LT.info Bulletin

MwALT 2010

9 Mar 2010 10:45:29 GMT

Performing assessment through Performance assessment

The 12th Annual Conference will be held
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at
Wright State University
Dayton, Ohio

Plenary Speaker: April Ginther

LTRC Early Bird Registration Ending

2 Mar 2010 07:49:23 GMT

If you are planning to attend the Language Testing Research Colloquium in Cambridge this April, it is best to register this week. Early bird registration ends on Sunday 8th March, after which the price goes up. Abstracts of the talks by Michael Kane (Messick lecture) and Elana Shohamy (lifetime achievement award lecture) are both available on the LTRC website.

Competition Winner

1 Mar 2010 03:58:54 GMT

During the winter months you may recollect that we ran a competition to define 'language testing'. This has now been judged by myself and Professor Alan Davies of the University of Edinburgh, and the winner is Priscilla Allen of the University of Washington. Many congratulations to her on winning a competition with lots of very good entries indeed. And thank you to all those who put so much effort into their definitions - especially the entrants from Turkey and Cyprus! We enjoyed reading your work, and wish we could have given a prize to everyone. I have now created a new web page that gives a number of brief definitions of 'language testing', and provides downloads of two of the founding documents of the field.

New Article Alert Service

1 Mar 2010 04:02:55 GMT

Using the new web slice technology that comes with IE8, this new service will alert users to the publication of new articles on language testing in a range of journals from the testing, educational, and applied linguistics fields. The journals included in this service are only those that put an electronic date stamp on individual articles. Some journals do not do this, and so their articles would 'sit' at the top of the page without moving until the journal removed that content. You can see that this happens on the aggregation page. You have to scroll down some way before you reach an article with a publication date. The Article Alert service will therefore tell you when new publications become available, but you should still check the aggregation page and the journals page periodically, so you don't miss anything.

Conference: Assessment for Learners

18 Feb 2010 10:41:55 GMT

FIFTH BIENNIAL NORTHUMBRIA/EARLI SIG ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE

Assessment for Learners

1-3 September 2010
Slaley Hall Hotel, Northumberland, UK

AILA 2011

17 Feb 2010 08:55:34 GMT

AILA: 16th World Congress of Applied Linguistics
Harmony in diversity: language, culture, society
Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing
23-28 August 2011

Download the Call for Papers

Published: Classroom Assessment (6th edition)

14 Feb 2010 10:34:36 GMT

Product description: Written with energy and wit, this reader-friendly text discusses practical ways in which teachers can use well-written tests to improve their effectiveness in the classroom. Exploring a wide range of classroom assessments as well as how these assessments can benefit student learning, the thoroughly revised sixth edition of Classroom Assessment retains its humorous tone and unique practice exercises while adding new research, new material, and new features. This edition covers both contemporary classroom assessment issues, including No Child Left Behind, instructor accountability, and formative assessments, while also covering traditional assessment topics such as assessment validity and assessment reliability. Three new chapters include fresh and expanded material on formative assessments, the evaluation of instruction, and properly grading assessments. In addition, a new section at the end of the book provides students with critical thinking exercises that involve real-world assessment issues and that cover central topics from each chapter. Another new feature teaches readers how to best communicate with parents about assessments and assessment results.

Available through the Bookstore in the Classroom Assessment Category.

Published: Developing Report Cards

14 Feb 2010 10:08:07 GMT

Now available ahead of the publication date. Review: Guskey and Bailey clearly articulate the need for reform on one of today’s most pressing issues in education: grading and reporting. Throughout the book, they offer realistic solutions to improve how educators communicate a student’s academic progress to all stakeholders. Their work provides the practitioner with the research, step-by-step guidelines, and reporting templates so a faculty is ready to begin the dialogue to develop a standards-based report card. The research has helped us answer the two main questions: 'What goes into a grade?' and 'How do we report it out?' This work, without a doubt, is a model for schools that want to improve their system of grading and reporting.

Available through the Bookstore in the Classroom Assessment category.

Reliability Paper Published

5 Feb 2010 11:23:53 GMT

Although it has a 2009 publication date, Parallel Universes and Parallel Measures has only just been made available. The publication, commissioned by OFQUAL and written by authors from the UK's National Foundation for Educational Research, explains and describes the different forms of reliability and the commonly used reliability indices.

This and other new freely available publications are listed on the articles web page.

ILTA Funding for Workshops and Meetings

4 Feb 2010 16:06:45 GMT

Call for Proposals 2010

ILTA aims to promote high standards of professionalism in language
testing and assessment practice. One way of carrying out this mission is
to encourage workshops and meetings where language testing experts
educate and train teachers, test developers, and others, including
policy makers, principals, and even test takers in key skills and
knowledge in language testing/assessment.

ILTA offers individual grants of up to US$ 3,000 for carrying out an
approved workshop/meeting designed to help diffuse knowledge among a
wider group in different parts of the world. The aim of a
workshop/meeting should be to promote understanding, familiarity, and
knowledge of language testing issues and practice among various groups
of test users. It is expected that the award will be used as 'seed'
money to organise such a workshop/meeting and, ideally, to establish a
permanent local organisation that that will conduct further practical
activities in language testing in the future, especially in places in
need of language testing expertise.

More than one award of US$ 3,000 may be made available in any one year,
subject to sufficient funds being available. The procedures require that
an award must be used by the end of the calendar year following
application (i.e. proposals approved in 2010 must be carried out by the
end of 2011).

CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION: Those eligible to apply are individual language
testers, teachers and others representing various types of institutions
such as universities, research institutes, schools and testing
organisations. Applicants must be ILTA members or, in the case of joint
applications, at least one applicant must be an ILTA member. (In cases
of extreme financial hardship the membership costs for ILTA may be
included as part of the proposal, but a justification is needed in such
a case.)

APPLICATION PROCESS: Those interested can apply by sending a 3- to
5-page proposal which should include the following:
1. brief background regarding the state of language testing in the
specific context (country, region, school system)
2. rationale for the meeting including specific reasons and needs for
holding the meeting
3. description of target participant groups and their prior
training/knowledge in language teaching and in language
testing/assessment
4. plan for the meeting including specific themes to be covered
5. tentative list of speakers/workshop leaders plus information about
their expertise 
6. background of the organiser(s) in the area of language testing (the
CV of at least one main organiser should be included to support this
point)
7. duration and location of the workshop/meeting
8. intended audience for the workshop/meeting
9. amount of money needed and a specific description of how it will be
used (including budget breakdown)
10. intended results of the workshop/meeting, specifically the short-
and long-range impact the event is expected to have
11. a specific explanation of how the workshop/meeting will contribute
to the mission and to the establishment of a permanent, local
organisation
12. full contact details of the organiser(s).

The application must include a written statement of a commitment to
provide ILTA within 3 months of the workshop/meeting, with an evaluative
report of the event. This will be posted on the ILTA website and may be
distributed to ILTA members.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications should be sent by e-mail to the ILTA
President Carolyn Turner, carolyn.turner@mcgill.ca, by 1 April 2010.

SELECTION PROCESS: Each application for grant funding will be evaluated
by a special committee of ILTA Executive Board members, which is chaired
by the ILTA President and includes one or more of the current ILTA
Members at Large. The committee may also call upon other relevant
experts to input to the selection process. In light of this, the
committee will determine the likely evaluation/wait time needed before a
decision can be made and will notify the applicant(s) accordingly.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION: Selection will be based upon the fit between the
application and the criteria which are outlined above. Priority will be
given to contexts where language testing is not well-established so that
the workshop/meeting can contribute significantly to increasing
awareness, knowledge and effective practice in language
testing/assessment.

New Edited Volume

3 Feb 2010 13:54:21 GMT

Edited by Lynda Taylor and Cyril Weir, Language Testing Matters: Investigating the Wider Social and Educational Impact of Assessment (Proceedings of the ALTE Cambridge Conference April 2008) is now available in paperback.

Product description: Language Testing Matters explores the social and educational impact of language testing and assessment at regional, national and international level. It brings together a collection of 20 edited papers based on proceedings of the 2008 ALTE Conference in Cambridge. The selected papers focus on three core strands addressed during the conference: new perspectives on testing for specific purposes; insights on testing policy and practice in the context of language teaching and learning in different parts of the world; reflections on the impact of testing among differing stakeholder groups. With its broad coverage of key issues, combining theoretical insights and practical advice, this volume is a valuable reference work for academics, employers and policy-makers in Europe and beyond. It is also a useful resource for postgraduate students of language testing, for practitioners, and anyone else seeking a better understanding of the social and educational impact of language assessment.

This title is available through the languagetesting.info Bookstore.

LTRC 2010 Provisional Programme

3 Feb 2010 13:48:46 GMT

A provisional programme for this year's Language Testing Research Colloquium is now available to download. This is the first time parallel sessions have been timetabled, reflecting the growth in the number of proposals being submitted.

Competition Closed

3 Feb 2010 11:37:23 GMT

The winter language testing competition is now closed, and the entries will go to the two judges. Thank you to everyone who took part, and we hope to have a definition of 'language testing' that we can use on this site. The winning entry will be announced next month, and the winner will get a copy of Practical Language Testing.

Testing and Politics

3 Feb 2010 11:39:24 GMT

There is a new language testing feature available this month on the use of tests to achieve political harmonization. This is a practice as old as organized society. The earliest existing test for this purpose (actually linked to a textbook - Bede's On the Reckoning of Time) dates from 809 CE. The feature has a copy of the test for you to download, a discussion of the context of its use, and some thoughts about the modern use of tests for overtly political purposes. You can also download a pdf of Test use and political philosophy (2009).

One Week Left to Enter the Competition

27 Jan 2010 15:35:23 GMT

If you haven't entered the competition there is just one week left. Visit the competition web page and submit your definition of 'language testing' before noon (GMT) on 3rd February. The winning entry (should there be one!) will be announced in March.

Testing Conference - 29th January

20 Jan 2010 09:03:24 GMT

Just in case anyone is in Paris on Friday next week, there is a one-day language testing conference at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie - Paris 6. Venue: Amphi Jacques Monod, 4 place Jussieu - F-75252, Paris cedex 05. Places must be reserved in advance from the organizers, so contact the University directly. I can't give emails in this feed when there isn't a conference website, but if you wish to see if there are places available and need an email address, please contact me.

Programme:

Glenn Fulcher. The CEFR: Uses and usefulness.

Christian Puren. An example of 'action oriented' certification prior to the CEFRL: The DCL-Diploma of Competence in Language.

Christine Demaison, Faouzia Benderdouche. The CEFRL: A tool to use to build the beginning and ending of a language policy.

Catherine Carol and Mirielle Prodeuau. The case for a dialogue between didactitions and acquisitionists: thoughts from the European project Slate.

Sabine Lopez: Is it possible to relate CEFRL levels to the different stages of acquisition of French as a Foreign Language?

Innovations in Testing (ATP 2010)

20 Jan 2010 08:13:24 GMT

I have just come across an organization of which I was previously unaware, the Association of Test Publishers. I will be adding this to the links page shortly. In the meantime, you may wish to take a look at their annual conference. As we would expect, the focus is rather different from what we are used to at conferences like LTRC. But I thought it would be of enough interest to bring to your attention.

ALTE 4th International Conference

19 Jan 2010 12:17:30 GMT

The ALTE 4th International Conference will take place from 7-9 July 2011 in Kraków, Poland. The theme of the conference will be The Impact of Language Frameworks on Assessment, Learning and Teaching viewed from the perspectives of policies, procedures and challenges. The first Call for Papers will be announced in April 2010.

Some technical Issues

19 Jan 2010 09:13:49 GMT

Recently I've had one or two users of languagetesting.info contact me to say that they are having problems with some pages. The most frequent is an inability to see the video thumbnails on the video page, which means that they can only hit 'play' and watch them from the beginning, rather than select the video they want. I was puzzled about this, until I discovered that they all have one thing in common: they all use Firefox. I don't have the time to check all pages on this web site in multiple browsers, but I have now taken the trouble to go through the site with Firefox. There are multiple problems, which I have now outlined in a new 'technical issues' page. If you are a Firefox user, please check this out. I've also included information on a couple of other topics that I frequently get questions about.

Jobs Web Slice Subscription Available

15 Jan 2010 10:17:07 GMT

Today I've added a web slice subscription to the testing and assessment jobs page. You can place a tab on your browser's tool bar that will automatically alert you when new jobs are posted on this page. This is a new feature that (sadly) only works with Internet Explorer 8 at the present time. My apologies to the 20% of visitors to this site who use Firefox! Click here to learn more about web slices and how to use them.

KELTA Conference 2010

11 Jan 2010 17:06:04 GMT

KELTA 2010 Call for Presentations KELTA (Korea English Language Testing Association) is going to hold its 6th international conference on Saturday, August 28, 2009, at Seoul National University. The details of the conference are as follows: Name: KELTA 2010 International Conference Date: Saturday, August 28, 2009 Venue: Education Information Hall, Seoul National University Theme: Professionalism in the Policy Making of English Language Tests Keynote and Plenary Speakers: TBA Deadline for topic/abstract submission: April 1st , 2010. Contact Persons: Conference Chair: Dr. Kyung-Ae Jin (Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation) at kajin@kice.re.kr Secretary General: Dr. Tae-young Jeong (Korea Military Academy) at tyjeong@kma.ac.kr or jty1234@yahoo.com

Change in Feed Name

10 Jan 2010 16:47:06 GMT

If you have already subscribed to this feed, the name (but not the source file) has been changed today. There are two reasons for this. The existing name is rather long for the toolbar, and a shorter one was preferable. However, two new feed services are planned for the near future, and the names need to show their content clearly. If you currently subscribe to this feed I suggest that you right click and 'delete', then re-subscribe. You can always mark all items as 'read'. I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused. News of the new feeds will be posted here as they become available.

Language Testing at IATEFL 2010

10 Jan 2010 09:37:16 GMT

IATEFL 2010 is in Harrogate, 7th - 11th April. There is a strong testing and assessment strand in the programme, which is now available for download from the IATEFL web site.

Establishing and Maintaining Standards

9 Jan 2010 16:42:02 GMT

Dubai, UAE, February 11 & 12, 2010 Assessment of language competence has always been an important part of the language teaching environments as it can have a tremendous effect on the lives of many language students, immigrants, employees and teachers. This clearly makes the task of setting meaningful and attainable standards one of the biggest challenges in assessment. On the one hand, establishing and maintaining standards in assessment can be extremely beneficial and can enhance the quality in language teaching.

Language Testing Research Colloquium 2010

9 Jan 2010 15:25:31 GMT

Registration for LTRC is now open. Early registration will end on 7 March. The final day for registration is Wednesday 31 March. Click on the link to go to the Registration Page, where you will also find details of conference fees and UK visa information.

Stephen Toulmin dies at 87

7 Jan 2010 15:59:15 GMT

Stephen Toulmin’s model of argument structure, expounded in his seminal work The Uses of Argument (1958/2003), has been widely used in philosophy, rhetoric, and educational measurement (eg., Kane, 2006). The model has also been used in developing the notion of validity as argument in many language testing books and articles, including Bachman (2005), Chapelle et al. (2006), and Fulcher and Davidson (2007).

Language Testing Bookstore Opened

1 Jan 2010 09:40:00 GMT

During 2009 I created the various pages on this web site that provide information on articles published in language testing. The next obvious step was to try to do the same for books. Amazon provided the answer, with the launch of their new aStore software. The new bookstore on this web site is an Amazon affiliate. I select the titles from my current lists of available books to stock the book store, so that users do not have to spend valuable time searching for relevant titles around the internet. Although this is on the languagetesting.info web site, orders are made directly with Amazon; and Amazon is responsible for all deliveries as if the user were shopping on Amazon.com. The main advantage is that this is a "specialist list" that would be difficult to generate even from multiple Amazon searches; and it also makes purchase of these books a little easier online.

Last chance to enter the Winter Competition

1 Jan 2010 09:09:44 GMT

If you haven't already entered the competition, you now have until 9 am on 3rd February to do so. Clilck on the link to take you directly to the competition page. The aim is to write a definition of 'language testing' suitable for a dictionary entry, and for use on this web site, to tell a complete newcomer what "language testing" is. Its length should be similar to that of any dictionary entry: short, pithy, and informative. Like all competitions, there is a prize for the winning entry.

Feature in EDTECH NEWS

26 Dec 2009 11:12:49 GMT

The Language Testing Resources page has been featured in the December issue of EDTECH NEWS, an electronic publication of the Univeridad Chileno - Britanica de Cultura. The number of visitors to this site from Chile have increased dramatically as a result, with over 400 pages being downloaded this month.

Obituary: Caroline Clapham

23 Dec 2009 09:18:00 GMT

Picture from the Video Testing Reading

The language testing community has recently been informed of Caroline's death on 14th December, after a long illness. Caroline was one of the very first people I met when I began to study language testing, and she remained a friend as well as colleague throughout the years. In 1999 she made one of the original videos for this language testing site, which you can still watch on the video page. However, I am now making an mp4 podcast of this video (136 mb) available for download so that we can remember Caroline as she was. This can be played on your computer, or on an iPOD.

To download this video, right click on this link and then select 'save target as'.

Caroline's major work The Development of IELTS: A Study of the Effect of Background on Reading Comprehension is seminal to the field, and is absolutely essential reading for all students of language testing. Fred Davidson wrote the review, which was published in in Language Testing in 1998, and shows how exceptional Caroline's contribution has been. I do not normally make texts like this available on my web site, but in this case will make an exception.

To download the review, right click on this link and then select 'save target as'.

Caroline will be greatly missed.

New Book on Validity

11 Dec 2009 14:44:07 GMT

The Concept of Validity: Revisions, New Directions and Applications.

Edited by R. W. Lissitz, this volume will be released on 15th December, 2009. The range and variety of the chapters should make it excellent reading. There is a chapter on validity in language testing by Micheline Chalhoub-Deville, and the chapter by Bruno Zumbo is available on the internet (see the 'Articles: Interim Update' message).

Link Warning

3 Dec 2009 09:29:16 GMT

Late Wednesday Brett Reynolds sent a message to LTEST-L to warn that the DIALANG test site had potentially been hacked into. I have checked this, and it is an html/framer virus that re-directs your access via an IP tracker; other hidden advertising content is also lodged in the temporary internet file folder. DIALANG itself (the software and test) is not compromised. However, until this is cleared up users should not click on the DIALANG link on the tools page.

New Feature: Review of the Year 2009

1 Dec 2009 00:12:46 GMT

There is a new feature on the langauge testing resources site this month. I've always interested in the 'review of the year' programmes that we get on radio and television towards the end of the year; and so this month I thought that I would try a 'language testing review' for the first time. The review has links to the major language testing stories that have got into the newspapers, radio and television during 2009, along with a short commentary.

Articles Added

1 Dec 2009 00:05:29 GMT

As it's the end of the year I've scoured the free access journals and other sources for updated content. There are a significant number of additional links, including to papers produced in the ETS R&D Connections series, which provide introductions to ETS research in accessible language.

RSS Feeds

1 Dec 2009 00:02:29 GMT

This is the first month that the langauge testing resources site has had an RSS Feed. I hope this is a useful addition to the other tools on the site.

Defining 'Language Testing'

1 Dec 2009 00:11:24 GMT

If you are asked by the person sitting next to you on a plane what 'language testing' is, what do you say without talking for the rest of the flight? If you were asked to produce a definition of 'language testing' that could be used in a dictionary, what would you write? That's what this competition is about.

Entries will be judged on the quality, brevity and precision of the prose, the adequacy and scope of the definition, and appropriacy as a dictionary-style definition. Enter the competition between now and February 3rd, 2010.

Winner of the Prize Draw

1 Dec 2009 00:04:30 GMT

You will remember that earlier this year I was conducting the Practical Language Testing Survey, and each person who responded had the opportunity to enter a prize draw to win a copy of the book. There were approximately 300 entries, and in order to randomly select a winner I used a random number generator. The number selected was response 129, which was Agnieszka Kotula, a language teacher from Poland, and currently a student of applied linguistics. Congratulations to Agnieszka, and a copy of the book will be on its way to you as soon as possible. And thank you once again to all those who took the time to complete the survey, and help with the research. I wish I could afford to send a copy to everyone - but there is another chance to win one by entering the winter competition!

New Book from Dan Douglas

1 Dec 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Dan Douglas' new book, Understanding Language Testing, will be published by Hodder Education on Christmas Day. Pre-ordering is possible on Amazon. The last time I checked the price (30th November), it was £14.99.