The Certification of Teachers’ Language Competence in Quebec in French and English: Two Different Perspectives?

Abstract

Language tools are reflections of the academic traditions of assessment developers, as well as the perceptions of language quality as held by a society. The certification of Quebec’s teachers offers an interesting case in point: the Québec Government’s ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) requires that all students in university programs leading to teacher certification demonstrate their proficiency in the language of instruction—either French or English. The development and validation activities of the English and French examinations were systematically explored through a secondary document analysis to gain insight into possible cultural differences in perceptions of the construct of teacher language competence. Also revealed during this comparison were common concerns about these exams’ limitations and potential negative impacts, which include reinforcement of a narrow vision of language proficiency and exclusion of certain student populations.

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