Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Education Studies

On-Lang.Net

Project Title: On-Lang.Net http://www.on-lang.net/

Sponsor/Collaborator: EU Funded

Project Team: Marilyn Hunt, Ann Barnes, Sean Neill, WIE and Shelagh Rixon, CELTE, with EU partners in Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Poland and Romania

Project Schedule: 2004-2006

Findings:

On-Lang.Net , an EU funded project, set out to develop a platform for creating web-based foreign language tests. An initial survey collected data through a web-based questionnaire hosted on the On-Lang website to determine current good practice. Subsequently the project partner responsible for IT support designed a platform for on-line testing and partners created multiple choice, fill-in-the-gap and open question language tests for listening, reading and writing. 30 students in each partner country completed the same agreed tests in Italian, Romanian or English and reported their experience in order to assess the operation of the platform. Questionnaires completed by learners and teachers across the partner countries were analysed to establish the effectiveness of the on-line platform as a tool for assessing modern languages and attitudes about the advantages and disadvantages of on-line testing in general. Findings revealed significant differences in countries in attitude to testing which may relate to an individualistic/collectivistic cultural divide, although there was a generally positive attitude to using computers for testing.

Publications

  • Hunt, M., Neill, S., Barnes, A. (2007) ‘The use of ICT in the assessment of modern languages: the English context and European viewpoints’, Educational Review 59 (2), 195 – 213
  • Hunt, M., Neill, S., Barnes, A. (2006) ‘The use of ICT in the assessment of modern languages: the English context and the wider European background’ presented at BERA annual conference, 6-9 September, 2006, available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/157251.htm
  • Hunt, M., Neill, S., Barnes, A. (2007) ‘The use of ICT in the assessment of modern languages: a European project to assess languages on-line’ presented at the ‘Redesigning Pedagogy’ conference at the National Institute of Education, Singapore, May 2007
  • Hunt, M. with Neill, S. (2006) ‘The use of ICT in the assessment of modern languages: European views on the On-Lang project’ presented at the On-Lang.Net conference, ‘Moving forwards: assessing languages online’, Auditorio, Rome, 26th September, 2006