Towards a standardised qualification for primary school teachers of English as a foreign language: The experience of Parma (Italy)
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Anila Ruth Scott-Monkhouse teaches English as a Foreign Language at Parma University (Italy), and is an examiner for Cambridge ESOL. She has been involved in teacher training in Italy and the Czech Republic, and since 2006 has been working within the post-graduate project EFLIT (English for Law and International Transactions).
Abstract
The practice of teaching a foreign language in primary schools in Italy was first officially provided for by a decree in 1985, but it was only in 1991 that the figure of the Foreign Language (FL) teacher was actually defined. The issue at that stage was how to select and train the prospective L2 teachers, and so in-service courses were organised to provide these teachers with the linguistic and methodological know-how needed for the new professional role they were to play. At the time, the autonomy of single schools was encouraged and courses were managed locally by several education institutions cooperating on the project.
Since then English has become the compulsory language to be taught in primary schools and the final objective of the teacher training courses has been identified as level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). This has led to the need for a different kind of assessment, which has evolved from tests devised by the teacher trainers themselves in the early courses, to internationally recognised certificates (Cambridge ESOL Preliminary English Test PET), and finally to a more specific certificate devised by test designers at Italian University Language Centres, now involved in the project.
This article aims to describe how teacher training and assessment have changed in Parma, and illustrate how the current Certificate of English for Primary school Teachers (CEPT), devised by the Language Centre of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and the Language Centre of the University of Parma, has developed into a regional project, on the basis of a Teacher Profile which takes into account the CEFR, the European Language Portfolio (ELP), the Italian school system and its requirements, the needs of children learning English as a foreign language, and the needs of future teachers of English attending an in-service course.
About the author
Anila Ruth Scott-Monkhouse teaches English as a Foreign Language at Parma University (Italy), and is an examiner for Cambridge ESOL. She has been involved in teacher training in Italy and the Czech Republic, and since 2006 has been working within the post-graduate project EFLIT (English for Law and International Transactions).
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Some history, a view of language learner autonomy, and some implications for language learning in higher education
- The CEFR and the dynamics of second language learning: trends and challenges
- Adaptation of the CEFR to remedial English language education in Japan
- Applying the writing scales of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to the new HSK test of proficiency in Chinese: Realities, problems and some suggestions for Chinese language teachers and learners
- Self-assessment and placement tests – a worthwhile combination?
- Oral proficiency teaching with WebCEF and Skype: Scenarios for online production and interaction tasks
- Test di ingresso e validità. Proposte per un miglioramento della performance del placement di Italiano L2/LS per studenti ispanofoni
- Re-conceptualizing the ELP as a Web 2.0 Personal Language Learning Environment
- The role of the syllable in foreign language learning: Improving oral production through dual-coded, sound-synchronised, typographic annotations
- Designing ICT-enhanced language programmes: Academic writing for postgraduate studies
- The flowering of EAP/ESP: Customised support for the development of communicative competence in writing in the disciplines
- Asiakaspalvelua vieraalla kielellä: Riittääkö, että on kohtelias ja osaa joitain fraaseja?
- Towards a standardised qualification for primary school teachers of English as a foreign language: The experience of Parma (Italy)
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Some history, a view of language learner autonomy, and some implications for language learning in higher education
- The CEFR and the dynamics of second language learning: trends and challenges
- Adaptation of the CEFR to remedial English language education in Japan
- Applying the writing scales of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to the new HSK test of proficiency in Chinese: Realities, problems and some suggestions for Chinese language teachers and learners
- Self-assessment and placement tests – a worthwhile combination?
- Oral proficiency teaching with WebCEF and Skype: Scenarios for online production and interaction tasks
- Test di ingresso e validità. Proposte per un miglioramento della performance del placement di Italiano L2/LS per studenti ispanofoni
- Re-conceptualizing the ELP as a Web 2.0 Personal Language Learning Environment
- The role of the syllable in foreign language learning: Improving oral production through dual-coded, sound-synchronised, typographic annotations
- Designing ICT-enhanced language programmes: Academic writing for postgraduate studies
- The flowering of EAP/ESP: Customised support for the development of communicative competence in writing in the disciplines
- Asiakaspalvelua vieraalla kielellä: Riittääkö, että on kohtelias ja osaa joitain fraaseja?
- Towards a standardised qualification for primary school teachers of English as a foreign language: The experience of Parma (Italy)
