Abstract

The present case study investigated the potential of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages: learning, teaching, assessment can-do descriptors for mediation in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)-based context. Fabricating descriptors for mediation was cardinal for the Council of Europe’s (2018) endeavour in updating the CEFR Companion. Despite surfacing just as a language skill in the 2001 CEFR Companion, mediation is now viewed as a central mode of communication in the New CEFR Companion, both in the receptive and productive modes. As they were just introduced in 2018, the CEFR mediation descriptor scales have not yet been sufficiently explored. The main goal of the present research was to fill some of this gap in the literature by investigating the potential of the CEFR for languages descriptors for mediation in an ESP CALL-based CEFR B2 tertiary level context (a 13 week ESP course specifically designed to meet the needs of university Rehabilitation Sciences students.) Data collection tools included students’ self-assessment against can-do descriptors for mediation, observation, student reflections, and focus group interviews. The findings suggest that the implementation of the existing course activities had the potential to promote mediation processes. The significant role of mediation in carrying out the course activities in addition to the CALL component of the ESP course activities highlighted the potential of CALL technologies to trigger, support, and promote mediation processes; this finding stressed the underlying role of the nature and the structure of the ESP course’s CALL-Based activities in supporting mediation processes.

Highlights

  • The present case study focuses on the potential of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages: learning, teaching, assessment can-do descriptors for mediation in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) CALLbased context

  • The present research aspired to fill some of this gap in the literature by providing insights regarding the potential of the CEFR descriptors for mediation, not just in a general English learning context but in an ESP Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)-based context

  • The main goal of the present research was to fill some of the gap in the literature regarding the potential of the CEFR mediation descriptor scales in an ESP (Rehabilitation Sciences) CALL-based CEFR B2 tertiary level context

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The present case study focuses on the potential of the CEFR for languages: learning, teaching, assessment can-do descriptors for mediation in an ESP CALLbased context. The fabrication and validation of the descriptors for mediation originated from the Council of Europe’s painstaking work on language learning, assessment, and teaching. While it was originally treated as a language skill in the 2001 CEFR Companion, mediation is reinterpreted and viewed as one of the basic ingredients in communication in the New CEFR Companion. 9) led to the development of descriptor scales for mediation from scratch. The present research aspired to fill some of this gap in the literature by providing insights regarding the potential of the CEFR descriptors for mediation, not just in a general English learning context but in an ESP CALL-based context

Objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.