Formative Assessment Benchmarking for Foreign Language Learning&Teaching in Higher Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Formative Assessment Benchmarking for Foreign Language Learning&Teaching in Higher Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality and Relevance of Higher Education in Partner Countries; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The FAB project (Formative Assessment Benchmarking for Foreign Language Learning & Teaching in Higher Education within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2 “ Cooperation for Innovation and Exchange of Good practice) was conducted from 1.10.2015 until 30.09.2017 .

Horizontal aims
• Improvement of quality and relevance of higher education
• Development basic and transversal skills using innovative methods
• High quality learning opportunities

4 foreign language centres from European HE institutions, offering foreign language classes to students participated in the FAB project: TUAS – Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland), VDU – Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), PTE – University of Pecs (Hungary) and UW – University of Warsaw (Poland) as the project’s coordinator.

All the activities were undertaken as planned:
A. 3 Transnational project meetings: October 23, 2015 – Warsaw; June 17, 2016 – Kaunas; June 16, 2017 – Pecs (details – cf: p.5.2).
B. Introductory and final questionnaires for teachers and learners (O1 and O11), along with lesson and peer observation forms (O7 and O6) (cf: p 5.3), both focusing on the use of formative assessment, were designed and completed.
C. 13 workshops for 356 academic teachers were organized in the four partner institutions.
D. In the first year of the project 113 lesson observations, at local level in each partner institution, and in the second year 231 peer observations at international level were conducted.
E. During the observations (described in O6 and O7) many examples of good teaching practice were collected. 62 examples of language tasks and activities were selected to be included in the practical part of the teachers and learners guidebook (O10), which also contains a theoretical part addressed to teachers and students as well as an interactive quiz for students.
F. Eight issues of the FAB newsletter were edited and sent out electronically to 233 persons and institutions each time.
G. The multiplier event – international conference “Formative Assessment in Foreign Language Teaching” was held at the University of Warsaw, 157 participants attended the event.
H. Evaluation forms assessing the quality of questionnaires, lesson observations, peer observations, training sessions, the conference and the guidebook were designed and completed.

Project results and their impact
The project improved the quality of foreign language teaching at tertiary level institutions by implementing an innovative approach to language learning and teaching which promotes the use of formative assessment tools. This was achieved by teachers’ active participation in workshops, peer and lesson observations conducted in the partner institutions with the focus on the speaking skill and its assessment via formative assessment tools. Other important activities undertaken to promote high-quality foreign language teaching included uploading current information onto the project’s website, disseminating the project’s intellectual outputs, circulating newsletters, organizing the conference aiming at disseminating the idea of formative assessment in HE and encouraging teachers to apply formative assessment tools by using the guidebook for teachers and students designed in cooperation with all partner institutions.
The project enabled foreign language teachers to self-reflect on their own practice, provided them with appropriate tools and motivated them to apply an approach that aims at increasing students’ awareness of their own learning. It also promoted the idea of peer observation as a tool for life-long learning and learning from each other.
Students were provided with appropriate skills that facilitate effective, long-term and independent learning of foreign languages and help learners become aware and reflective participants in the learning process, which increased their motivation.
Other benefits include the internationalisation of all the activities undertaken by the partner institutions as well as enhancing the universities’ prestige and promoting the idea of multilingualism and multiculturalism.
In the long-term perspective, the project will facilitate further development of academic teachers’ didactic skills. The data gathered from evaluation questionnaires implies that teachers’ trust in the use of innovative techniques has been strengthened, as the majority of them now wish to apply formative assessment strategies for developing their students’ oral skills. This will be supported by regular training sessions aimed at disseminating examples of good practice collected during the project. The new approach will benefit students as they will become more aware of their own abilities and thus able to reflect critically on their own progress and make autonomous decisions about their own learning strategies. Cooperative and organizational skills acquired by the project participants will be valuable and useful for conducting new educational projects in future.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 86073 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI & Country: PL

Project Partners

• TURUN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
• PECSI TUDOMANYEGYETEM – UNIVERSITY OF PECS
• VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS