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The international ECL examination system provides a standardized test-system customized to the languages of the EU Member States and the candidate EU countries. The test-system is based on the recommendations of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and is operated by the European Consortium for the Certificate of Attainment in Modern Languages (ECL). The ECL is an association of institutions representing European languages.▼
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[[File:ECL LOGO.jpg|thumb|''European Consortium for the Certificate of Attainment in Modern Languages'']]
▲The international '''ECL examination system''' provides a
The ECL examination system was developed by an international team of language testing experts
* The ECL language examination system offers [[Monolingualism|monolingual]] tests. It is designed to test the
* As part of the ECL testing four skills are tested: [[Oral Communication|oral communication]], [[Listening Comprehension|listening comprehension]], [[written communication]] and [[reading comprehension]].
* The development of tests in all 15 languages is subject to strict quality standards to ensure that the various tests are reliable, valid and comparable.
* An ECL exam can be taken in the following languages: [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], and [[Slovak
The ECL language exam can be taken on four levels and it measures primarily the communicative language competences of candidates. The requirements at the different levels are adapted to the recommendations of the [[Common European Framework of Reference for Languages|Common European Framework]]:
* A2 – Waystage
* B1 – Threshold
* B2 – Vantage
* C1 – Effective Operational Proficiency
The peculiarity of the ECL testing is that it does not include [[grammar]] tests or [[translation]] tasks. The structure of the test is the same on all four levels. The oral exam consists of two parts in which "oral communication" and "listening" skills are assessed. As part of the written part of the examination "written communication" and "reading comprehension" skills are tested. Each skill is tested by two tasks.
'''a / Oral communication'''
* The candidate must demonstrate the skill of being able to carry out an oral interaction – on given topics and in areas of interest specified for the given level – and also of being able to express their views with ease in the form of a [[monologue]].▼
* Candidates are interviewed in pairs (or in
▲* The candidate must demonstrate the skill of being able to carry out an oral interaction – on given topics and in areas of interest specified for the given level – and also of being able to express their views with ease in the form of a monologue.
* The test begins with the so-called introduction, a warm-up which takes about 3–5 minutes. The main purpose of this part of the exam is to create a relaxed atmosphere and to get the candidates settled into the exam situation. This part is not assessed.
▲* Candidates are interviewed in pairs (or in threes if there is an odd number of candidates). The performance of the candidates is assessed by two examiners who give their assessment independently.
*
* In the
The "Oral communication" subtest is evaluated according to the following five criteria:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| a) Formal accuracy (morphology and [[syntax]]) ||
|-
|b) Oral accuracy ([[pronunciation]], prosody, and [[fluency]]) ||
|-
|c) Vocabulary (range and fluency) ||
|-
| d) Style (pragmatic and [[sociolinguistic]] aspects) ||
|-
| e) Communicative effectiveness (task completion) ||
|}
'''b / Listening comprehension'''
Candidates must demonstrate their ability to understand semi
'''a / Written communication'''
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{| class="wikitable"
|-
| a) Formal accuracy (morphology and syntax) ||
|-
| b) Written accuracy (text structuring and [[orthography]]) ||
|-
| c) Vocabulary (range and fluency) ||
|-
| d) Style (pragmatic and sociolinguistic aspects) ||
|-
| e) Communicative effectiveness (task completion) ||
|}
'''b / Reading comprehension'''
Candidates must demonstrate their ability to comprehend general texts at the given exam level and their ability to solve two different types of reading comprehension tasks without using a dictionary. The reading comprehension test consists of two different types of tasks (e.g.: matching, banked gap-filling, multiple
===Test
{| class="wikitable"
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| Number of tasks || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Number of words ||
|-
| Correct answers || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20
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! Writing comprehension !! !! !! !!
|-
| Time (minutes) ||
|-
| Number of tasks || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Number of words || Total
(ca.
|| Total
(ca.
(ca. 150–150)
|| Total 400
(ca.
▲ || Total 600
|-
! Listening comprehension !! !! !! !!
|-
| Time (minutes) ||
|-
| Number of tasks || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Number of words ||
|-
| Correct answers || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20
|}
At the ECL exam, a maximum of 25 points can be given for each skill. The oral part is passed if the candidate reaches a minimum of 40% in both the skills of "oral communication" and "listening" tasks and achieves an average score of 60% overall. The written part is passed if the candidate reaches a minimum of 40% in both the skills of "written communication" and "reading comprehension" and achieves an average score of 60% overall. The complex test is successfully passed if the candidate has passed both parts of the examination as described above.
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When only one of the examination parts is passed the candidate gets a certificate of the passed oral or written part exam.
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| ||
|-
| '''Pass mark''' || '''30 points
|-
| Minimum number of points per skill || '''10 points
|}
{| class="wikitable"
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| '''Pass mark''' || '''30 points – 60%'''
|-
| Minimum number of points per skill || '''10 points
|}
The ECL exams can be taken at approximately 200 exam sites worldwide. The exam sites are located in 18 [[European countries]], the [[United States]] and [[Argentina]]. The exam sites network will be expanded to other countries, including [[Asian countries]].
ECL exams are offered five times a year. The English and German ECL exams can be taken in each of the five exam periods. Exams in the other test languages are offered twice each year.
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| February || English, German || B1, B2, C1
|-
| April || German, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian,
|-
| June|| English, German, Bulgarian, Czech and Hungarian || A2, B1, B2, C1
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| October || English, German || B1, B2, C1
|-
| December || Bulgarian, German, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian,
|}
== Links ==
* [http://eclexam.eu/ Official site of ECL]
[[Category:European Union]]
[[Category:Language assessment]]
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