CEFR at Masaryk University: A Cultural Shift in Language Learning

ŠTĚPÁNEK, Libor. CEFR at Masaryk University: A Cultural Shift in Language Learning. In Cercles Seminar: Ten Years of the CEFR and the ELP. 2011.

Basic information

• Original name: CEFR at Masaryk University: A Cultural Shift in Language Learning
• Name in Czech: SERRJ na Masarykové univerzitě: Kulturní posunv jazykovém vzdělávání
• Authors: ŠTĚPÁNEK, Libor.
• Edition: Cercles Seminar: Ten Years of the CEFR and the ELP, 2011.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60200 6.2 Languages and Literature
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Organization unit: Language Centre
• Keywords (in Czech): SERRJ, akademický jazyk, role učitelů
• Keywords in English: CEFR, akademic language, teacher role

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of CEFR related tools on language learning in the university environment with the aim to share changes of roles of teachers and students in the learning process. Masaryk University (MU) changed its language policy in 2006 when a new MU Language Education System was adopted. This system guarantees an implementation of CEFR levels (B2 for degree programmes, C1 for postgraduate programmes) to all MU Language Centre courses while maintaining an open range of approaches, methods, activities and objectives appropriate for the diverse needs of individual scientific branches. In the years 2006-2011, a series of investigations, projects and research commenced with the aim to standardise academic language assessment on both, university and national levels; a new CEFR-based testing system was introduced; a CEFR-based grid for language for academic and specific purposes was published; and a language self-assessment system for MU students was introduced. Those tools have significant impact on standardisation in assessment and more learner-centred and autonomous learning, which form part of current cultural shifts that teachers and learners face. MU teachers no longer represent the theoretical top of a discourse community top-down hierarchy. Their role is being successively turned into facilitators, administrators or expert advisors who share responsibilities with the rest of the learning community within an interactive, flexible and dynamic learning environment supported by the external CEFR authority. Students, on the other hand, are gradually turned into co-authors of learning activities, who are engaged in more individual, independent but also responsible learning within skill-oriented patterns and standards of the CEFR created setting. The experience of MU Language Centre suggests that CEFR related tools in the area of language learning for academic and specific purposes play a rather positive role and they will be further developed in the future.