CEFR Companion Volume implementation toolbox

The VITbox project team has been developing online modules to help language teacher educators and teachers become familiar with the content of the CEFR Companion Volume. These modules will be available for use in initial teacher training, in professional development activities and for self-study purposes. They can also be adapted by the users according to their individual needs and contexts.

Our French-German-Polish-Spanish project team has already developed prototypes of two modules for the course. The modules were first presented last month at two events: 1st AKS Online Conference “Quo vadis language instruction: On the threshold of new forms of teaching” organised by Arbeitskreis der Sprachenzentren an Hochschulen e.V. on 4 March 2021, and during a webinar run by Grupo de Interés en Evaluación de Lenguas en España (GIELE), a national organisation promoting research and initiatives on language assessment in Spain, on 12 March 2021.

The VITbox project team (Johann Fischer from Universität Göttingen, Laurent Rouveyrol from Université Nice Côte d'Azur, Barbara Sawicka from Politechnika Poznańska and Julia Zabala Delgado from Universitat Politècnica de València) presented the aims and objectives of the VITbox project and examples of training activities and materials taken from the project modules. The presenters provided a first insight into these modules and explained how the material can be used, for example in professional development workshops.

The presentation “The VITbox Project – an online toolbox for teacher educators to implement the ideas of the CEFR Companion Volume 2020” delivered at the AKS conference highlighted examples of training materials and activities which discuss the issues of online communication, whereas the webinar “Proyecto VITbox” at the GIELE meeting was illustrated with selected materials related to language mediation. Both were followed by discussions of the concepts presented and the content of the project modules. This provided project team members with valuable and constructive feedback.

For more information visit the websites:

1. 1st AKS online conference "Quo vadis language lnstruction: On the threshold of new forms of teaching": a conference presentation of the VITbox project
2. Online GIELE webinar: "Cómo familiarizar a los profesionales de las lenguas con el contenido del Volumen Complementario al MCER: proyecto VITbox – un programa de desarrollo profesional online"

More coming soon…

• VITbox project website: English - French

The VITbox team met on September 7th and 8th to discuss the draft VITbox material within the ECML project “CEFR Companion Volume implementation toolbox”. These materials are designed to help teacher educators and teacher trainers in initial teacher training and in professional development programmes as well as language teachers to implement the ideas of the CEFR Companion Volume. At the end of the project, you will have access to a mouth-watering Companion Volume Moodle course offering the following items on the menu:

• VITbox appetizers (short videos on individual modules)
• VITbox main course list (offering more extensive videos on each module)
• VITbox full experience with a cherry on top (providing further reading material)
• VITbox dessert list (with recorded webinars)
• VITbox wine list (with bibliographical references)

and special treats such as:

• VITbox dégustation (sample tasks for teaching and assessment)
• VITbox shopping list (offering checklists for training contexts)
• VITbox recipes (training activities)

etc.

Bon appétit! Enjoy your meal!

Johann Fischer, Laurent Rouveyrol, Barbara Sawicka, Julia Zabala Delgado

• VITbox project website: English - French
• ECML programme of activities 2020-2023 "Inspiring innovation in language education: changing contexts, evolving competences": English - French

The ECML project “CEFR Companion Volume Implementation Toolbox” – or “the VITbox Project” for short – has now started its activities. The project aims to provide digital resources that exemplify how to implement the ideas of the new CEFR Companion Volume in language teaching at university and in vocational training. These resources will include short videos, checklists, texts and classroom tasks and for use by teacher educators and teacher trainers in their training sessions and by language teachers for self-study purposes. The material will be produced in English and French but will include examples from other languages. The idea behind the VITbox project is to create an open toolbox from which educators, trainers and teachers can freely choose the resources they consider suitable for their purposes, adapt them to their individual training needs and eventually create their own material.

The team is now looking forward to setting up a substantial database of varied materials, that has been piloted in their own training sessions and freely available to the public.

Johann Fischer, Laurent Rouveyrol, Barbara Sawicka, Julia Zabala Delgado

• VITbox project website: English - French
• ECML programme of activities 2020-2023 "Inspiring innovation in language education: changing contexts, evolving competences": English - French