Equitable and Inclusive (Classroom-Based) Foreign Language Assessment Using Universal Design for Learning

Introduction

Learning groups in European classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse due to factors like globalised economies, enhanced mobility and increased migration. Teachers facing these heterogenous learners with a multitude of diverse learning needs, interests, predispositions etc. have to meet their curriculum goals at the same time and they have to find ways and means of assessing their learners in an equitable fashion. This is true for institutional contexts in general and holds for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and assessment as well.

The way people learn is as unique as their fingerprints and learners have diverse learning needs, so the needs of the curriculum should be designed from the beginning to accommodate this diversity. Diverse learning needs can be defined as the learning needs which reflect various elements of the diversity encountered with learners, e.g. socio-economic background, developmental stage, physical / cognitive abilities, cultural, sexual orientation, gender, ethnic group etc. This definition originates in the DINGLE project which explores digital and inclusive challenges for Norwegian and German learning and education¹. Considering diverse learning needs and preconditions in the curriculum would entail a consideration of these needs in (language) assessment contexts as well. Granting learners the possibility to perform to the best of their potential in foreign language learning and assessment is a prerequisite for equity in foreign language education as foreign language learners can mobilise their linguistic resources, allowing all learners to excel (in accordance with the Companion Volume and the Common European Framework of Reference, Council of Europe, 2020).

Although some work on accommodations has been done (e.g. Fairbairn & Spiby, 2019), in many language testing contexts (and cultures) accommodations are being seen as retrospective adjustments to the existing system in terms of modifications made to tests or testing conditions. Instead, flexible planning of language assessments from the start along with lesson planning could minimise barriers and maximise learning for all students, for which the principle of Universal Design for Learning is helpful.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has its origin in architecture and was conceived to create building structures that allow a large number of people with diverse needs to use them without the need for retrospective adjustments, e.g. automatic doors for wheelchair users but also people with prams or walkers. Not only those with disabilities profit from the building structure but all users can use it independently, based on its universal design. Transferred to the field of education, Universal Design was further developed into Universal Design for Learning, as a framework that supports the learning needs of all students through conscious, proactive and reflective instruction and interaction (CAST, 2018). Developed by developmental and neuropsychologist David Rose, it includes three principles of learning in which three cortical networks of the brain are activated by almost all learners (see also Krause & Kuhl, 2018; Rose & Meyer, 2002), namely recognition networks, strategic networks and affective networks. The goal of UDL is to enable an accessible learning environment that supports all learners so that they can take responsibility for their own learning (Gavreau et al., 2019). In this respect, the concept in foreign language teaching in closely linked to that of learner autonomy (Irie & Stewart, 2011; Little, 1991). Three cortical networks of the brain are important in learning processes, including foreign learning processes. UDL can be used for planning classroom-based language assessment procedures and can thus contribute to inclusive and equitable language assessment.

The article will present how UDL principles can be taken advantage of for inclusive learning environments and enhance accessibility of (classroom-based) language assessment arrangements, including the alignment of teaching, learning and assessing foreign languages. The present paper will attempt to broach the following questions: