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IATEFL TEASIG webinar
2024-10-23 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
TEASIG: Bridging the Gap: Developing Authentic Intertextual Reading-into- Writing Tasks for Academic Admissions Testing
Speaker: Dr. Nathaniel Owen

IATEFL TEASIG & YLTSIG webinar
2024-09-17 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
The presentation:
Much thought has been dedicated to the role of feedback in the English language teaching classroom as well as in general education. My aim is to present an Action Research study carried out at lower secondary level that sought to identify the perception of students regarding the type of formative feedback they were regularly provided with by their teachers, access grounded information on their learning and aid the curriculum development in English Language and Literature.
To scaffold the students’ learning, the project-based intervention consisted of the planning, implementation and assessment of a collaborative inquiry inspired by deep learning, and integrated various forms of feedback, online and face-to-face. Students’ perception and demand of feedback were determined by the different forms of feedback and how reliable and meaningful they found the source of feedback.

The speaker:
Isabel Piñeiro Sorondo holds MA in Education and studied Literature and Translation. She is a Secondary School Teacher and currently based and working in Madrid. Previously she worked in Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

TEASIG & ESPSIG Joint Conference in Switzerland
2024-09-06 08:00 - 2024-09-07 17:00 UTC | Zurich University (School of Health), Katharina-Sulzer-Platz 9, Winterthur, Switzerland
The IATEFL TEASIG and ESPSIG are pleased to announce a two-day joint conference in Winterthur, Switzerland. Our theme will bring together a diverse range of researchers and practitioners in ELT to share their views and practices on current global trends concerning language assessment and ESP. The main focus of the conference will be on the assessment of ESP. We are also inviting papers on change, challenges and innovation in other areas of assessment and in teaching ESP, for example with the following types of focus:

Use of AI in assessment
Critical thinking as a 21st century skill
Methods for assessing language proficiency in specific contexts
Innovative approaches for teaching language skills specific to particular domains
New assessment tools, rubrics, and criteria, and creative thinking in assessment
Syllabus development and alignment with learners’ needs
Essential competencies for teaching ESP/EAP
Unique challenges faced by ESP testers

The conference will also focus on further practice and research trends identified through contributions of the presenters and delegates.

Joint TEASIG & IPSEN SIG webinar : Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Practice: Candidate Reactions to Global English Accents in a Listening Test
2024-05-22 15:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Paris)
The British Council is a leader in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, important themes for our products around the world, whether in the arts, society, inclusive education, teaching English for in the exams that we offer.
In 2020, the test production and quality assurance teams of Global Assessments began to implement a new EDI policy for item writing and quality review. This policy has since helped to ensure that our test content is accessible to and representative of our test candidates. The policy provides regulations on creating tests that are impartial and inclusive of a global candidature and for an international speaker of English.
This EDI item writing policy has been implemented with an intention to create long-term washback on classroom learning and teaching and surrounding materials. By making the test content more relatable and accessible to a global population, Global Assessments aims to create a more inclusive experience for English language learners and test takers.

TEASIG PCE 2024: Item writing: from theory to practice
2024-04-15 09:30 - 17:00 (Europe/Paris) | The Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton East Sussex, BN1 2GR, Brighton, United Kingdom

Joint TEASIG & TDSIG Webinar: Analysing teachers’ discourse around assessment: A critical discourse analysis perspective
2024-02-28 09:00 - 10:00 UTC
Speaker: Viktor Carrasquero
The presentation:
The British Council uses standardised criteria to assess our teachers’ classroom performance. These include assessment, understood as a formative, continuous practice, which “helps students and teachers monitor progress and achievement”. In recent years, there has been an organisation-wide drive to consolidate our teachers’ technical and practical understanding of assessment, which has been fleshed out in training and a heightened focus on classroom implementation.
In this context, I set out to explore teachers’ discourse construction of assessment, to ascertain their beliefs around this notion, with the assumption that looking at teachers’ conceptualisations might allow schools and organisations to devise professional development programmes that are more finely tuned to staff development needs.
I use a critical discourse analysis perspective, given that I aim to explore teachers’ concepts as evident in their speech. To this purpose, I gathered a speech sample obtained from 10 short teacher interviews. I use the theoretical construct of affect to analyse the teachers’ evaluative language around assessment.
Preliminary results highlight teachers’ developing understanding of assessment, their knowledge gaps around continuous assessment, their biases, and positive and negative affect markers.

The speakers:
Viktor Carrasquero is currently the Primary Courses Senior Teacher at the British Council in Hong Kong. His main research interests include teacher training, pronunciation and its teaching, second language acquisition, discourse analysis and variationist sociolinguistics. He is also a Trinity CertTESOL, Cambridge DELTA, and Trinity DipTESOL local tutor.
IATEFL Event page: https://www.iatefl.org/events/518
Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_43kjsGmJTWKWqmCyS4I3WQ#/registration

Joint TEASIG & LTSIG webinar: Exploring the impact of Generative AI on language education: insights from teachers
2024-01-23 17:00 - 18:00 UTC
Speakers: Evelina Galaczi & Nahal Khabbazbashi
It feels like every morning we wake up to hundreds of opinion pieces on the use of Generative AI (Gen-AI) in education, but there is surprisingly little research into how English teachers are actually using this technology. In this webinar, we will explore language teachers’ use and attitudes to Gen-AI by drawing on findings from a recent study involving surveys from teachers from 70 countries and in-depth focus groups. Through the insights we share we hope to help the webinar participants better navigate the fast-changing AI landscape, develop a critical perspective towards this powerful and disruptive technology, and spark a few ideas for their own classrooms.

TEASIG: Testing language learners remotely: prioritizing equity, fairness, and social justice
2023-11-23 09:00 - 10:00 (Europe/Paris)

TEASIG: Ecological validity of assessment in education
2023-10-25 16:00 - 17:00 UTC

TEASIG Online EVENT: Developing Assessment Tasks for the Classroom
2023-09-09 09:00 - 12:30 UTC
Presenters: Sakeh Manassian, Kathrin Eberharter, Olena Rossi, Michael Fields
Assessment tasks play a vital role in gauging student progress. While experts craft standardized tests, what about developing tailored assessment tasks for your classroom? As teachers, you assess for various goals daily. But have you ever considered creating your institution’s tests to measure term or course learning?
This online seminar delves into the art of developing classroom assessment tasks, understanding test item creation, required skills, and valuable resources. Gain insights from esteemed speakers:
Shakeh Manassian
Kathrin Eberharter
Olena Rossi
Michael Fields

CLIL classroom assessment: the process and the product. Speakers: Ali Shuhsuan Ke & Vivian Wen-Chi Liu
2023-06-20 08:00 - 09:00 UTC

Fostering European Language Portfolio (ELP) in Finnish Basic Education. Speakers: Ritva Kantelinen & Mari Kuusimäki
2023-05-23 08:00 - 17:00 UTC

TEASIG @IATEFL 2023: Showcase Day
2023-04-20 10:00 - 17:45 UTC | Harrogate Convention Centre, King's Rd, Harrogate HG1 5LA, Harrogate, United Kingdom
For more information on the detailed programme of the Showcase Day click here: https://tea.iatefl.org/events/teasig-iatefl-2023-showcase-day/

TEASIG @ IATEFL 2023: Pre-Conference Event
2023-04-17 10:00 - 17:00 UTC | Harrogate Convention Centre, King's Rd, Harrogate HG1 5LA, Harrogate, United Kingdom
The TEASIG Pre-Conference Event (PCE) in Harrogate will focus on language assessment literacy for the classroom from the perspective of different stakeholders. Classroom-based assessment has been an increasing area of focus in ELT quite recently. There is a wealth of research on language assessment literacy (LAL) to do with teachers, what they should do to attain it, and the consequences of them not having it. Less attention has been paid to the LAL of learners and other stakeholders in school ecosystems. In this year’s PCE, we would like to explore LAL for the range of stakeholders that are engaged with LAL in the classroom from different perspectives in the teaching and learning process, and raise awareness of how increased LAL through the school system can support and elevate teaching and learning.
Participants can expect an engaging day of plenaries and workshops, with plenty of opportunities for discussion and interaction. The two plenaries will set the scene focusing firstly on the school system and then on teachers, and be followed by workshops looking at the practical aspects of LAL in the classroom. This year we have also built in a sharing and networking activity to enable participants more time for interaction and engagement.
For more information click here: https://tea.iatefl.org/events/teasig-iatefl-2023/

Language Assessment LocalisationLanguage Assessment Localisation in Action: Lessons from Japan and Singapore. Speaker: Johanna Motteram
2023-03-16 09:00 - 22:00 UTC
For more information on the webinar click here: https://tea.iatefl.org/forthcoming-teasig-events/

Feedback and self-assessment in foreign language teaching Speaker: Toni Mäkipää
2023-02-21 17:00 - 18:00 UTC

Co-constructing a measure of engagement through negotiated self-assessment Speaker: Nancy Mitchell
2023-01-26 17:30 - 18:00 (Atlantic/Azores)

Peer Assisted Learning System (PALS): An innovative approach to collaborative learning in high stakes exams such as IELTS Speaker: Reshmi Murali
2022-11-22 17:00 - 18:00 UTC
