Inventory of language certification in Europe
Client: European Commission | NFER Contact: Jenny Bradshaw
In 2003, the European Commission published an Action Plan outlining actions intended to maintain the momentum of the successful European Year of Languages in 2001. To facilitate this, in 2005 the EC contracted NFER to draw up an inventory of the certificates of language competence which were currently available for adults outside national education or training systems. The research also investigated the contexts in which these certificates were used and various aspects of quality control and test validity.
The principal aim of the project was to provide a comprehensive overview of certificates available in the official languages of the European Union, as well as those of the EEA member states. The project led to two main outcomes:
- an online searchable inventory (available in English, French, German and Polish) of the main systems for certifying the foreign language competence of adults which were available at the time of the study in 2005, designed to be accessible for certificate users, including language learners, and including information on nearly 300 certificates in 27 European languages
- a report describing the contexts within which these language certificates are used, including recommendations for measures which could further enhance the transparency, portability and quality of language certification.
Timescale: January 2005 - March 2006
NFER Project Code: ILC
Research report/findings