The aim of this project
is to determine the
linguistic ‘profile’ of
the Greek learner/user
of the foreign languages
included in the National
Curriculum. It comprises
the essential scientific
and research basis that
will inform, on an
ongoing basis, the
Integrated Curriculum
for Foreign Languages
(henceforth, ICFL) and
will support the
development of novel
teaching and learning
materials as well as
clear benchmarks and
standardised measures
(test specifications)
for the objective
assessment of language
performance, for
students whose first
language is Greek. To
this end, the contextual
language use that
learners make in various
communicative contexts,
at each of the six
levels of language
proficiency, on the
scale of the Council of
Europe (as published in
the Common European
Framework of Reference
for Languages, CEFR), is
described linguistically
and is documented on the
basis of extensive
empirical data (i.e.
language data produced
by learners). Combining
a theoretically
well-founded framework
for the representation
of lexical meaning and a
model for the analysis
of the functional
context of language use
(genre-based model), we
implement an innovative,
generic methodology
suitable for documenting
the lexicogrammatical
features of the learner
language production in
various communicative
environments. On the
basis of this analysis,
we will produce sets of
detailed, coherent
descriptors specifying
how learners articulate
socially purposeful
meanings, at each CEFR
level. The resulting
descriptors are aimed at
making the distinction
between the CEFR levels
explicit, providing
concrete examples of how
linguistic knowledge is
gradually acquired by a
particular group of
learners. They will be
linked with the Can Do
statements articulated
in the ICFL, which are
consistent with the
illustrative CEFR
descriptors for each
proficiency level.
The first phase of the
project sets out to
investigate data drawn
from the English Corpus
of the RCeL, comprising
collections of written
texts (scripts) that
have been produced by
candidates in the KPG
English examinations.
The KPG script
collections have been
developed over a period
of seven years and, up
to date, they amount to
3.5 million words. They
have been systematised
in a Script Database
which is being enriched
on an ongoing basis,
maintaining a balance
across representation of
proficiency levels,
types of activities
which candidates are
asked to perform as well
as communicative
environments to which
they are asked to
respond. Later on, the
KPG Corpus will also
include German and
Spanish data (scripts).
