IATEFL 57^th International
Conference & Exhibition

TEASIG Showcase Day

Tuesday, 16 April 2024

All sessions are 30-min. talks except for the IATEFL TEASIG Open Forum (1.8)

Thanks to our sponsor for supporting the Open Forum!

Abstracts and biodata

Session 1.2: Building up a speaking rubric: what a deal! Maria Aguilar

As teachers we have been looking for guidelines or tips to create speaking rubrics suitable for specific oral production tasks. In this talk I will share with teachers the analysis of rubrics designed to assess speaking performance in order to facilitate the process of building their own rubrics, that is, to make it quicker and easier.

Maria Aguilar is a professor of English as a foreign language at a private university in Chile. She has been teaching this language for more than 20 years to young adults. Recently, Maria has been involved in research projects in the area of speaking and assessment where she has discovered new teaching strategies and methods to improve student’s performance in the language.

Session 1.3: Rethinking L2 oral assessments: the missing listening component Leyla Karatay

In this talk, I will present a study that identifies the learning needs and target skills of university-level L2 students to develop a more integrated oral assessment rating scale by incorporating surveys, interviews, and document analysis. The study aims to bridge the gap between listening and speaking skills in oral assessments, thus offering implications for both language testing and teaching.

Leyla Karatay holds a BA in English Language Teaching from Turkey and an MA in TESOL from Iowa State University. Currently a Ph.D. candidate at ISU in Applied Linguistics and Technology, she is focusing her dissertation on adapting a rating scale to enhance evaluation of interactional competence and listening comprehension skills. With experience in both EFL environments at the tertiary level in Turkey and ESL environments for both graduate and undergraduate students, Leyla specializes in teaching and assessing integrated language skills, particularly listening and speaking.

Session 1.4: Teacher beliefs, professional development, language assessment literacy: joining the dots Mina Patel

I will share findings of a study about English language teacher beliefs, professional development and the role of language assessment literacy within this. The study problematises language assessment literacy as a separate, named area of teacher development, arguing that this very isolation is an obstacle to teachers wanting to engage with it as a concept and in their professional development.

Mina Patel has been working in the field of education for over 25 years as a teacher, trainer, materials writer, project manager and now research in the British Council’s Assessment Research Group. In her current role, Mina is part of the team working on the Future of English programme. She is Conference Chair for the New Directions in English Language Assessment Conference, Latin America and leads on the British Council’s assessment research grants schemes. Mina is currently a PhD student with CRELLA at the University of Bedfordshire, UK.

Session 1.5: How can we help students cope with computer-adaptive testing? Myleni Ishida

The advent of computer-adaptive testing poses challenges for teachers and learners, such as the stress of not knowing the order of the questions. In this talk, I will share my experience of helping students cope with the technological and emotional aspects of computer-adaptive testing as well as how I include artificial intelligence tools in this kind of exam preparation classes.

Myleni Ishida is a life-long learner, born in Brazil, currently based in France. She has been teaching English for over 10 years, both as a freelancer and at private language schools. She is a CELTA holder, and her main interest lies in exam preparation lessons. She has experience helping students see life beyond the tests by enjoying the process of learning and she hopes to continue doing that in the future.

Session 1.6: Chat GPT and assessment: this time it’s personal Shaun Sweeney

The importance of personalised, contextually-relevant study and practice materials is widely acknowledged. Extending this to assessment is a logical next step. This talk shows how teachers can harness AI to devise bespoke formative and summative assessments that align with emerging needs of their classes. We can both save time and ensure we maintain a principled approach to learning and assessment.

Shaun Sweeney is a teacher and trainer with 25 years of ELT experience. His key interests include listening skills, assessment and TBLT. Originally from the UK (not far from this year’s IATEFL venue), Shaun has worked in various countries and contexts, with longer stretches in Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan. He currently lives in Ireland, and in 2020, he co-founded Dublin TEFL, an online training centre providing teacher qualifications including the Trinity Dip TESOL, as well as tailor-made CPD programmes and consultancy for individuals and schools. Outside of ELT, he likes growing potatoes, tomatoes and battling slugs.

Session 1.7: Arguing the case for the (oral) defence Mick King

This session argues for using oral defence assessment in undergraduate composition class rather than the ubiquitous presentation. This alternative approach allows learners to develop new spoken discourse skills and helps counteract the artificial intelligence-infused plagiarism challenges of our time. Attendees are invited to reflect on how they might use the materials shared in their own contexts.

Mick King is currently Acting Dean of the Foundation Program and Foreign Languages Division at the Community College of Qatar. Over the last 34 years he has managed, lectured, tutored, taught, trained, and mentored in both TESOL and Education, and has actively contributed to the profession via publication, presentation, and board level teacher association involvement. His work and research areas of interest are eclectic, being driven on the one hand by the need to keep fresh in the workplace, and on the other hand by the need to solve ‘stone in his shoe’ issues when conducting research.

Session 1.8: TEASIG Open Forum

The TEASIG Open Forum is a fairly informal session allowing attendees to find out more about TEASIG, its aims and activities, and to add their voices with feedback, questions and suggestions. It’s also a chance to meet the TEASIG committee and network with fellow testing enthusiasts. Refreshments will be provided as well as the opportunity to win a prize in the TEASIG raffle. Both TEASIG members and non-members are very welcome.

Thanks to our sponsor for supporting the Open Forum!