BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE COORDINATION

BUREAU DE COORDINATION LINGUISTIQUE INTERNATIONALE

Julie Dubeau
MTCP Briefing 2017A
Julie.Dubeau@forces.gc.ca

www.NATOBILC.org
Outline of briefing
• BILC Background & Mandate
• Programme of Work &

• Standardization Efforts

• BILC Courses

• NATO Language Context

• ‘THE’ STANAG
 Bureau for International Language Coordination
Established in 1966 as an advisory body to NATO.

Founding members are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom,

and the United States.

1967: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands

1975: SHAPE and IMS/NATO (non-voting members)
1978: Portugal
1983: Turkey
1984: Denmark and Greece
1985: Spain
1993: Norway
1999: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia
2008: Albania, Croatia

The BILC Chair presides over the Steering Committee which meets at the spring
conference. Voting members are the heads of NATO delegations.

Partner nations are welcome to attend and observe at Steering Committee

4
BILC’s Mandate
Mission: To promote and foster
interoperability among NATO and PfP nations
by furthering standardization of language
training and testing. To support the Alliance's
operations through the exchange of
knowledge and best practices, IAW
established procedures and agreements.

Vision: To achieve levels of excellence

where progress made by one is shared by all.
 Who Attends BILC Conferences and Seminars?

• Ministry level policy people

• Commandants

• School Directors

• Department Chairs

• Testing experts

• Curriculum developers

• Classroom teachers in many

languages
= Blend of civ & mil

Average of 90 attendees from 25 + countries

 Examples of Past Events

2014 2015
 BILC Conference (spring)  BILC Conference (spring)
2014 – Belgium 2015 – Spain
“Forging Effective Partnerships to Optimize “NATO requirements versus national
Operational Success” policies: Bridging the divide at the language
school”

 STANAG Testing Workshop (fall)

 STANAG Testing Workshop (fall)
2014 – Austria
2015 – Lithuania
Focus: Item development workshop
Focus: Challenges in STANAG Testing

 BILC Professional Seminar (fall)

 BILC Professional Seminar (fall)
2014 – Germany
2015 – Finland
“Catering to Diversity: Tailored Approaches Building Proficiency: What works and what
to Language Training” doesn’t
 2016 BILC Conference
Riga, Latvia, 22-26 May
Theme: From Goals to Outcomes: Measuring Success

Topics
- Creating courses, validating their effectiveness and accreditation
- Applying quality assurance measures to language programs
- Creating coherence across different assessments in a language program
- STANAG 6001-based training
- (Dis)parities between scales and tests
- The impact of digital learning environments on learning success
- Challenges of transitioning from traditional to blended learning
- Enhancing performance through standardization
- Creating templates for success.

Study Groups Topics:

- Quality assurance for language programs
- Portability of STANAG 6001 certificates to civilian context
- Best practices in blended learning
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- Successful templates for designing, developing and validating courses.
 ACT sponsored “BILC Courses”

• Language Testing Seminar (LTS): 2 wks

• Advanced Language Testing Seminar (ALTS): 3 wks

• Language Standards & Assessment Seminar (LSAS): 2 wks

• Faculty Development Workshop: 2 wks

• Approx. 600 attendees since 2001

• Facilitators from: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada,

Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania,
Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, United Kingdom, USA
 Programme of Work & Standardization Efforts

BILC conducts research, projects & provides support to nations;

• Language Level 4
• Military Terminology
• Language Needs Analysis of NATO positions

Language Teaching and Testing Exchange:

Visits to requesting NATO & Partner nations to assist with language
training & testing programmes:

Recent BILC visits: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Macedonia (FYROM),

Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Uzbekistan, UK, Ukraine,
etc.
Team members from: Canada, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia, Sweden,
UK, USA
 Programme of Work & Standardization Efforts

(a) CANADA/BILC supports LTTC/MTCP participating nations

(b) by conducting collaborative visits to requesting nations in

order to assess their training and testing systems and make
recommendations for improvements; and

(c) by providing specialized training to language school

management, teachers, testers and developers in the
interpretation and implementation of the STANAG 6001

CANADA/BILC MTCP Visits:

Colombia, Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan, Mexico, etc.
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
What is STANAG 6001?

• NATO Standardization Agreement No. 6001 is a

set of definitions of proficiency levels in 4 skills.
The oral proficiency (listening and speaking) and
written proficiency (reading and writing).
• At each Level there are separate descriptions of
performance for each skill area. Taken together
in the order Listening-Speaking-Reading-
Writing, the corresponding 4 numbers form a
Standardized Language Profile (SLP).
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
What is STANAG 6001?

• Participating NATO nations have adopted the table

of language proficiency levels for the purpose of:
– Communicating language requirements for
international staff appointments.
– Recording and reporting, in international
correspondence, measures of language proficiency.
– Comparing national standards through a standardized
table while preserving each nation’s right to maintain
its own internal proficiency standards.
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
NATO adopted STANAG 6001 in 1976.
Why?
Specific enough so that positions (Mil and Civ) could be
matched to proficiency levels, but general enough, so
that they described progression considered to be typical
of learners, but not necessarily related to any particular
language or curriculum.
Ed 2 and Ed 3. International benchmarking efforts
Ed 4 promulgated by NSA in Oct 2010 (no change)
Ed 5 promulgated by NSO in Dec 2014 (no change)
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
NATO STANAG 6001
Was re issued as Edition 5 (Ed 5 v.2 in May 2016)

Equivalent to the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, used

in the USA.

Levels can be compared to other scales, but results on STANAG tests

cannot be equated to results or scores on tests such as CEFR,
TOEFL, TOIC, etc…
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
NATO STANAG 6001 (11 pt scale)
THE THRESHOLD PRINCIPLE
• Each descriptor presents the minimally acceptable
performance at each level. Therefore, performance
must be sustained according to the accuracy
statements in each descriptor.

THE RANGE PRINCIPLE

• Each level represents a range of proficiency, rather
than a point on a scale. There are varying degrees of
performances within the same level. Performance could
vary from threshold (or minimally acceptable) to midway
through or high within the range.
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
NATO STANAG 6001 (11 pt scale)
Base Levels: (6)

– Level 0 No proficiency
– Level 1 Survival
– Level 2 Functional
– Level 3 Professional
– Level 4 Expert
– Level 5 Highly articulate native

Plus Levels: (5)

 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
NATO STANAG 6001 PLUS LEVEL PROFICIENCY
“Plus level” proficiency is understood as
language proficiency that is more than
halfway between two base levels.

“Plus level” proficiency substantially exceeds

the base skill level but does not fully or
consistently meet all of the criteria for the
next higher base level.
Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
STANAG 6001

5
Expert
4

Professional
3

2 Functional

1 Survival

0
THE EVER-WIDENING CIRCLE OF
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
 LANGUAGE CATEGORIES AND TIME ON TASK
Category I II III IV
Example Afrikaans Bulgarian Czech Arabic
Dutch Dari Finnish Chinese
French German Hebrew Japanese
Italian Greek Hungarian Korean
Norwegian Hindi Persian *Pashto
Spanish Indonesian Russian

T on T 25 34 47 63
Level 0 to Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks
Level 2
T on T Extra 18 Extra 26 Extra 36 Extra 47
Level 2 to Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks
Level 2+
T on T Extra 18 Extra 26 Extra 36 Extra 47
Level 2+ to Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks
Level 3
 NATO Language Context:
Complicated and Complex!

Each nation is responsible for own training & testing

program

No common tests, only a common standard -

STANAG 6001

Nations certify their military with SLPs based on

own STANAG - based tests.
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
Using the STANAG as a road map in language teaching.

• Teachers should understand and know the

STANAG levels.

• STANAG needs to be explained to teachers,

management, users etc.
– Language specific examples are needed.
– Each nation or language group may need to
clarify specific terms mentioned in the
STANAG.
 Bureau for International
Language Co-ordination
Using the STANAG as a road map in language teaching.

• The STANAG can be used as a reference

(the C/T/A).
• The labels (survival, functional etc.) are
also a guide for teachers.
• “Plus” levels are important.
• STANAG states what should be achieved
at minimum at each level.
 JALLC Report 2010:
Interoperability Shortfall due to Language

• English language skills lacking

• Inadequate harmonization of req & procedures

• Need for proficiency is increasing

• Documents & needed correspondence too lengthy, too

complex

• Content / intensity / duration of Eng language training

falling short

• Native speaker not proficient in communicating in

multinational environment
 Benchmark Advisory Test
(BAT)
Background: Tasking from NTG to promote standardized testing

Strategy: BILC proposed a benchmark test against which national

tests can be calibrated & formed MN BILC WG & VNC for item
development

 Goal: To promote relative parity of scale interpretation and testing

instruments across countries

 Specs: General language proficiency iaw STANAG

• Everyday survival and work-related topics
• Some NATO-related topics at higher levels
• Not job-specific
 Parting thoughts…

• Language training is costly…

• Planning is essential!!
• Learning a language takes time!!
• Training in STANAG 6001 interpretation
& application is essential!
• Investing in lifelong language learning
of military personnel is pragmatic..
• Language is key to interoperability!
BUREAU DE COORDINATION LINGUISTIQUE INTERNATIONALE

BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE COORDINATION

QUESTIONS??
THANK YOU!!!