The guidelines are designed to be of use to teachers, test developers and testing program administrators, as they work to ensure that assessments are fair and valid. These guidelines focus on content area assessment within the CEFR levels A1 – B1. The main purpose of these guidelines and the tools, which can be found on the VINTAGE-project research centre, is to provide testing practitioners as well as educators with a framework to assist in making appropriate decisions regarding different assessment scenarios, including the innovative approach of language learning assessment closely combined with the contents of the vocational education and training.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CEFR uses the term “assessment” to refer to the implementation of language competence, thereby focusing on learner performance and its analysis. This focus contrasts with the more global term, “evaluation”. Assessment refers only to analyses about the level of learners’ proficiency evident in their performance, whereas evaluation can also refer, for instance, to the quality of a course, the effectiveness of teaching, or the appropriateness of pedagogical materials. All types of language tests are a form of assessment, but tests are not the only possible means for assessment. Assessing also implies informal checking or verification, which can be done in various ways, one of which is testing. All assessment involve collecting data for the purpose of making effective decisions, ranging from tests to checklists in continuous assessment as well as informal observations by a teacher, only to mention some examples.

Assessment has profited from the advances that have taken place in statistical analysis over the last century and it is now considered important for assessors to check their tests empirically as well as rationally. In addition, the upsurge in interest in the results of tests and examinations by governments, authorities and candidates has led to a testing industry and contemporaneously there is a huge increase in the numbers of scholars researching different aspects of testing and assessment. Additionally the amount of Language learners is continuously increasing in the EU states through Migration within the EU, through EU-Mobility projects for young people and through Migration from non-EU-states and Refugees

During the past twenty years there have been a number of focus changes in the assessment of learning and teaching. Learning assessment is no longer only summative, that means the exam at the end of the course. New methods have been developed and are used. The assessment of learning has shifted (from written exams to course work, from teacher centered assessment to student-led assessment (from external to self-assessment, from quantitative to qualitative assessment, from implicit to explicit criteria, from competition to cooperation, from assessment of the production to assessment of learning procedure, from assessment of contents to the assessment of skills, form assessment of the course to the assessment of modules, from indirect assessment to direct (natural) assessment, from artificial assessment to authentic assessment, from authority assessment to agreement assessment (Brown etc. 1994)

Although trends in testing as in other fields change over time, some principles of assessment are permanent and are not overly affected by current fashions. (s. page ____ The Concepts of Assessment). The most European countries are introducing or formalizing linguistic requirements for the purposes of migration, residency and citizenship (s. also VINTAGE National Chapters). National authorities often require language tests or other formal assessment procedures to be used. Test fairness is a particularly important quality when tests are related to migration, residency or citizenship.

There are two overarching types of assessment in educational settings: informal and formal assessments. Both types are useful when used in appropriate situations. Informal assessments are those assessments that result from teacher’s spontaneous day-to-day observations of how students behave and perform in class or at workplace. When teachers/instructors conduct informal assessments, they don’t necessarily have a specific agenda in mind, but are more likely to learn different things about students as they proceed through the day naturally. These types of assessments offer important insight into a student’s misconceptions and abilities that might not be represented accurately through other formal assessments.

Formal assessment on the other hand, is preplanned, systematic attempts by the teacher to ascertain what students have learned. The majority of assessments in educational settings are formal. Typically, formal assessments are used in combination with goals and objectives set forth at the beginning of a lesson or the language course. Formal assessments are also different from informal in that students can prepare ahead of time for them.

The European Language Portfolio ELP of the Council of Europe points out the importance of independent language learning in order to support individuals to achieve a fuller awareness of themselves as language learners and to develop language skills that they can deploy to meet their needs. (DGIV/EDU/LANG(200) 33rev. rev. June 2004; January 2011). The ELP is designed to take account of the entire learner’s language and intercultural learning, whether it takes place inside or outside formal educational contexts. This is a very important step towards the entirety of language learning, which is the reality of migrants and mobility participants – the main VINTAGE-target group. Accordingly the assessment of all language learning has to consist of different assessment forms. The common reference levels of CEFR are summarized in the self-assessment grid and should be included in all ELP models.

This guidelines were written by the German colleague from Arbeit und Leben and the Italian Colleague from the Unievsrity for foreigners in Perugia.