Crossing the threshold:
investigating levels, domains and frameworks in language assessment
Pre-Conference Workshops
Pre-conference workshops on topics and issues directly relevant to language testing will be held on Monday 12 April and Tuesday 13 April:
Workshop 1: The CEFR: its purpose, origins, development and current status
Workshop 2: The CEFR: alignment and standard-setting issues
Workshop 3: Assessing levels of academic language proficiency: conceptualization, operationalization, alignment and validation
Workshop 4: Sharing your story: developing your academic conference skills
Workshop 5: Cambridge Assessment Tour
Two 1-day pre-conference workshops are being offered focusing on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). As a major focus of language testing attention in Europe and beyond, the CEFR is of interest to a large number of conference attendees, and is well-related to the conference theme of investigating levels, domains and frameworks in language assessment. Both workshops will be run by experienced personnel in applied linguistics and language testing who have been actively involved in the CEFR since its earliest days. Participants can choose to attend one or both of these workshops.
Workshop 1: The CEFR: its purpose, origins, development and current status
Monday 12 April, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
The aim of the Workshop 1 (one day) will be to introduce the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), to familiarise people with its origins and history, with its evolution, with its aims and objectives and its work-in-progress nature. Attention will also be given to the descriptor scales, as the most visible aspect of the CEFR and the one which colours people's interpretation of it. Workshop activities will include plenary presentations, group discussions and exercises, and the day will end with a round table question and answer session with some of the original authors of the CEFR.
Workshop team:
Neil Jones, Nick Saville and Szilvia Papp, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
John Trim, former Director of the Council of Europe's Modern Languages Projects, co-author of CEFR
Brian North, Eurocentres, co-author of CEFR
Norman Verhelst, CITO, co-author of the Manual for relating examinations to the CEFR
Workshop 1 is generously sponsored by Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).
Workshop 2: The CEFR: alignment and standard-setting issues
Tuesday 13 April, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
FULLY BOOKED
The aim of Workshop 2 (one day) will be to explore CEFR alignment issues, including the rationale for linking diverse contexts via a common point of reference, methodologies, outcomes, limitations, etc. The morning will focus on performance skills, the afternoon on objective tests. Cross-linguistic alignment issues will be of particular interest, along with standard setting and alignment as focused on the productive skills of speaking and writing. There will be discussion of the Council of Europe's Manual for relating language exams to the CEFR, and the relative merits of different alignment and standard setting approaches. The format will involve presentation followed by workshop activities.
Workshop team:
Neil Jones and Angeliki Salamoura, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
Brian North, Eurocentres, co-author of CEFR and of the Manual for relating exams to the CEFR
Norman Verhelst, CITO, co-author of the Manual for relating exams to the CEFR
Neus Figueras, Generalitat de Catalunya, co-author of the Manual for relating exams to the CEFR
Sylvie Lepage, Centre International d’Études Pédagogiques (CIEP)
Workshop 2 is generously sponsored by Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).
Workshop 3: Assessing levels of academic language proficiency: conceptualization, operationalization, alignment, and validation
Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 April, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
FULLY BOOKED
In Workshop 3 (2 days) participants will become familiar with, explore issues related to, and apply within their own contexts approaches to the implementation of a comprehensive system for language assessment based on proficiency levels interpretable to a wide variety of test stakeholders. Wide-ranging experience from the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium (www.wida.us), a consortium of 20 states that assesses over 725,000 students in grades Kindergarten to 12 annually, will provide models and ways of approaching crucial issues in assessing language proficiency and interpreting results using proficiency levels.
This two-day workshop will be divided into four sessions: i) conceptualisation of academic language proficiency; ii) operationalisation of the construct; iii) alignment of language and content within a standards-referenced system; and iv) validation. While the specific format will vary depending on the topic, the workshop combines some lecturing with the presentation of examples and discussion (in small groups and as a whole) of ways in which the examples from the WIDA Consortium can be applied to the participants' local contexts.
Please note: There will be a limited number of places available for this workshop and participants will need to bring with them a laptop to work on. The workshop team will be in direct contact with all participants prior to the event. Participants are encouraged to register for the full two days, although single-day registrations may be possible on a space-available basis.
Workshop team:
WIDA Consortium
Tim Boals is Executive Director of the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Margo Gottlieb is Lead Developer for the WIDA Consortium and Director of Assessment and Evaluation, Illinois Resource Center, Arlington Heights, IL, USA.
Carsten Wilmes is the Assessment Manager for the WIDA Consortium in Madison, WI, USA and oversees the development of ACCESS for ELLs® and other tests.
Center for Applied Linguistics
Dorry Kenyon is the Director of the Language Testing Division at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC, USA, where he also directs CAL's activities related to the annual refreshment of the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® assessment and oversees the psychometric analyses for the annual testing cycle.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Fred Davidson is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IL, USA, where his research interests include language testing, research design and data structures for applied linguistics, and the history and philosophy of educational and psychological measurement.
Youngshin Chi and Chih-Kai (Cary) Lin are UIUC PhD students in Educational Psychology
Workshop 4: Sharing your story: developing your academic conference skills
Tuesday 13 April, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sponsored by ILTA, Workshop 4 is offered as a professional development opportunity for graduate students and early career researchers. This one-day workshop is designed to teach or improve some of the practical skills that are needed when submitting to, presenting at or simply attending academic conferences in our field. We shall look at the knowledge and skills involved in: the writing of a successful abstract; the preparation of an eye-catching conference poster; the planning and management of a productive work-in-progress session; and the delivery of a high-quality research paper or a symposium. We shall also reflect upon the experience of attending an academic conference and how to get the best out of it, both professionally and personally.
We are delighted to offer a new discounted price to all delegates for Workshop 4.
Workshop team:
This workshop will be led by Lynda Taylor and Liz Hamp-Lyons, both of whom have a track record of successfully presenting at LTRC over many years as well as extensive experience of mentoring others to develop effective communication skills.
Workshop 5: Cambridge Assessment Tour
Tuesday 13 April, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Delegates are invited to participate in a tour of Cambridge Assessment premises and to learn more about Europe’s largest assessment agency. Cambridge Assessment was established in 1858 as the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008. It provides exams and tests covering a huge range of subjects and levels. More than eight million are taken every year, in over 150 countries. Cambridge ESOL is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group.
Book your free place for the Cambridge Assessment Tour
There is no charge for this event.
Meet the Editors, Conference venue Tuesday 13 April, 4:10 pm – 5:10 pm
This session aims to offer practical guidance on getting published in our field. A panel of journal editors in the field of language testing/assessment and related disciplines will explain the editorial policy of their respective journals and answer questions on what is involved in getting yourself published. The session is open to all conference delegates, but may be especially helpful for early career researchers and graduate students. The editors of the following journals will be present: Language Testing, Language Assessment Quarterly, Assessing Writing, Assessment in Education, and Language Policy.
In celebration of the 32nd LTRC Conference in Cambridge, SAGE is pleased to offer free online access to Language Testing until 30 April 2010. Please register to receive access.
There is no charge for this event. It is not necessary to register for this session.
Information on this session is available to download.
LTRC Newcomers' Session, Conference venue Tuesday 13 April, 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm
This session aims to provide a welcoming introduction to those who may be attending LTRC for the first time. The panel will include the LTRC organisers, LTRC ‘veterans’ and some who have joined our LTRC community more recently. We will briefly explain how LTRC has evolved since 1979, how it is organised today and answer any questions you may have. Though aimed at newcomers, this orientation session is open to all conference delegates.
There is no charge for this event. It is not necessary to register for this session.
The Newcomers' Session is generously sponsored by University of Michigan.