AUTHENTICITY IN AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE EXAMINATION SYSTEM - THE ECL (EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM OF THE CERTIFICATE OF ATTAINMENT IN MOD-ERN LANGUAGES) EXAMINATIONS

Abstract

Among the correctness indicators representing the quality of tests you can find authenticity as well. The notion of authenticity appeared in the 1970s with communicative language teaching methodology. Now this notion is considered to be an important test attribute for both stakeholders and test takers alike in communicative language testing.

Language testing is an artificial procedure to collect information and make judgments about language learners` competence in a language and their ability to use language. As a result of this procedure assessors and markers draw conclusions on the candidates` performance in real-life situations. The test tasks selected for assessment purposes should be meaningful and challenging for test takers, a realistic goal set, involving the candidates as fully as possible, and allowing different interpretations of the task for them.

The oral part of the ECL exam is a paired exam where candidates take part directly in authentic communicative interaction in L2 with a conversation partner who is a fellow candidate. The oral assessment generalizes about proficiency from performances in a range of discourse styles considered to be relevant to the future needs of the candidates. There is also insight into the development of the assessment criteria of the oral performance based on the recommendation of the relevant scales of the CEFR.