Assessing language competencies in a migration process

A discriminatory and elitist process?

Abstract

This account of practice relates my professional experiences as an examiner for a French as a Foreign Language test used in the context of immigrant selection in Quebec. The objective of the text is to show that these assessment practices are discriminatory and undemocratic towards less educated immigrants and those with French as their first language or language of schooling. To do so, the immigrant selection process is presented, as well as my professional experiences, the assessment process and the nature of the discrimination faced by the aforementioned immigrants. Then, the scientific literature is mobilized to try to understand the source of this problem. The literature on foreign language proficiency benchmarks is exploited, as well as the theoretical work of Hulstijn, which allows us to reconceptualize language proficiency into two distinct competencies. The first, known as elementary, includes the knowledge and skills shared by all people who have a language as their first language. The second, called advanced, refers to more academic knowledge and skills. It is this duality that explains the discriminatory nature of the evaluation process in the context of immigrant selection. Finally, a reflexive return justifies the relevance of this account of practice for the field of education and training.