Aligning English grammar testing with European language standards

Abstract

In recent years, foreign language testing has gained in significance with the advent of The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) (CEFR), a European language document which set comparable standards for learning, teaching and assessing foreign languages. The CEFR was used to set the research aim of this paper - testing grammar at level B2. The main aim of the research was to determine grammatical competence at level B2 and additional aims included: (a) determining which particular areas of grammar need to be learned by students at level B2, (b) formulating grammatical descriptors for each individual area of grammar, (c) determining the test?s threshold level which would fulfil the criteria for grammatical competence at level B2, and (d) determining the extent to which students have mastered the given areas. The pre-testing was followed by the main testing on the sample of 164 students in two secondary schools. The results indicated that the quantity and quality of grammatical competence was lower than expected: 47% of the population failed to fulfil the basic level of grammatical competence. The causes may be attributed to the factors of a subjective and objective nature. Level B2 is demanding qualitatively as well as quantitatively, regarding both the formal and the functional complexity and scope of language use, which requires intensive language production, high levels of motivation and sound working habits in order to master the given grammatical structures.