Awareness-Raising in Training Student Teachers to Rate Written-Performances in line with the CEFR

Language teaching in Slovakia is based on the concepts presented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) and CEFR Companion Volume. Despite efforts to align the learning outcomes in primary and secondary education to CEFR proficiency levels in the national curricula and significant changes in approaches to language teaching and learning in previous years, teachers’ familiarity with particular level descriptors is unbalanced. Their marking of students’ written performances does not explicitly reflect the different proficiency levels. To change this situation in the country, intensive training of student teachers became necessary.Assessing written performances requires systematic training based on marking criteria related to a particular reference level. To prepare future teachers of English to be able to distinguish between particular proficiency levels, several activities were designed to ensure that student teachers acquire a detailed knowledge of a targeted set of descriptors. Among other documents, a written assessment grid (Appendix 4, CEFR/CV) was introduced to sensitise student teachers to the need to familiarise themselves with the descriptors and apply them, specifying what is appropriate to expect at different levels of achievement. A new academic course on evaluation and testing in language education has been introduced in conjunction with a pre-service training course. The aim is to ensure that student teachers receive the necessary training to apply marking criteria when assessing written and oral performances. This study explores the approach adopted using a written assessment grid from the CEFR Companion Volume. Particular activities and data that were collected and analysed during the course of the present study are furthermore presented.