Assessing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is a complex issue, about which there are 'more questions than answers' (Sercu, 2004, 2010). Even if a consistent number of tools have been developed (for overviews: Fantini, 2009; Humphrey, 2007; Sinicrope et al., 2007), as well as scales and level descriptors (e.g. the INCA scales), and performance and reflective tasks (Byram, 2009; Holmes & O’Neill, 2010), main theoretical challenges still need to be addressed in relation to assessing ICC within intercultural language education. In this talk I review some of these challenges, particularly focussing on both the unclear relation between intercultural competence and intercultural competent performance, and the inherently context-sensitive nature of ICC. In light of such conceptual matters, test formats and tasks presently in use are not theoretical grounded enough and alternative approaches to ICC assessment should be explored. I thus argue in favour of employing forms of Dynamic Assessment within intercultural language education. Thanks to key concepts such as internal (self-regulatory) and external forms of mediation as well as transcendence (Poehner, 2007), a sociocultural approach to learning can help address the above-mentioned issues: In the first place, the influence on individuals’ behaviours of the interlocutor and the context of interaction (Dervin, 2010; Kramsch, 1993); in the second place, a sociocultural approach allows us to make inferences about changes in types of mediation which support individuals’ performance (Aliaafreh & Lantolf, 1994), thus their competence.

Considerations on dynamic assessment of intercultural competence

BORGHETTI, CLAUDIA
2015

Abstract

Assessing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is a complex issue, about which there are 'more questions than answers' (Sercu, 2004, 2010). Even if a consistent number of tools have been developed (for overviews: Fantini, 2009; Humphrey, 2007; Sinicrope et al., 2007), as well as scales and level descriptors (e.g. the INCA scales), and performance and reflective tasks (Byram, 2009; Holmes & O’Neill, 2010), main theoretical challenges still need to be addressed in relation to assessing ICC within intercultural language education. In this talk I review some of these challenges, particularly focussing on both the unclear relation between intercultural competence and intercultural competent performance, and the inherently context-sensitive nature of ICC. In light of such conceptual matters, test formats and tasks presently in use are not theoretical grounded enough and alternative approaches to ICC assessment should be explored. I thus argue in favour of employing forms of Dynamic Assessment within intercultural language education. Thanks to key concepts such as internal (self-regulatory) and external forms of mediation as well as transcendence (Poehner, 2007), a sociocultural approach to learning can help address the above-mentioned issues: In the first place, the influence on individuals’ behaviours of the interlocutor and the context of interaction (Dervin, 2010; Kramsch, 1993); in the second place, a sociocultural approach allows us to make inferences about changes in types of mediation which support individuals’ performance (Aliaafreh & Lantolf, 1994), thus their competence.
2015
Diversity, plurilingualism and their impact on language testing and assessment
17
20
Borghetti, Claudia
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/592974
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