USES – An examination of differences and similarities in English language proficiency from a Swedish and European perspective
Short description
The USES Project performed in-depth analyses of data from an international study of knowledge of, and attitudes to English among students in the final year of compulsory school in eight European countries – Assessment of English.
Variability in language proficiency and attitudes was analysed on the basis of both Swedish and European data. To some extent, trends in relation to a smaller but similar study carried out in 1996 in three of the eight countries were also attended to. Different methods, ranging from descriptive statistical approaches to advanced multivariate, multilevel techniques, and performance oriented linguistic analyses sometimes contrastive in nature, were applied to treat the data from a quantitative as well as a qualitative angle.
About the project
Large-scale comparative surveys of foreign language proficiency had been sparse over the years, in contrast to frequent studies of, for example, first language, mathematics and science. However, in 2002, a survey of English at the end of compulsory school was conducted in eight European countries, generating an impressive body of data, so far explored only to a very limited extent. Based on these data, the USES project aimed at analysing variability in language proficiency, attitudes and language habits.
Different studies focused on:
(a) immigrant background and cross-linguistic influence in the learning of English as a foreign language,
(b) strategies used by low and high achievers when solving difficult questions, and
(c) pupils’ performance and attitudes with respect to differences and similarities in patterns within and between countries.
The emphasis was on the Swedish data per se as well as on comparisons with results from the other participating countries. In this, contributions from English instruction as well as from exposure to English in society were considered. Similarities as well as differences at the individual, educational and societal levels were explored, based on a wealth of background variables. Taking a collaborative approach when illuminating the research questions from different angles showed very profitable, with linguistic and didactic performance analyses alongside advanced statistical analyses using structural equation modelling techniques.