According to Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching, the flipped classroom model describes a reversal of traditional teaching.  In the flipped classroom, students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos. Class time is then used to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge through strategies such as […]

First, one of the goals of the ECOSTAR project is to standardize the teaching of English in higher education, in order to allow for mutual recognition of English courses both in Israel and abroad. This entails adopting a communicative, action-oriented approach, as presented in the CEFR. All skills should be integrated and not only included […]

We encourage institutions to ultimately adopt the Framework for English Teaching in Higher Education in Israel as a whole. However, change is a process and should be instituted in stages. The EAQUALS Self-help Guide for Curriculum and Syllabus Design, pg.3   A recommended first step is to have department heads and/or a representative from your […]

Absolutely not! The Framework for English Teaching in Higher Education in Israel provides a common language and a “common ruler” to assess the level of language proficiency. The choice of content and methodological approaches is up to you, and should be determined by the goals of your institution and program. By integrating the four skills […]

The Framework provides can-do statements that can be integrated into your existing courses. If you have discipline-specific courses at the advanced proficiency levels, the can-do statements can be integrated into discipline-specific courses just as easily as into general EFL courses.

Your student assessment should reflect the can-do statements you chose to integrate into your course. This should be an on-going process, encompassing both formative and summative assessment, so your assessment would be made up of a number of components (such as a traditional quiz, a performance task, a presentation, etc.) Each of these components may […]

Assessment should be derived from the objectives for the course, and these will, to a certain extent, determine the tools of assessment. The various tools of assessment you choose should give you insights regarding the extent of a student’s progress towards the can-do statements as well as the level of achievement of those can-do statements. […]

This will depend on your context and your target audience. Furthermore, you will probably not be teaching reading comprehension as a separate component of the course, but rather reading comprehension would be integrated with other language skills. For example, you might ask your students to read an article not just to answer a set of […]

The Internet now provides teachers with a virtually limitless range of instructional materials. The decision regarding instructional materials will depend, naturally, on your objectives, which will be derived from the can-do statements. To help students achieve these can-dos, CEFR-aligned courses use authentic, ‘real-world’ materials and activities that engage the students and reinforce all four language […]

Various aspects of your teaching may change in relation to what you teach, your perception of what it means to learn a language and how you view your students. Focus on all four skills Your teaching will now be addressing integration of speaking, writing and listening in addition to reading comprehension. To integrate these four […]