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Global Trends in Language Learning in the 21st Century

A student portfolio demonstrates success in tangible ways, and also provides a means to assess students’ learning using an asset-based approach. Asset-based assessment is replacing traditional, deficit-based models of evaluation. Traditional ways of assessing language acquisition are inadequate in today’s world (Pappamihiel & Walser, 2009). Today language acquisition is seen as a complex, nonlinear and communicative endeavour. Traditional multiplechoice or fill-in-the-blank (also called “cloze”) activities and tests, which are easy to grade do not reflect the complexity that is involved in learning a language. Over the past 20 years, there has been a worldwide movement towards the development and implementation of benchmark systems and frameworks that take an asset-based approach to language assessment. One example of a successful national benchmarking system is the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for Canada’s two official languages, English and French, and on a larger scale in Europe, over 40 countries have adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, developed by the Council of Europe (2001). What these systems have in common is an asset-based approach to evaluating learning. Traditional models of testing revealed “gaps” in students’ knowledge. There was an underlying expectation that if only these gaps could be filled with the appropriate knowledge, learning would be complete. Asset-based approaches using benchmarks and frameworks are the new trend in language learning evaluation and assessment. For language teachers this means not focusing on verbs and vocabulary lists. It means recognizing students’ abilities to understand, use and produce language in a variety of forms, for a variety of purposes.

(Available: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED510276.pdf. Access on: 11/30/2020. Adapted.)