UCLES EFL adopts
‘ESOL’ identity
Friday 22 March, 2002
In
October 2002, UCLES EFL becomes ‘Cambridge ESOL Examinations’.
Cambridge has chosen this title to reflect the increasing diversity
of its candidates, ranging from those in the ‘traditional’
language school sector to the growing number of people living, studying
and working in English-speaking countries for whom English is not
the first language.
ESOL stands for ‘English for Speakers of Other Languages’.
It is already widely used in the UK, USA and elsewhere, as a more
inclusive alternative to EFL (English as a Foreign Language).
UCLES EFL – the division of the University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate that provides qualifications for learners
of English – is adopting the title Cambridge ESOL for all
of its activities. The full title of the EFL division of the UCLES
group will change to ‘University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations’,
and the coming months will see the introduction of a new logo and
new, brighter designs for many of the organisation’s publications.
According to Chief Executive Dr Peter Hargreaves, the change of identity is a recognition of the broader needs and backgrounds of learners and teachers throughout the world, and the many different reasons for which they take the examinations. “We have felt for several years that the term ‘English as a Foreign Language’ did not reflect the full diversity of our candidate population. Three years ago we took the initial step of broadening the focus of our teachers awards when the CTEFLA and DTEFLA became the CELTA and DELTA. Changing our name signals a broadening of focus in all of our assessment activity”. Dr Hargreaves also stressed that adopting the term ‘ESOL’, in no way reduced the commitment to meeting the needs of the established ‘EFL’ constituency.
it is anticipated
that the change to Cambridge ESOL will help to extend the worldwide
recognition of the examinations by governments, educational institutions
and employers. The examinations have recently been accredited by
the UK Government’s examinations regulator and by the Greek
Higher Council for Employment in the Public
Sector, both of whom focus on requirements that go beyond the established
definition of English as a foreign language.
Cambridge ESOL will have a permanent staff of more than 150, complemented
by around 10,000 examiners and will be responsible for examinations
which had over one million entries in 2001, in 135 countries.
Cambridge ESOL
will continue to pursue the UCLES EFL mission, ‘To provide
language learners and teachers in a wide variety of situations with
access to a range of high quality international examinations, tests
and teachers awards, which will help them to achieve their life
goals and have a positive impact on their learning and professional
development experience.’
The change to Cambridge ESOL does not signal any change in the UCLES
group structure. Cambridge ESOL will remain a part of the UCLES
group (and of the University of Cambridge), along with Cambridge
International Examinations and UK examinations provider OCR. Each
part of the group focuses on the needs of a distinct constituency
but close collaboration enables the sharing of expertise and resources.
The current UCLES group title and logo will continue to be used
in some ESOL contexts, for example where the ESOL division and the
International Examinations division are working in collaborative
projects overseas.
eflinfo@ucles.org.uk Tel. +44 1223 552734
