When the Department of Education of Catalonia (ERC) decided to suppress the oral test of its diagnostic evaluation, voices were raised immediately against it: the Junts party, the Inter-Trade Union Independence Syndicate and the social agent Plataforma per la llengua asked the Government of Catalonia to measure the oral capacity of the students.
It's also normal, right? Without measuring verbal, you can't measure a student's communicative ability, right? No?
We do. In the CAPV, the communicative competence of students is determined without measuring their oral competence: “Therefore, it can be said that almost 80% of students who have completed compulsory schooling have sufficient competence to communicate and be able to continue learning in this language”. (End-of-stage diagnostic evaluation 2022, page 41). But “the Mintzamena dimension of competence in linguistic communication in Basque has not been evaluated and the Idazmena dimension has only been evaluated in two of the three linguistic communication competencies” (22). p. ).
In Catalonia, protesting, the government has managed to reverse and measure oral competence in the diagnostic evaluation this year. In us?
The Curriculum Decree of the Department of Education (77/2023) defines “competence in linguistic communication implies acting orally, in writing or (with a sign) in a coherent and appropriate manner”. Article 41 of the aforementioned Decree states that “the diagnostic evaluation processes are aimed at certifying the level reached by students in key and specific competences”. Without measuring verbal aspects, the competence in linguistic communication of students cannot be credited.
As in Catalan, only once the oral competence in Basque has been measured for 4th grade students of the ESO: HABE, in 2018. There were 1,000 students, they were measured level B2 and, as I know, the results have not been published. It is curious that in the Diagnostic Evaluation of 2022 this is the only linguistic level expressly mentioned: HABE measured oral level B2; in 2022, written expression and understanding were measured, but it is not clear whether level B1, B2, something intermediate…
It is not the only curiosity: in 2017 45.6% of ESO 2 students had the lowest level in Basque; in 2018, 27.7% of ESO 4; in 2019, 47.9% of ESO 2. In 2021, with no percentages: “Competence in linguistic communication in Basque has decreased considerably”; in 2022, 20.8% of students have decreased at the lowest level. From one year to the next, 20% of students manage to move from the lowest to the right level.
Back to the beginning: In Catalonia, Protestada, the government has managed to step back and measure oral competence in the diagnostic evaluation this year. In us? Are we encouraged to protest?