A new online language level testing tool called Ev@lang has been unveiled by the French Ministry of Education, offering fast, adaptive and cost-effective testing of language proficiency levels of French, English, and soon, Arabic.
The test, which offers an assessment linked to the Common European Framework of Reference, is expected to be widely used by French language schools and French cultural networks overseas such as L’Institut Français as well as companies keen to undertake a language audit on current or future staff.
Students or job seekers may also benefit from the test, Ev@lang states. ““Proficiency in one or more foreign languages has become essential [in] research projects or a professional career.”
Introduced under the auspices of Centre International d’Etudes Pedagogiques, the test is delivered online and an addition to the suite of French language testing options that include DELF, DALF and TCF.
Caroline Mouton Muniz from the département langue française at CIEP told The PIE News that the test would be very good value for centres choosing to use it, at around €10 per student. Prices will vary according to volume and the test will be managed online.
She said the test was developed in response to demands from French language schools for an easy-to-use placement test.
“Ev@lang is an accurate test, which has an intuitive interface and offers excellent data management; an indispensable tool in a language centre such as ours,” commented P Pouzergues, Project Manager at SIAL Sorbonne University.
The test will take no longer than 35 minutes and test takers receive the result as soon as they complete the test.
The impending Arabic version has been developed in collaboration with the Arab World Institute in Paris.
For the English version, Ev@lang’s English-speaking designers “represented the full diversity of the English-speaking world and have solid experience in exam design,” explained Ev@lang.
