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.

Our courses are currently organised in three tiers, according to the increasing level of expertise required to participate:

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

Courses in this tier are aimed at language professionals who already have a good understanding of the principles and practice of language assessment, and would like to deepen their knowledge about certain aspects of language testing that are particularly relevant to their work. Examples of courses in this tier include:

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

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.

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.