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A Collaborative Approach to Assuring Standards: Using the CEFR to Benchmark University Pathway Programs' English Language Outcomes
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A Collaborative Approach to Assuring Standards: Using the CEFR to Benchmark University Pathway Programs' English Language Outcomes

Thomas Roche and Sara Booth
Language Teaching Research Quarterly, Vol.26, pp.18-36
11/2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32038/ltrq.2021.26.02
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Abstract

Academic Standards Benchmarking Case Studies College Admission College Preparation English (Second Language) Evaluation Criteria Foreign Countries Guidelines Higher Education Language Tests Rating Scales Scores Second Language Instruction Second Language Learning Universities Achievement Standards English Language Teaching (ELT) English For Academic Purposes (EAP) Academic Literacies
The past two decades have witnessed growing interest in Higher Education (HE) achievement standards. Globally, the English Language Teaching (ELT) sector provides students with Direct Entry (DE) English language program (ELP) pathways to university study. It has typically relied on commercially available English language tests to ensure achievement standards. Such tests enable providers to demonstrate evidence of DE ELP standards in terms of internationally recognised scores. English language tests, however, represent only one type of external reference point for assuring standards. This paper provides an overview of a sector-led, collaborative approach to an external review of standards of 20 Australian university-operated DE ELPs. Twenty-eight ELP subjects were benchmarked by sixty individual assessors using consensus moderation with the newly expanded Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Companion Volume (CEFR CV). The framework's new subscales, including those on mediation, were employed for assessing student work samples. The case study demonstrates how collaborative benchmarking using the updated CEFR CV can effectively assure DE ELP standards while also identifying areas for program improvement to the benefit of programs, staff, and students.

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