PLURILINGUALISM AND ASSESSMENT. ROMANIAN AS A FOREIGN AND HERITAGE LANGUAGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2025.2.10Keywords:
plurilingualism, plurilingual competence, heritage language, assessment, rating gridAbstract
Plurilingualism and Assessment. Romanian as a Foreign and Heritage Language. The study presents the revision process of two rating grids for the examinations provided through Babeș-Bolyai University – Romanian Cultural Institute Consortium for Testing Romanian as a Foreign Language. It focuses on how plurilingual competence was addressed as part of the revision. The first case presents revisions to the grid for written production, level A1. The revision process was corpus-based and started from the analysis of 352 texts produced in live exams. Reordering the grid criteria prioritised the criterion of efficacy (task fulfilment). In this study we focus on the criterion of accuracy, which operationalised the use of foreign (i.e., from an additional language) words by plurilingual test takers in their written production. This led to the addition of a new descriptor to the assessment instrument. The second case presents the revision process of the rating grid for spoken production, level B1, with a focus on the criterion of accuracy. The grid descriptor operationalising phonological control changed in order to reflect the influence of other languages on pronunciation, rhythm, accent, stress, and intonation. Intelligibility replaced the idealised native speaker as a reference point, in accordance with the new perspective reflected in the phonological control grid of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Companion Volume (CEFR CV). The study presents how the adaptation of this grid was influenced by the significant number of test takers with Romanian as heritage language. These processes of rating-grid revision are considered a first step into what needs to be a robust effort to adapt language assessment to the plurilingual reality of speakers.
REZUMAT. Plurilingvism și evaluare. Româna ca limbă străină și ca limbă moștenită. Studiul prezintă procesul de revizuire a două grile de evaluare pentru examenele organizate de către Consorțiul Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai – Institutul Cultural Român pentru Testarea Românei ca Limbă Străină și se axează asupra modului în care competența plurilingvă a fost inclusă în procesul de revizuire. Primul caz prezintă revizuirea grilei pentru producții scrise, nivelul A1. Procesul de revizuire s-a bazat pe analiza unui corpus de 352 de texte produse ca parte a unor sesiuni de examinare. Una dintre consecințe a fost reordonarea criteriilor incluse în grilă, cu prioritizarea criteriului eficienței (îndeplinirea sarcinii). În acest studiu ne concentrăm asupra criteriului acurateței. Acesta include, în forma sa actuală, un nou descriptor care operaționalizează utilizarea de cuvinte din alte limbi în producțiile scrise ale candidaților. Al doilea caz prezintă procesul de revizuire a grilei de evaluare pentru producțiile orale, nivelul B1, cu accent asupra criteriului acurateței. Descriptorul care operaționalizează controlul fonologic în cadrul grilei a fost schimbat pentru a reflecta influența altor limbi asupra producției candidatului în ceea ce privește pronunția, ritmul, accentul și intonația. Inteligibilitatea a înlocuit modelul unui vorbitor nativ idealizat ca punct de referință, în acord cu noua perspectivă reflectată în grila pentru controlul fonologic din Cadrul European Comun de Referință pentru Limbi: Învățare, Predare, Evaluare. Volumul Companion. Studiul prezintă modul în care adaptarea acestei grile a fost influențată de numărul semnificativ de candidați care au româna ca limbă moștenită. Aceste procese de revizuire a grilelor de evaluare sunt considerate un prim pas pentru ceea ce ar trebui să fie un efort amplu de abordare a realității plurilingve a vorbitorilor în procesul de evaluare lingvistică.
Cuvinte-cheie: plurilingvism, competență plurilingvă, limbă moștenită, evaluare, grilă de evaluare
Article history: Received 13 February 2025; Revised 20 April 2025; Accepted 12 May 2025; Available online 10 June 2025; Available print 30 June 2025.
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