The CIEP provides additional support for teaching of and in French around the world, by identifying and setting up projects and through the provision of training that meets the needs of education practitioners. It also designs and manages a wide range of French certification schemes (diplomas and tests) and offers the Ev@lang language placement test.
Support for teaching of and in French
Expertise and seminars on request
In partnership with the diplomatic network’s cultural services and national education departments (or educational institutes), the CIEP provides its expertise to French-language teaching systems (French as a foreign language and bilingual streams): reform of school programmes and curricula for teaching of/in French, development of francophone bilingual sections, design of continuing training plans, improvement to course offers in public and private esta¬blishments, and development of a quality approach. It also designs professional seminars which meet the expectations and continuing training requirements of those involved in the teaching of French.
Bilingual teaching
The CIEP provides its expertise to assist bilingual teaching projects in a spirit of educational and linguistic cooperation and to train teach¬ing teams in French and non-linguistic disciplines (DNL) in the specific features of bilingual education.
It also runs the Fil du bilingue website, which provides professionals in bilingual sections with the tools they need.
Certification of French as a foreign language centres in France
The CIEP manages the Qualité français langue étrangère label, which recognises and promotes French-language teaching establishments in France whose language offers and services provide guaranteed quality. Each year, over 130 000 students take French as a foreign language courses in one of a hundred or so certified centres, 30 of which are affiliated to higher education establishments.
Assessment and certification
The CIEP provides the administrative and educational management for national French as a Foreign Language certification programmes and provides the Ev@lang placement test.
The DILF, le DELF et le DALF
These certification programmes, which are harmonised within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), are internationally recognised and used. They assess oral and written comprehension as well as oral and written production.
- Le diplôme initial de langue française (DILF) is intended for beginners and people over 16 years of age who have just arrived in France.
- Le diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) is available in several versions: “General public DELF” for older teenagers and adults, “DELF Prim” for primary education, “DELF for schools and juniors” for secondary-level education and “DELF Pro” for professional training.
- The diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) is for experienced French speakers.
TCF
The test de connaissance du français, which leads to the award of a certificate, assesses oral and written comprehension as well as command of the structures of the French language. Candidates may sit additional tests, which assess oral and written expression.
Four versions:
- the “General public TCF”, for people who want to assess their French skills for personal, academic or professional reasons;
- the “DAP TCF”, for students who wish to enrol in the first year of a bachelor’s degree in a French university or school of architecture;
- the “ANF TCF”, for people who wish to obtain French nationality by decree or by marriage;
- the “TCF for Quebec”, for people who wish to move to Quebec and are requesting a permanent visa.
Ev@lang
Ev@lang is a test which is fully available online and enables candidates and/or students to assess their level of aptitude in a given foreign language. It has been designed for businesses, the French cultural network abroad and language training centres. It assesses users in one or more skills and determines their level reliably and accurately (12 levels based on the levels in the CEFR). Currently available in French, English and Arabic, new language versions will be developed over the course of 2016.
The Quality and Expertise Committee
The only one of its kind in France, this committee guarantees the educational and psychometric quality as well as the scientific approach that underpins diplomas and tests managed by the CIEP. In ad¬dition, it helps organisations create or review examinations and tests. Finally, it works to defi¬ne the minimum quality level for European language examinations with its Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) partners.