METASIG Pre-Conference Event
METASIG - TESOL Turkey invites you to the Pre-Conference Event on 17 March 2022. The event welcomes all ELT professionals who are interested in language assessment and testing.
We are proud to host Prof. Luke Harding for the plenary, and Esra Gün Alayafi in the Pre-Conference Event. Please see the session abstracts below.
The event is free of charge for METASIG members, and the fee for non-member participants is ₺50. If you are NOT a member, please complete your payment through https://tesolturkey.net/products and finalize your registration. Participants will receive the Zoom link via email after the registration ends.
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/9cfpGNyddXQMwpsR9
METASIG - TESOL Turkey
Session Abstracts
PLENARY: New perspectives on communicative competence: A focus on speaking and listening assessment, by Prof. Luke Harding
13:00 – 14.00
Defining and operationalising communicative competence has been a fundamental concern for language assessors since the communicative revolution of the 1970s. Yet communicative competence is not a static construct; as communicative practices evolve, so too should the constructs that underpin language assessments. In this talk I will chart some current and future challenges in defining communicative competence with respect to speaking and listening assessment. Specifically, I will discuss the need to acknowledge and represent heterogeneous sites of language use, and the various affordances and limitations of digital technology in speaking and listening assessment. I will end with a set of discussion questions to pose to the audience.
Prof. Luke Harding is a professor in Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University (UK). His research interests are in applied linguistics and language assessment, particularly assessing listening and speaking, World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca, and language assessment literacy and professional ethics. Luke is currently co-editor of the journal Language Testing.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall, by Esra Gün Alayafi
14.30-15:30
Collaborative learning (CL) is an educational goal structure in which learners are actively engaged in the learning process with the aim of maximizing their own and each other’s learning. CL tasks challenge learners to be active participants in their learning process and acknowledge the fact that they have a variety of skill sets and knowledge they can bring to the task. One obvious benefit of CL is related to learners’ well-being. It encourages them to build and maintain strong interpersonal relationships with their peers and instructors. While working together towards a common goal outside class, learners undoubtedly form social relationships. In this presentation, I will talk about our experiences with CL in the School of Languages (SL). I will explain how CL groups work, the Learning Assistant program (LA) and the type of tasks we expect students to complete.
Esra Gün Alayafi is an English instructor and the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator of Sabancı University, School of Languages. She holds a B.A in ELT from Gazi University and an M.A in International ELT and Applied Language Studies from London Metropolitan University. She is interested in continuous assessment, collaborative learning, teaching academic writing and learner development.
Thank you for your interest.
METASIG - TESOL Turkey