Technical Support in language testing
ALTE Courses
ALTE offers regular training opportunities across Europe for assessment professionals, teachers, and all those with an interest in the use and design of language exams. Besides our yearly ALTE Summer Courses, we also usually run pre- and post-conference training sessions which are open to everyone. Check our Events page to see which courses will be run soon.
Bespoke ad-hoc courses for your organisation
ALTE
has also experience designing and delivering bespoke courses at the
request of other organisations, both members and external organisations.
If you would like ALTE to organise a course for your team and/or
colleagues, please do not hesitate to contact the ALTE Secretariat for more details.
Our courses are currently organised in three tiers, according to the increasing level of expertise required to participate. Listed here are courses that have been run in the past. This is not an exhaustive list, and other topics for courses can be considered.
Tier 1 - Introduction to language testing
These courses are intended for teachers and language professionals with limited knowledge about language testing theory and practice. Our most popular courses in this tier include:
- Foundation Course in Language Testing:
Getting Started
- Introductory Course in Language Testing
- Item Writing Training Course
Tier 2 - Language testing for professionals
- Assessing Writing/Reading/Listening/Speaking Skills
- Assessing Language for Academic Purposes
- Validating Examinations with Fewer Candidates
- Statistics for Language Assessment
- Excel for Assessment Professionals
- Introduction to Facets Analysis
- Technology in Language Test Production and Validation
- Managing Examinations for Language Testing Institutions
Tier 3 - Language testing for experts
Tier 3 includes specialized courses on technical issues and aspects of language testing. They are usually highly-technical, and require a solid understanding and experience of language testing theory and practice. Some of our courses in this tier include:
- Advanced Facets Analysis
- Structural Equation Modelling for Language Testing
- Differential Item
Functioning
ALTE Validation Unit
The ALTE Validation Unit offers a range of services to exam providers and to small teams working in language assessment. This includes statistical analysis of exams and items, analysis of rater performance, reports on candidate characteristics, research into exam and language use at regional and national level, preparation for audits, editing and review of reports, and preparation of articles or presentations on assessment.
Recent projects undertaken by the ALTE Validation Unit have included:
- Rasch and item analysis reports on the performance of items in pre-testing and live testing;
- Analysis of rater performance in speaking and writing assessment;
- Review of articles on training and monitoring of raters pre-submission to academic journals;
- Research on the impact of introducing external assessment into national secondary education;
- Pre-submission review of audit documentation for national exam providers
- EU Funded research and a report on the use of the host country language in the workplace by migrant workers.
If you would like to request support from the ALTE Validation Unit, please contact the ALTE Secretariat. Support is available for teams and individuals from both member and external organisations.