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Author: Cyril J. Weir Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK) ISBN: 9781781794920 Category : English language Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This book tells the story of the British Council's seventy-five year involvement in the field of English language testing. The first section of the book explores the role of the British Council in spreading British influence around the world through the export of British English language examinations and British expertise in language testing. Founded in 1934, the organisation formally entered the world of English language testing with the signing of an agreement with the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate (UCLES) in 1941. This agreement, which was to last until 1993, saw the British Council provide substantial English as a Foreign Language (EFL) expertise and technical and financial assistance to help UCLES develop their suite of English language tests. Perhaps the high points of this phase were the British Council inspired Cambridge Diploma of English Studies introduced in the 1940s and the central role played by the British Council in the conceptualisation and development of the highly innovative English Language Testing Service (ELTS) in the 1970s, the precursor to the present day International English Language Testing System (IELTS). British Council support for the development of indigenous national English language tests around the world over the last thirty years further enhanced the promotion of English and the creation of soft power for Britain. In the early 1990s the focus of the British Council changed from test development to delivery of British examinations through its global network. However, by the early years of the 21st century, the organisation was actively considering a return to test development, a strategy that was realised with the founding of the Assessment Research Group in early 2012. This was followed later that year by the introduction of the Aptis English language testing service; the first major test developed in-house for over thirty years. As well as setting the stage for the re-emergence of professional expertise in language testing within the organisation, these initiatives have resulted in a growing strategic influence for the organisation on assessment in English language education. This influence derives from a commitment to test localisation, the development and provision of flexible, accessible and affordable tests and an efficient delivery, marking and reporting system underpinned by an innovative socio-cognitive approach to language testing. This final period can be seen as a clear return by the British Council to using language testing as a tool for enhancing soft power for Britain: a return to the original raison d'etre of the organisation.
Author: Cyril J. Weir Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK) ISBN: 9781781794920 Category : English language Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This book tells the story of the British Council's seventy-five year involvement in the field of English language testing. The first section of the book explores the role of the British Council in spreading British influence around the world through the export of British English language examinations and British expertise in language testing. Founded in 1934, the organisation formally entered the world of English language testing with the signing of an agreement with the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate (UCLES) in 1941. This agreement, which was to last until 1993, saw the British Council provide substantial English as a Foreign Language (EFL) expertise and technical and financial assistance to help UCLES develop their suite of English language tests. Perhaps the high points of this phase were the British Council inspired Cambridge Diploma of English Studies introduced in the 1940s and the central role played by the British Council in the conceptualisation and development of the highly innovative English Language Testing Service (ELTS) in the 1970s, the precursor to the present day International English Language Testing System (IELTS). British Council support for the development of indigenous national English language tests around the world over the last thirty years further enhanced the promotion of English and the creation of soft power for Britain. In the early 1990s the focus of the British Council changed from test development to delivery of British examinations through its global network. However, by the early years of the 21st century, the organisation was actively considering a return to test development, a strategy that was realised with the founding of the Assessment Research Group in early 2012. This was followed later that year by the introduction of the Aptis English language testing service; the first major test developed in-house for over thirty years. As well as setting the stage for the re-emergence of professional expertise in language testing within the organisation, these initiatives have resulted in a growing strategic influence for the organisation on assessment in English language education. This influence derives from a commitment to test localisation, the development and provision of flexible, accessible and affordable tests and an efficient delivery, marking and reporting system underpinned by an innovative socio-cognitive approach to language testing. This final period can be seen as a clear return by the British Council to using language testing as a tool for enhancing soft power for Britain: a return to the original raison d'etre of the organisation.
Author: Taylor & Francis Group Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 9780367591199 Category : Languages : en Pages : 262
Book Description
The British Council and Anglo-Giwk Literary Interactions, 1945-1955, In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, and with British political influence over Greece soon to be ceded to the United States, there was a considerable degree of cultural interaction between Greek and British literati. Sponsored or assisted by the British Council, this interaction was notable for its diversity and quality alike. Indeed, the British Council in Greece made a more significant contribution to local culture in that period than at any other time, and perhaps in any other country. Many of the participants - among them Patrick Leigh Fermor, Steven Runciman, and Louis MacNeice - are well known, while others deserve to be better know n than they are today. But what has been less fully discussed, and what the volume sets out to do, is to explore the two-way relations between Greek and British literary production in which the British Council played a particularly important role until the outbreak of armed conflict in Cyprus in 1955, which rendered further contacts of this kind difficult. Close attention is paid to the variety of ways - marked by personal affinities and allegiances, but also by political tensions - in which the British Council functional an agent of interaction in a climate where a complex blend of traditional Anglophilia or Philhellenism found itself encountering a new post-war and Cold War environment. What is distinctive about the volume, beyond the inclusion of much recent archival research, is its attention to the British Council as part of the story of Greek letters, and not just as a place in which various British men and women of letter worked. The British Council found itself, sometimes more through improvisation and personal affinities than through careful planning, at the heart of some key developments, notably in terms of important periodical publications which had a lasting influence on Greek letters. Though in the cultural forum that influence was arguably to be less pervasive than that of France, with its more ambitious cultural outreach, or than that of the USA in later decades, the role of the British Council in Greece in this crucial period of Greek (and indeed European) post-war history continues to make a rich case study in cultural politics. This volume thus fills a gap in the bibliography on Anglo-Greek relations and contributes to a wider scholarly and public discussion about cultural politics. Book jacket.
Author: Annebella Pollen Publisher: Art / Books ISBN: 9781908970527 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
What is the value of the visual arts in international cultural exchange? What do exhibitions of wok by leading British artists communicate as they travel overseas? For more than eight decades, the British Council has sent British art abroad as ambitious acts of cultural dialogue with over a hundred countries, from Afghanistan to Zambia. Along the way it has amassed a distinctive and unique national art collection, comprising over 8500 pieces, ranging from painting, print and sculpture to film works, photography and craft by some of the most significant artistic talents of the 20th and 21st centuries. It continues to acquire new art by emerging practitioners and to operate in new geographical territories using innovative methods of cultural engagement. Its works are on display in over 100 countries worldwide, and its exhibitions are seen by millions of people per year. Art without Frontiers follows the expectations made of visual arts in the work of the British Council since 1935, locating its achievements in the shifting contexts of global politics and art history across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through a series of chronological exhibition histories that act as testing grounds and turning points, Art without Frontiers explores key moments in the British Council's visual arts programme and, in particular, the development and use of the British Council Collection, to examine what art can do for cultural relations in an ever-changing world.
Author: Great Britain. National Audit Office Publisher: The Stationery Office ISBN: 9780102954173 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 44
Book Description
The British Council has been flexible in moving its attention and resources to match new UK priorities, particularly in the Islamic World and the Far East. It continues to implement numerous and extensive internal changes aimed at increasing its effectiveness and efficiency, though delivery of projects and change has been uneven across its global network. The Council's approach to measuring its performance is well developed. Its scorecard shows positive results across most aspects of activity, including audience sizes, customer satisfaction scores, and the perceptions of stakeholders and partners.The Council increasingly depends on contributions from external partners and commercial sponsors, to expand its activities and impacts. This will mean reversing the downward trend in sponsorship and other contributions of the last six years. The Council has recognised the importance of good customer service, but it is not yet meeting the standards it sets for itself across the whole network. It also needs to implement a customer database to enable it to track customer contacts and better understand its audiences.The British Council's £181 million English language teaching and examinations business has a strong reputation and more than covers its costs. The teaching operation also supports UK public diplomacy, notably by helping overseas governments expand the teaching of English in their schools and colleges.But the teaching business has a high cost base, charges premium prices, and has limited reach outside overseas capital cities. Although there has been an increase in the numbers of students taught, the network of teaching centres has contracted in recent years. To continue to grow the business, the Council will need to put into action its ideas about alternative lower-cost ways to deliver good quality teaching.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee Publisher: The Stationery Office ISBN: 9780215543813 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 52
Book Description
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Its purpose is to "build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide." As well as education, it runs programmes in the arts, science, sport, governance and English language in 110 countries and territories worldwide. 2009 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council. It receives Grant-in-Aid from the FCO for its public diplomacy activity: £209 million 2008-09, a 6% increase from 2007-08. The Committee concludes that the change in extent of data provided and the presentation of that data in the British Council's 2008-09 annual report makes it more difficult to track and evaluate the Council's performance over a period of years. In future the annual report should include fuller performance data, including corporate performance scores and reach, to facilitate year-on-year analysis. The recent decline in some of the scores achieved in relation to quality of service, particularly in that relating to engagement with decision makers and senior influencers, gives cause for concern. The Committee welcomes the Council's efforts to re-establish itself in Iran and Zimbabwe, its increased focus on China, and its progress in implementing NAO suggested administrative reforms (HC 625, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102954173). 2009-10 will be a difficult year for the British Council and further cuts in staff and services may be unavoidable. In these circumstances it is important that the Council concentrates its activities on its core business and key objectives.
Author: Micheline Chalhoub-Deville Publisher: British Council Monographs on Modern Language Testing ISBN: 9781781799895 Category : Examinations Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
This monograph provides a historical overview of validity, targeting developments in both the UK and the US. It explores theoretical notions of validity as well as pragmatic validation practices and expands the arguments that need to be attended to document quality. The authors examine the need to consider, in addition to the psychometric evidence, which has continued to prevail especially in the US, other critical sources of quality evidence. They call attention to principled design and the evidence accumulated from various departments/groups involved in test design and development. They also promote the concept of impact by design, which places consequences at the top of the evidence chain to guide all testing efforts and quality documentation. They envision validity scholarship to attend to consequences at the individual, aggregate/group, and larger educational/organisational/societal levels. Concomitant with this attention to consequences are considerations of stakeholders and the tailoring of communication to engage intended groups. Such an approach yields a more convincing validity argument. The monograph ends by calling on professionals in the field to publish case studies, which showcases localised validity arguments in practice. Local case studies represent critical endeavours to illustrate how evidence and arguments are pulled together to support the quality of a testing programme and all that it entails.
Author: Peter Mackridge Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317039904 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 254
Book Description
In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, and with British political influence over Greece soon to be ceded to the United States, there was nonetheless a degree of cultural interaction between Greek and British literati. Sponsored or assisted by the British Council, this interaction was notable for its diversity and quality alike. Indeed, the British Council in Greece made a more significant contribution to local culture in that period than at any other time, and perhaps in any other country. Many of the participants – among them Patrick Leigh Fermor, Steven Runciman, and Louis MacNeice – are well known, while others deserve to be better known than they are today. But what has been less fully discussed, and what the volume sets out to do, is to explore the two-way relations between Greek and British literary production in which the British Council played a particularly important role until the outbreak of armed conflict in Cyprus in 1955, which rendered further contacts of this kind difficult. Close attention is paid to the variety of ways - marked by personal affinities and allegiances, but also by political tensions - in which the British Council functioned as an agent of interaction in a climate where a complex blend of traditional Anglophilia or Phihellenism found itself encountering a new post-war and Cold War environment. What is distinctive about the volume, beyond the inclusion of much recent archival research, is its attention to the British Council as part of the story of Greek letters, and not just as a place in which various British men and women of letters worked. The British Council found itself, sometimes more through improvisation and personal affinities, rather than through careful planning, at the heart of some key developments, notably in terms of important periodical publications which had a lasting influence on Greek letters. Though in the cultural forum that influence was arguably to be less pervasive than that of France, with its more ambitious cultural outreach, or than that of the USA in later decades, the role of the British Council in Greece in this crucial period of Greek (and indeed European) post-war history continues to make a rich case study in cultural politics. This volume thus fills a gap in the rich bibliography on Anglo-Greek relations and contributes to a wider scholarly and public discussion about cultural politics.
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Public Accounts Committee Publisher: The Stationery Office ISBN: 9780215525468 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 44
Book Description
This report (HC 814, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215525468) looks at the work of the British Council and what impact the Council has working with whole societies, how it makes best use of resources and their efforts to increase consistency across the British Council network. It follows an NAO report (HCP 625, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102954173), on the same topic. The British Council is a Registered Charity and an executive Non-Departmental Public Body as well as a Public Corporation. It aims to build relationships between people in the UK and other countries, through teaching English and running cultural projects. It operates in over 110 countries and engages with over 15 million people a year worldwide. The Committee has set out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including: that the British Council should be congratulated for its achievements in promoting the English language and culture overseas; the Committee believes though that the current teaching model, based on premium prices and concentrated mainly in capital cities, severely restricts its reach; that the Council's recent programme of change has had a negative effect on staff and their view of the Council's leadership; the Council is without a single customer relationship management system, which it is now going to address; that sponsorship and partner income has fallen year on year since 2000-01, and the Council should do more to reverse this trend; the Committee has identified a lack of consistency across the network.
Author: Cyril J. Weir
Author: Cyril J. Weir
Author: Lady Frances Lonsdale Donaldson
Author: Taylor & Francis Group
Author: Annebella Pollen
Author: Great Britain. National Audit Office
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Author: British Council
Author: Micheline Chalhoub-Deville
Author: Peter Mackridge
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Public Accounts Committee