What counts as language proficiency for UK citizenship: The B1 benchmark?

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the English language requirement for the granting of permanent residence in the UK; in particular we are interested in the kinds of language use being sampled by the approved tests. The first part of the discussion will offer an account of the CEFR for Languages and the two officially approved tests of spoken English, also known as Secure English Language Tests: IELTS B1 level Life Skills and Trinity College London Graded Examinations of Spoken English (GESE) Grade 5. Both of these tests are said to be referenced to CEFR B1 level. In the next section we provide a brief characterisation of B1-ness embedded in the CEFR. We will then describe the two secure tests, paving the way to analysing the interactional moves performed by the test participants (in published samples). In the final part of the paper, we will comment on the adequacy of the tests in terms of construct validity, fitness for purpose and policy viability.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDevelopments in language education: A memorial volume in honour of Sauli Takala
EditorsAri Huhta, Gudrun Erickson, Neus Figueras
Place of PublicationJyväskylä, Finland
PublisherEALTA (European Association for Language Testing and Assessment), with University of Jyväskylä
Pages203-225
Number of pages23
ISBN (Print)978-951-39-7748-1
Publication statusPublished - 31 May 2019

Keywords

  • English
  • citizenship
  • CEFR

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'What counts as language proficiency for UK citizenship: The B1 benchmark?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this