Definition of Learning

Session Three: Definition of learning
outcomes for higher education

practical language study
Brigitte Forster Vosicki, Université de Lausanne
Strategies for innovation in higher education language

teaching and learning
Freie Universität Berlin, 10-11 October 2008
Relevant learning outcomes
What are relevant learning outcomes for higher education

language studies, given:
- new socio-economic needs and
- the quality criteria of the Bologna process
both of which introduce major changes in the European
higher education sector
2 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Structure
Reference points for learning outcomes :
I. European educational policy issues: quality criteria of the

Bologna process and the option taken in general European
educational policy in response to socio-political and
economic transformations
II. Theoretical foundations determining the constitutive

elements of plurilingual et pluricultural competence
III. Specific language use activities of students and graduates

in relevant domains (academic, professional, social)
IV. Characteristics of a local situation

Reference points in relation to
I. European educational policies

First underlying principle : Plurilingualism
The specification of plurilingual and pluricultural competence

has to be considered the founding principle of all university
language studies
Why?
What has changed?

Pluriligualism and internationalisation

• Bologna process
An answer to new needs related to socio-political and economic
changes and internationalisation processes at different levels
(European integration, economic globalisation on the European
and international labour market, new communication technologies,
internationalisation of education and research)
• As a result of these changes there is increasing

interaction in multilingual and multicultural
environments
Need for mutual comprehension in a context of
diversity

Plurilingualism and political options
• Need for new qualifications to solve current

problems: new key competencies
• An adequate plurilingual competence is considered

necessary to achieve political objectives
– Lisbon Strategy: employability, competitivity in a knowledge-
based society
– European integration: fairness, inclusion, participation, personal
development in a constantly changing environment, etc.

Pluriligualism as a resource
• Responsibility of universities
To develop this key competence in relation to the specific needs of
students and graduates and in the perspective of lifelong learning,
in order to be able to adapt rapidly to changing needs and a more
and more interconnected and complex economy and society
An appropriate plurilingual and pluricultural competence is a

necessary resource for students and graduates:
• To study, live and work throughout multilingual and
multicultural Europe
• To manage a diversity of multilingual and multicultural
situations in the academic, professional and social world

Second underlying principle : action-oriented

approach
• From input to output – away from the transmission

of knowledge and towards the development of
competencies, reflected in the definition of learning
outcomes
• Learning outcomes: statements in terms of skills

and competencies of what a learner is expected to
know, understand and/or be able to do at the end of
a period of learning (Framework of qualifications for
the EHEA 2005:29)

An action-oriented approach
• From the point of view of the user as a social agent

– tasks to accomplish in a specific environment and
given circumstances – includes also cognitive,
emotional, interpersonal competencies, attitudes
and ability to learn
• Students and graduates must be able to act

effectively in multilingual and multicultural situations

I. European educational Policies
Third underlying principle : transnational

readability and comparability
• Learning outcomes – have to be described in a

transnational manner using transparency tools such
as competence descriptors related to common
European reference levels – Council of Europe's
Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages – CEFRL
• The non specialist understands what a student is

able to do and how well he can do it

II. Theoretical foundations

Definition
Plurilingual competence means: being competent, at

different levels, in more than two languages
• It includes all languages, also the mother tongue

• Languages are not separated from each other but are in a
complex interrelationship - plurilingual repertory – which in its
entirety represents a resource in order to be able to act in
diverse use situations
• It is always used and constructed by and inside social
interaction
• It is composed of a dynamic and complex ensemble of
constantly evolving components

Components of plurilingual competence
• All components have to be developed consciously:

especially intercultural competence and the capacity
to learn in order to develop lifelong learning
competences
• Or there must be awareness that they are partial
skills
• What is missing : still monolingual approach,
nowadays often not monolingual situations but
plurilingual: more than one language is used at the
same time in the communicative process

Translingual competences
A plurilingual approach has to integrate more visibly
translingual competences and multiliteracy. Learning
outcomes in this direction could be:
• To make use of the different languages in one's own repertory in
order to understand a priori unknown oral or written texts
• To treat in oral and written form in one's own language or another
language of the plurilingual repertory information from different oral
or written sources in different languages
• To make use of the lexical elements of other languages of the
repertory to resolve communication problems
• To transfer learning experiences of one or more languages to the
learning of a new language

Consequences
• Abandon monolingual approaches and the research
of a homogeneous level in only one language
(construction of plurilingual competence)
• Collaboration between languages – take into
account the learning process of the links between
languages, interactive, student-centred approaches
• Includes the need for a wide choice of languages –
responding to political, economic, social, cultural,
criteria

A real plurilingual approach
To develop consciously truly plurilngual and

pluricultural competences is the real challenge for
future language studies in universities

III. Specific contribution of the HE sector to the
plurilingual repertoire

III. Specific contribution to the plurilingual repertoire
Core competences as reference points
• Learning outcomes should take into account core

descriptors relevant to competences needed by
students and graduates:
– in the European and international labour market
– in the academic domain
– for social integration in relation with mobility
• Should be elaborated in cooperation with the

stakeholders (employers, graduates, students,
discipline teachers, etc) in order to ensure social
relevance

Core competences for the European labour

market
TNP3/2 : Main skills and competences needed in a professional context
• Participating in, and leading, meetings/negotiations
• Understanding and interacting in job-related communication situations
(e.g. hosting a visitor, telephoning, travelling, talking about your job,
giving presentations, etc.)
• Networking and collaborating in face-to-face and virtual environments
• Communicating in order to manage international relations and
customer contacts
• Reading and writing e-mails and short factual texts
• Understanding and interacting in important multicultural contexts (i.e.
with an awareness of intercultural differences in communication)
Real workplace communication

Competences for plurilingual education
• Plurilingual and pluricultural competence -

overarching generic competence for all disciplines
and all cycles as a mediator in the construction, the
critical management and the communication of
knowledge and the development of academic,
discipline-specific and professional expertise
• The expected outcomes have to take into account
the objectives of the Bologna cycle descriptors

Competences for plurilingual education
Plurilingual competence in order to:

• Access and critically manage information and scientific
knowledge
• Interact in the context of discipline-specific programmes in
order to understand, react, clarify, resolve problems in
common
• Be able to communicate knowledge and results in a structured
manner within the framework of academic studies or in
addressing a larger scientific community (publications,
conference skills)
• Act in multicultural contexts, treat and interpret information in
a specific academic culture, develop plurilingual strategies)
• Develop the capacity to learn

Generic academic or discipline-specific ?
Should competences be specific to a given

discipline (specific communicative activities, specific
kinds of texts pertaining to a discipline, etc.) or
more generic academic skills?
Growing interdisciplinarity and changing

professional profiles more generic academic skills

IV. Specific local situation and
European reference points

IV. Specific local situation and European reference points
Factors
• Specific geopolitical needs

• National framework of qualifications
• Institutional aims and strategies
• Objectives of a given faculty
• Prior knowledge and skills of the students
• Preferences of the students

Which plurilingual and pluricultural profile?
Define learning outcomes in universities and faculties
• What profile should students and graduates have at

the end of the learning period/cycle in a given
discipline and why?
• Faculties have to ask themselves (with the help of
the European reference points) a series of questions
in order to determine profiles relevant both to their
specific situation and to the Bologna objectives

In relation to employability and professional

integration
• What are the typical career prospects and

professional profiles of graduates, and what specific
plurilingual and pluricultural skills and competences
do they need in these professions in order to act and
communicate in an appropriate manner and have
maximum chances to succeed?
• What competences do they need to develop in order
to be able to update their professional expertise on
a lifelong learning basis?
• Are needs analyses allowing informed choices in
use?

In relation to academic skills and competences
• What kind of plurilingual and pluricultural repertoire

do students need in order to have optimal chances
of success in their study and research projects in a
multilingual and multicultural context?
• What activities, texts and tasks in the context of

their study programme are students confronted
with?

In relation to mobility and social integration and

local internationalisation
• What kind of plurilingual repertory and intercultural

competence do students and graduates need in
order to participate actively in social life and pursue
personal and cultural aspirations?
– Every day situations
– Administrative situation at the university and in social life
– Social life

In relation to lifelong learning skills
• What kind of generic learning competences do

students and graduates have to develop in order to
continue language learning effectively?
• What kind of cognitive, metacognitive and strategic

skills do they need to develop?

In relation to entry and exit levels
• Are individually different plurilingual profiles possible

as a resource for students and graduates responding
to their personal aspirations and for society which
needs a variety of language combinations (different
individuals with different and competences in
different languages)?
• Is the attribution of ECTS appropriate in relation to

expected outcomes?

In relation to the cycle
• What kind of profile is most appropriate for a

specific cycle (BA, MA, Doctorate)?

Update
Learning outcomes have to be constantly updated

in order to integrate new research findings and
the changing needs of the economy and society

Thank you for your attention.


Definition of Learning

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Definition of Learning

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Session Three: Definition of learning

outcomes for higher education

Strategies for innovation in higher education language

What are relevant learning outcomes for higher education

2 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Reference points for learning outcomes :

I. European educational policy issues: quality criteria of the

II. Theoretical foundations determining the constitutive

III. Specific language use activities of students and graduates

IV. Characteristics of a local situation

3 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

4 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

First underlying principle : Plurilingualism

The specification of plurilingual and pluricultural competence

5 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Pluriligualism and internationalisation

• As a result of these changes there is increasing

6 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Plurilingualism and political options

• Need for new qualifications to solve current

• An adequate plurilingual competence is considered

7 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

An appropriate plurilingual and pluricultural competence is a

8 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Second underlying principle : action-oriented

• From input to output – away from the transmission

• Learning outcomes: statements in terms of skills

9 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

• From the point of view of the user as a social agent

• Students and graduates must be able to act

10 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Third underlying principle : transnational

• Learning outcomes – have to be described in a

• The non specialist understands what a student is

11 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

12 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Plurilingual competence means: being competent, at

• It includes all languages, also the mother tongue

13 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Components of plurilingual competence

• All components have to be developed consciously:

16 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

17 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

18 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

A real plurilingual approach

To develop consciously truly plurilngual and

19 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

20 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Core competences as reference points

• Learning outcomes should take into account core

• Should be elaborated in cooperation with the

21 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Core competences for the European labour

Real workplace communication

22 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Competences for plurilingual education

• Plurilingual and pluricultural competence -

23 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Competences for plurilingual education

Plurilingual competence in order to:

24 Definition of learning outcomes for higher education

Generic academic or discipline-specific ?

Should competences be specific to a given