Date: Thursday March 21, 2024 5:00-6:00pm UK Local time. Please check the world clock here for your time.

Title: Testing and Mediation: What if the Test-takers Think Outside the Box

Speakers: Barbora Chovancová and Radmila Doupovcová

The presentation:

Linguistic mediation appears to be a feasible test task in the fight to combat online cheating in tests for B2 students. It can be especially relevant in different areas of ESP where students need to be able to explain terms to laypeople because when mediating, language needs to be adjusted; definitions cannot be copied and pasted. The difficulty, however, comes when the task is to be evaluated. As mediation affords considerable freedom to the test-taker, some of the answers may be unexpected, inappropriate or simply incorrect. Can CEFR help us to assess these answers fairly?  Where do we draw the line between what is still acceptable and what is not? 

The speakers:

Barbora Chovancová teaches English for Legal Purposes at Masaryk University Language Centre. She holds a PhD in English linguistics, having specialized in pragmatic aspects of courtroom interrogation. Apart from her extensive experience in ESP teacher training, she has also been active in the area of designing and developing ELT materials. Her professional interests include mediation as a language skill, counselling, and promoting autonomous learning in and outside the classroom.

Radmila Doupovcová teaches English for Legal Purposes at Masaryk University Language Centre in Brno. She is currently responsible for managing and coordinating the development of legal English tests. Her areas of interest include exploring different test approaches, evaluating test quality and ICT implementation in legal English courses. 

IATEFL Event page: https://www.iatefl.org/events/514

Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-mfrwIn7Qbq3tidcHaLEow#/registration

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Best regards,

Anna Soltyska & Reshmi Murali, TEASIG Joint Webinar Moderators 

Caroline Hyde-Simon, ESPSIG Coordinator

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