Lingualevel und kompetenz- orientiertes Lernen

Abstract

The SBW Frauenfeld Haus des Lernens is a private secondary school in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, attended by 12 to 16 year-old students. Teaching and learning are organized in mixed age groups. The school building has no classrooms but floors called ‚learning worlds’, each floor dedicated to a certain subject. Each student has his or her individual learning objectives and learning pace. The objectives in foreign language teaching refer to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as contained in the Swiss European Language Portfolio. Communicative competences are assessed with Lingualevel twice a year. The results of these assessments are documented in graphic competence profiles which are added to the school reports together with the students’ self-assessment . These profiles are the basis for individual coaching and tuition and help to define realistic individual goals. Thanks to the scientifically evaluated tests provided by Lingualevel the school is able to issue assessments of achievement that are far more accurate and informative than traditional school grades. The article shows how the achieved levels of communicative competences are finally translated into grades. Lingualevel is a pillar on which the SBW’s system of teaching heterogeneous groups with individualized learning and teaching goals rests.