English proficiency level of future teachers: a study on teachers and assessment specialists’ views

Abstract

This study presents the preliminary results of a large investigation on the students’ level of English proficiency at different stages of a Language Teacher Education Course (Portuguese/English) at a public university. It questions the relevance of proficiency tests application to monitor the students’ progress in the English language, from the admission process to graduation. In this paper, the voices of different actors directly and indirectly involved in the investigated context are discussed, such as professors, course coordinators and language assessments, and teaching education researchers. This is a qualitative study that used interviews with open questions and data triangulation to analyze in-depth the collected data. Among the results, distinct views on the subject were identified, such as a minimum proficiency level ranging from B1 to C1 (CEFR) to be reached by the end of the course, the limitations of the entrance exam and ENEM to test the expected language skills to attend the language course successfully, and the importance of applying proficiency tests at different stages of the course.