THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT ON EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT POLICY Będlewo 2011
We are pleased to announce that the conference will take place from 11th to 13th of May 2011 in Będlewo, Poznan, Poland. The organizers of this year's conference are the Association of Academic Foreign Language Teaching Centres SERMO, the Foundation Institute of Quality in Education and Foreign Language Studies of Poznan University of Technology. The event consists of two theoretical parts and a number of workshops, which will take place in September.
The conference is addressed to representatives of Foreign Languages Centres at Universities, Teachers' Associations and Methodists, Education Centres and Certification Centres. Due to economic and social change in Europe as well as integration within the European Union, international economic and labour mobility, and international student exchange programs, we can observe the growing role of assessment in foreign language teaching. Moreover, it is recognized that the use of appropriate means for this purpose supports the autonomy of pupils. The main theme of this year's conference is the evaluation of the language competences of students and adult learners. In addition, it will raise the issue of making the effort to create a unified certificate for universities in Poland that could replace other recognized certificates. The Impact of Language Assessment on Education and Employment Policy focuses on the following issues:
The development of assessment systems for higher education institutions in Poland;
The main assumptions of the assessment system;
Assessing language competences in teaching specialized language;
The European Language Portfolio and its importance for the assessment system;
New technologies in evaluation: computer testing and traditional techniques;
The evaluation of adult learners - the art of creating a good test;
The role of assessment in teaching foreign languages;
Emphasising the quality of the assessment process - raising standards;
Objectives and methods of assessment;
Diagnostic tests in foreign language teaching;
The role of self-assessment in learning process;
Collecting and analyzing assessment results;
A comparison of qualitative and quantitative methods in evaluation;
Customizing language certificates to meet the needs of employees and employers;
The language audit as a tool to develop and implement appropriate language policy.
The main intention of the conference is to exchange ideas and experiences in the assessment of the linguistic competences of adult learners, as well as to create language certificates corresponding to the needs of the market. We will do our best to provide you with lectures, workshops and panel discussions with top professionals in the field. What is more, the conference will be an excellent opportunity to meet authors and tutors face-to-face concerned with specific areas of assessment and from leading publishing and certification centres, and to get acquainted with the latest publications.
Organizing Committee: Karolina Dworek, M.A., Iwona Gajewska- Skrzypczak, M.A., Agata Jankiewicz, M.A., Dominika Łęska, M.A.
Please visit the conference website.