Comments from the Chalkface Margins - Teachers’ Experiences with a Language Standard, Canadian Language Benchmarks

Oct 15, 2026

The article investigates teachers’ comments on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and how these experiences unfold under mandatory portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA). Although CLB is a major milestone for supporting adult English as an additional language teaching in Canada, practitioners’ voices had been underrepresented in research and policy. Data came from a large mixed-methods exploratory PBLA implementation project, revealing widespread comprehensibility and interpretation challenges for both teachers and learners.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and rationale

Introducing the Language Standard

Teachers’ experiences with CLB

Comments from the Chalkface Margins: Teachers’ Experiences with a Language Standard, Canadian Language Benchmarks Yuliya Desyatova Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto Abstract While the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) document has been a milestone in supporting the teaching of English as an additional language to adults in Canada, few studies examined practitioners’ experiences with the language standard. The expectation of ongoing use of the CLB by teachers in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program became a rigid requirement with the implementation of portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA) . However, the CLB-related literature has been mostly conceptual and aspirational, while practitioners’ voices have been on the margins of research and policy making. This article examines teacher comments on the CLB, as collected during a large mixed-methods exploratory project on PBLA implementation (Desyatova, 2018, 2020) . While some practitioners appreciated the standard and its impact, the majority of comments reflected comprehensibility and interpretation challenges, experienced by both teachers and learners. These challenges were further aggravated by the pressures of PBLA as a mandatory assessment protocol. Résumé Tandis que le document des Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) a été une étape importante en soutenant l’enseignement de l’anglais comme langue additionnelleaux adultes au Canada, peu d’études ont examiné l’expérience des praticiens avec le standard de la langue. L’attente de l’utilisation continue des NCLC par les enseignants dans le programme Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC) est devenue uneexigence rigide avec la mise en œuvre de l’évaluation linguistique basée sur le portfolio (ELBP) . Toutefois, les écrits scientifiques reliés aux NCLC ont été principalement conceptuels et aspirationels, tandis que les voix des praticiens du sujet étaient mises en marge de la recherche et de l’élaboration des politiques. Cet article a examiné les commentaires desenseignants sur les NCLC, tel que collecté pendant un grand projet exploratoire de méthodes mixtes sur la mise en œuvre de l’ELBP (Desyatova 2018, 2020) . Tandis que quelquespraticiens ont apprécié ce standard et son impact, la majorité des commentaires a reflété des problèmes dans la compréhensibilité et l’interprétation, éprouvés par les enseignants ainsi que les apprenants. Ces problèmes ont été aggravés encore plus par la pression de l’ELBP comme protocole d’évaluation obligatoire. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Special Issue: 23, 2 (2020): 193-219 CJAL * RCLA Desyatova 194 Comments from the Chalkface Margins: Teachers’ Experiences with a Language Standard, Canadian Language Benchmarks This study examines teachers’ responses to the requirement to use the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) in daily planning, teaching, and assessment in governmentfunded programs for adults – Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and English as a second language (ESL) in Ontario. Data for this article were drawn from a larger mixed-methods exploratory project on the mandatory implementation of portfoliobased language assessment (PBLA), which had not only changed approaches to assessment in LINC programs but enacted tools for ensuring that teachers plan and teach according to the CLB. While the title of this article was prompted by the relatively marginal space that the CLB occupied within the larger research project examining PBLA implementation, it also reflects the focus on the experiences ofthe classroom practitioners, hence the modifier chalkface, defined as “the work or art of teaching in a school, esp[ecially] classroom teaching as distinct from organizational responsibilities”(chalkface, n.d.) . LINC practitioners’ voices continue to be marginalized by the domination of aspirational and managerial discourses. As detailed further in the l

FAQs

What does the study focus on regarding the CLB?

The study examines teachers’ responses to the requirement to use the CLB in daily planning, teaching, and assessment in government-funded adult programs.

Where does the article’s data come from?

The data were drawn from a larger mixed-methods exploratory project on the mandatory implementation of PBLA, which changed assessment approaches and introduced tools aligning teaching and planning with the CLB.

What challenges did teachers and learners report?

Most comments reflected comprehensibility and interpretation challenges experienced by both teachers and learners, intensified by PBLA’s status as a mandatory assessment protocol.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans