Plenaries

The Social and Educational Impact of Language Assessment

Language assessment has an impact on the whole of society.  ALTE Cambridge 2008 plenary speakers – leading experts in language assessment from around the world – will deliver a series of papers drawing together language assessment and its educational, social and economic environments and contexts.

Thursday 10 April

Using Learner Language from Corpora to Profile Levels of Proficiency (CEFR) - Insights from the English Profile Project
Professor John A. Hawkins
Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Davis

Standards-based assessment in the USA: Social and Educational Impact
Professor Micheline Chalhoub-Deville
Professor, Department of Educational Research Methodology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Friday 11 April

Recognizing the Other: Language assessment, immigration and citizenship
Professor Tim McNamara
Professor of Applied Linguistics at The University of Melbourne, where he was one of the co-founders of the Language Testing Research Centre

The educational and social impact of the CEFR in Europe and beyond: a preliminary overview
Dr Brian North
Head of Academic Development at Eurocentres, the Swiss-based language school foundation

Saturday 12 April

Setting language standards for teaching and assessment: a matter of principle, politics, or prejudice?
Dr Lynda Taylor
Consultant, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations

The Impact of Language Assessment on the Individual
Professor James E. Purpura
Associate Professor of Linguistics and Education in the TESOL and Applied Linguistics Programs at Teachers College, Columbia University