouzdanost – individualna I grupna doslednost sudija, indeksi podudaranja I odstupanja

 (Glavni predavač: Sauli Takala)
• Pisanje zadataka
• Bodovanje i ocenjivanje

(Glavni predavač: Felianka Kaftandjieva)
• Uspostavljanje standarda
• Povezivanje sa CEF-om

Obuka je organizovana u vidu radionice, sa dosta vežbanja i primera.

EVALUACIJA

Ocena učesnika je da je obuka bila veoma profesionalna i veoma kvalitetna. Ona je ukazala da YALS u veoma bliskoj budućnosti treba da ima dužu (minimalno pet dana) obuku u oblasti pisanja zadataka testa, posle čega bi usledila faza provere I ocenjivanja testova.

‘CEF APPLICATION TO TEST WRITING’ SEMINAR,

 11- 12 NOVEMBER 2003, BELGRADE

by Zorica Kovačević

The Yugoslav Association of Language Schools ( YALS ) with the support of the Council of Europe Language Division organized the training on different segments of application of the CEF in test writing , as the preparation for the calibration and validation of the future tests which could be used in the YALS member schools.

The number of participants was 25, and they all came from the YALS schools.

The presenters were :
• Dr Sauli Takala
• Dr Felianka Kaftandjieva

The programme included :

 (Chief presenter: Sauli Takala)
• Brief introduction to the Framework (reminder of the approach and main aspects)
• Introduction to the Manual (approach and recommended procedures)

 (Chief presenter: Felianka Kaftandjieva)
• Scale development, validation and linkage – methods, stages, issues, and threats to validity to be avoided
• Reliability – inter- and intra-judge consistency, indices of agreement and discrepancy

 (Chief presenter: Sauli Takala)
• Item writing
• Scoring and rating

(Chief presenter: Felianka Kaftandjieva)
• Standard setting
• Linkage to CEF

The training was organized in workshop format, with a lot of practical work and samples.

EVALUATION

The participants assessed the training as very professional and of high quality . It indicated that YALS should in very near future have a longer ( minimum five days) training in test item writing, which would then be followed by piloting the tests and assessment phase.