Developing CEFR-aligned tasks for assessing receptive skills

Abstract

Owing to the role of English in the academic and professional settings, along with the failure of the syllabuses implemented, a language policy was introduced nationwide in 2015 by the Ministry of Higher Education to transform the teaching, learning and assessment of the English language in Cuban universities in accordance with current trends in language education. As a result, a project was implemented two years later, involving a group of English teachers from all Cuban higher education institutions to develop a teaching and certification system to certify students’ English proficiency. This paper focuses on the process of developing receptive skills tasks aligned with the CEFR for the Cuban proficiency certificate. Challenges experienced over the course of task development are also presented. Qualitative methods were chosen to develop assessment literacy and gain insights into theoretical and practical aspects of certification tests. A collaborative responsive approach, alongside expertise of participants allowed developing basic documents for task development. Further, regional group collaboration and online working to develop tasks and feedback rounds were used as iterative process. The various assessment materials produced using the CEFR as reference were crucial to ensure the development of standardized listening and reading tasks in line with international standards to certify students’ English proficiency in Cuban higher education. The challenges addressed in this paper could help task developers not only identify which aspects must be paid special attention to when developing receptive skills tasks, but also get used to the new assessment approach.