What matters for language learning?

For the first time, PISA 2025 will assess foreign language skills on a global scale. This paper provides a framework for collecting policy and contextual information on foreign language learning from students, parents, teachers, school principals and government officials. The framework will be used to guide the PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment questionnaire development, and to interpret and to produce policy-relevant analyses based on the data on 15-year-old students’ proficiency in foreign languages. For academics and practitioners, this paper provides a comprehensive picture of the factors influencing foreign language learning, based on an in-depth review of the international literature and past assessments in this area, and on discussions with experts in the field and OECD countries. The framework is centred around four policy domains: Government and school policies, Students and learning, Teachers’ training and profile, and Teaching practices. In addition, the framework addresses two transversal topics that overlap these four policy domains: Information and communication technologies, and the Use of the target language for instruction in other subjects.