The scientific activity of Le français des affaires is developed through exchanges of practices with other language assessment organizations in Europe, and through participation in scientific events.
Le français des affaires regularly takes part in meetings organized by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) and conferences organized by the Association for the Development of Evaluation Methodologies in Education (ADMEE-Europe).
It also maintains close contact with members of the Scientific Committee, setting up experiments or writing scientific papers.
Sharing best practices
Founded in 1989 by the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of Salamanca (Spain), the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) is a professional association which aims to promote the fair and accurate assessment of language skills across Europe and beyond. It currently has 35 full members.
ALTE has developed a quality label (Q-Mark) for its member organizations, which certifies that their exams meet the requirements set out in ALTE’s 18 quality standards. This label testifies to the fact that ALTE member organizations aspire to consistent standards of quality and excellence in their exams.
The Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) is a full member of the association and has been a regular participant in ALTE meetings and conferences since April 2007.
Dominique Casanova, Head of Scientific Development and Representative of Le français des affaires at ALTE, is a regular contributor to the association and Co-Chair of the Interest Group on the Use of Technology in Language Assessment.
He also supports the Interest Group on Less Widely Tested Languages in its reflections on the use of statistics in a low-diffusion context.
Since 2003, Le français des affaires has taken part in conferences organized by ADMEE-Europe, regularly presenting papers, often in partnership with the University of Mons.
Le français des affaires works closely with Professor Marc Demeuse, Director of the Institut d’Administration Scolaire (Institute of Academic Administration – INAS) at the University of Mons (UMONS) and Chair of the Scientific Committee of Le français des affaires. Together, they have carried out numerous experiments on the TEF, which they have reported to the scientific community by speaking at conferences or writing articles.
The Scientific Committee also organized several study days on the topic of assessment and Professional French at partner universities (University of Artois, Grenoble-Alpes University, Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, Lumière University – Lyon 2, Sorbonne University, Sorbonne Nouvelle University).
Le français des affaires was also invited to take part in conferences organized by Grenoble-Alpes University (Psychometrics for Language Assessment) and Louvain-la-Neuve University (CENTAL Seminar), with which it shared data as part of a PhD on lexico-grammatical complexity in French as a Foreign Language.
