PISA 2025: Foreign Language Assessment

The OECD's 2025 PISA cycle will for the first time include Foreign Language Assessment as an international option. The language to be assessed is English. Finland will participate in this option together with 22 other countries and economies. The practical implementation of the Foreign Language Assessment in Finland is the responsibility of the Centre for Applied Language Studies at the Ģ��ֱ��.

Project duration

1.2.2023 - 31.12.2027

Core fields of research

Languages, culture and society

Learning, teaching and interaction

Research areas

Assessment of language proficiency and for learning

Department

Centre for Applied Language Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Finnish Institute for Educational Research

Funding

Ministry of Education and Culture

Project description

(based on: )

Foreign Language Assessment is included for the first time in the 2025 PISA cycle. It will be composed of:

A test to assess foreign language proficiency of 15-year-old students
A set of questionnaire modules for teachers, students, schools and parents as well as a system-level questionnaire to collect context and policy-relevant information

The assessment will include key language competencies needed for study and work. The first cycle (year 2025) will start with the assessment of English, the most taught foreign language in schools worldwide. The assessment will focus on three language skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and oral language skills (speaking). The coverage of languages and skills may widen in future cycles.

The study provides internationally comparable data on the English language skills of 15-year-old students in basic education and the factors associated with these skills. The results are expressed in terms of the proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which also form the basis of in the national core curriculum for basic education. The results are thus comprehensible to all those familiar with foreign language teaching. It is also noteworthy that the study assesses students' ability to speak English, which underlines the importance of oral language skills and fits well with the objectives of language teaching in basic education.

OECD background report on foreign language assessment

The OECD has conducted a background study on foreign language assessment in five countries, describing differences and similarities in foreign language teaching and learning for 15-year-olds. The report "How 15-Year-Olds Learn English: Case Studies from Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal" is available on the OECD's publication service. A working group at the Centre for Applied Language Studies at the Ģ��ֱ�� (Petteri Laihonen, Karoliina Inha, Ari Huhta and Tarja Nikula-Jäntti) prepared a desk study on Finland as background material for the OECD report.

More information on the PISA 2025 study

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is a joint research programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries that measures the skills of 15-year-olds in different areas.

In Finland, PISA 2025 is carried out by a consortium of the Ģ��ֱ�� (the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, FIER and the Centre for Applied Language Studies, CALS) and the Tampere Universities Community (Faculty of Education and Culture). The national centre for the PISA study is the Finnish Institute for Educational Research in Jyväskylä.

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