1. Bureau for International Language Coordination BILC Updates Back to Basics: Recipes for Instructional Success Bled, Slovenia
Julie J. Dubeau
October 2012
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the BILC Professional seminar.
At last count we are 76 delegates from 30 countries with 28 attending BILC for the first time, (a little over a third). A special welcome to all of our new delegates. We also have a few delegates from countries attending BILC for the first time, a special welcome to Mauritania and to Iraq.
As I do at every BILC Conference and seminar, I will briefly tell you about BILC, who we are and what we do.

2. Membership, Secretariat, Mission STANAG 6001 Programme of work:
What/who is BILC?
Membership, Secretariat, Mission
STANAG 6001
Programme of work:
Cooperative Language Training Assessments
Assistance to Testing Programmes
Updates
And give you a few brief updates at the end. 2

3. Chair BILC Secretariat
Steering Committee
Chair
Dr. R. Monaghan
BILC
Secretariat
Senior Advisor
Dr. R. Clifford
Secretary
J. Dubeau
GRB ( )
DEU ( )
USA ( )
CAN ( )
Deputy Secretary
J. Vasilj-Begovic
Associate
Secretaries
Language
Testing Programmes
P. Garza
Language
Training Assessments
K. Wert

4. Background
Established in 1966 as an advisory body to NATO. The 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
Partner countries routinely participate. All nations are welcome to attend and/or observe.
The BILC Chair presides over the Steering Committee which meets at the spring conference. Voting members are the heads of each full member delegation.
The BILC Constitution and Rules of procedures are available from the secretariat.
BILC conferences, seminars are well attended by language professionals, both military and civilian from 30 countries. From teachers to school commanders, language testers to MoD personnel, we have a rich mix of civ and mil managers and practitioners who work in the language training realm. We are the only forum for exchange of mil language training and education needs on an international level.

5. “NATOSPEAK: ENGLISH IN MULTINATIONAL SETTINGS”
BILC Conference in Spring
May 2012 was hosted by the Czech Republic –
“Lifelong Language Learning, Enhancing Educational Effectiveness”
May 2013 will be hosted by Georgia: May 2013
“NATOSPEAK: ENGLISH IN MULTINATIONAL SETTINGS”
BILC Professional Seminar in Fall
October 2011 was hosted by U.S.A. –
“Furthering Our Training Goals Through Research”
October 2013 will be hosted by Sweden
Theme and dates TBD
Two main events each year that differ slightly in format and attendance, with the fall seminar focussing primarily on more hands-on training or testing issues, while the spring conference might be more inclined towards policy issues. 
Theme Tbilisi: ENGLISH LANGUAGE in NATO: WEAPON OF MASS CONFUSION
:-)
SUB-THEME IDEAS:
IDENTIFYING KEY ISSUES IN LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR IMPROVING LINGUISTIC INTEROPERABILITY
NATO LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS VS NATIONAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
BLENDING GENERAL AND SPECIFIC CURRICULAR NEEDS
BUILDING MILITARY CORPORA FOR CURRICULA
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH
LESSONS LEARNED ON MULTINATIONAL DEPLOYMENT
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CAPABILITY FOR MISSION SUPPORT
CULTURAL AWARENESS FOR MISSION SUCCESS
COUNTERING FOSSILIZATION AMONG LANGUAGE LEARNERS
STANDARD VS. INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH
CULTURAL NEUTRALITY TRENDS
STANAG 6001 AND THE CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH 5

6. 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.

7. Complicated and complex!
NATO Language Context:
Complicated and complex!
Each nation is responsible for its training / testing programme.
No common tests - only a common standard.
Nations certify their own military and give their members Standardized Language Profiles (SLPs) based on their own STANAG – based tests.
NTG tasking - standardize through testing: BILC created a Benchmark Advisory Test – (The BAT) as an external measure against which nations calibrate their national STANAG tests
Language is viewed as a critical factor in the interoperability shortfall (JALLC Report, ACT Report)
There are many aspects outside of BILC’s direct scope that affect the context.
But one of the key issues linking our training and testing systems, of course, is our STANAG 6001. 7

8. BILC-Custodian of STANAG 6001:
1976 NATO adopts STANAG 6001 – Specific enough so that positions (Mil and Civ) can be matched to proficiency levels, but general enough, so that they describe progression considered to be typical of learners, but not typically related to any particular language or curriculum.
NATO/PfP interoperability issues raised common understanding of STANAG 6001 to forefront Testing protocols diverged greatly in NATO and PfP countries
Emphasis on testing at PfP Seminars
BILC Steering Committee approved formation of a WG on testing in 1999
Edition 2 promulgated by NSA in 2003
Edition 3 in 2005
Edition 4 in 2010
The standard to which we adhere forms the backbone of our training and testing systems. It influences what and how language is taught and tested. We do however, sometimes note discrepancies in interpretation and application of the standard. In order to assist nations with these issues, there are two key programmes run by BILC, by the associate secretaries. 8

9. Assistance to National Testing Programmes – (Peggy Garza)
BILC Programmes:
Assistance to National Testing Programmes – (Peggy Garza)
Goal: To assist nations in establishing, restructuring or improving their testing systems
2012/2013:
Spain Feb 2012
Moldova May 2012
Planned:
Ukraine Nov 2012
Russia Spring 2013
Moldova Summer 2013
Language Testing Seminar (LTS): 2 weeks – 2X per year
Advanced Language Testing Seminar (ALTS): 3 weeks – 2X per year - Offered to graduates from the LTS
Visits to the following national programs were conducted by BILC at the request of the nations, with the generous support from the George Marshall Center
Testing Seminars
The seminars are conducted at the George Marshall Center and are designed to foster consistent and shared interpretation of STANAG as well as assessment procedures among assessors and raters of language proficiency. There are normally three seminars each year. The Advanced Testing Seminar provides support to program managers and addresses the management of language education and training programs as well as common assessment issues. See Peggy Garza for more details on upcoming seminars. 9

10. BILC Programmes (con’t):
Cooperative Language Training Assessments (Keith Wert)
Goal: To assess language training programmes and offer recommendations
2012/2013:
Azerbaijan Mar 2012
Netherlands Mar 2012
Russia Sep 2012
Planned:
Georgia Nov 2012
Russia Fall 2013
Proposed:
Azerbaijan Spring 2013
Armenia Spring 2013
Multi national teams of BILC experts assist Ms Garza and Mr Wert with these visits.

11. STANAG 6001 Conferences
Nations continue to standardize STANAG 6001 ed.4 levels and STANAG testing through specialized conferences
Zagreb Focus on standardization, moderation, and validation
Sarajevo Focus on standardizing approaches to testing speaking
Stockholm Focus on standardizing approaches to testing writing
Copenhagen Focus on standardizing approaches to testing Listening
TBC - SHAPE 2013 (beg. to mid Sept)
A new BILC event has been added in eprime, the hands-on STANAG conferences which focus on testing and are aimed at practitioners.

12. STANAG 6001 Conference Copenhagen:
Specific goals
Increase understanding of the STANAG 6001 descriptors for listening
Familiarize participants with the modified, modified revised Angoff method
Practice item development
Standardize the rating of listening tests through item review process
Identify the challenges of testing listening and discuss possible solutions

13. Updates: Website: Will no longer be hosted by Canadian Government
*Researching server options
STANAG for non-specialists: Final Draft ready for SC and national review
*In word file on USB
Language Needs Analysis: Pending ACT
Level 4 WG: Report forthcoming…
Partner funding: To be resumed in 2013, BILC (Events now on eprime)
Funding for Partners in Bled, DEEP gratitude!
Website: Researching server options:
STANAG for non-specialists: Final Draft ready for SC and national review
Partner funding: To be resumed in 2013: Remember the BILC vision statement? To achieve levels of excellence where progress made by one is shared by all. Another quote comes to mind: – (attributed to various sources) A vision without resources is merely a hallucination
BILC Events - eprime
Funding for Bled, DEEP gratitude to DEEP (Jean d'Andurain - NATO HQ / International Staff Political Affairs and Security Policy Division Defence Education Programmes ) and Gabriella Lurwig his assistant who worked hard to get our partners here!

14. Contact us: BILC@forces.gc.ca Julie.Dubeau@forces.gc.ca