LTRG programme 2023–2024
LTRG is open to staff members, visiting researchers, and PhD and MA students with an interest in language testing and assessment. Staff and students working away from campus can often attend the seminars online. Please contact Tineke Brunfaut (t.brunfaut ‘at’ lancaster.ac.uk), Luke Harding (l.harding ‘at’ lancaster.ac.uk) or John Pill (j.pill ‘at’ lancaster.ac.uk) for details.
LTRG meets on Thursdays, usually from 12:30 to 14:00. Meetings in 2023-24 will be a mix of in-person, online and hybrid events.
Term 3
Coordinators: John Pill; Sally Haoshan Ren
| Date | Time | Where | Presenter | Topic |
| 25 April | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
William Agius | Mock viva: Exploring the features of language performance indicative of air traffic controllers’ workplace language socialisation |
| 2 May | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
All | LTRG writing retreat |
| 9 May | — | — | — | (session postponed) |
| 16 May | 12:30-14:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Burak Senel (Iowa State University) | Enhancing authenticity in TOEFL Listening: Moving from transactional to interactional listening tasks with generative AI |
| 23 May | 14:00-15:30 | In person only County South C89 |
Judit Kormos | The test-taking processes, experiences and perceptions of candidates with specific learning difficulties in the TOEFL iBT: Panel review of research instruments |
| 30 May | 12:30-15:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
William Agius Tineke Brunfaut Geisa Davila Perez Philip Horne Olga Ukrayinska |
Practice presentations for upcoming conferences (EALTA, LTRC) |
| 6 June | — | — | — | No session – EALTA 2024 conference |
| 13 June | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
Shangchao Min (Zhejiang University) | Developing and validating an in-house EFL diagnostic assessment |
| 20 June | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
Tineke Brunfaut & Judit Kormos Luke Harding |
Practice presentations for upcoming conference (LTRC) |
| 27 June | 13:30-15:00 | In person County South C89 + online option |
Olena Rossi (Independent Language Testing Consultant & Researcher) | Item writing with AI: Opportunities, challenges, and future directions |
Term 2
Coordinators: Tineke Brunfaut; Yejin Jung
| Date | Time | Where | Presenter | Topic |
| 18 January | 12:30-14:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Peter Cormack;
Andrew Fleck |
MALTD dissertation presentations:
|
| 25 January | 12:30-14:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Henry Emery (Latitude Aviation English Services) | Role play in aviation English language assessment |
| 1 February | 12:30-14:00 | In person County Main SR4 + online option | All | LTRG writing retreat |
| 8 February | 12:30-13:30 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Yejin Jung | Mock viva: Linguistic features of opinion expression in the context of English L2 language tests |
| 15 February | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option | Myriam Iliovits | Mock viva: Language use in an English-Medium Instruction university in Lebanon: Implications for the validity of international and local English tests for admissions |
| 22 February | — | — | — | Reading week – no session |
| 29 February | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South D72 + online option | All | Article discussion |
| 7 March | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South C89 + online option | John Pill | Promoting quality in assessment design and validation |
| 14 March | 11:00-12:30 | In person County South C89 + online option | Laura Schildt (Ghent University, Belgium) | Language testers in policy contexts: A discourse analytical approach |
| 21 March | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South D72 + online option | Jiayue Yin;
Mi-Jin Chung |
PhD work-in-progress:
|
Term 1
Coordinators: Luke Harding; Jiayue Yin
| Date | Time | Where | Presenter | Topic |
| 12 October | 12:00-13:00 | In person County South D72 + online option | All who can attend | Welcome for new members, introductions, and research updates |
| 19 October | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South D72 + online option | All who can attend | LTRG writing retreat |
| 2 November | 12:30-14:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Curtis Gautschi (University of Bern) | Evaluating general language proficiency speaking test assessment criteria: Evidence from non-language specialists |
| 9 November | 12:30-15:30 [Note: extended session] |
In person County South D72 + online option | Camilo Ramos Gálvez Geisa Dávila Pérez Myriam Iliovits Olga Ukrayinska |
Practice presentations for LTF2024 (presentation + feedback) x 4 |
| 16 November | 12:30-14:00 | In person County South D72 + online option | Luke Harding | Article discussion |
| 23 November | — | — | — | No session – LTF2024 Stratford |
| 29 November (Wednesday) | 12:30-14:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Yi Tan (Laura) (Georgetown University, USA) | Towards Including Second Language Varieties of English on High-stakes International Tests of English Proficiency: A Perceptual Adaptation Study |
| 12 December (Wednesday) | 11:30-13:00 | Microsoft Teams (online only) | Azrifah Zakaria (National Institute of Education, Singapore) | Language Assessments and Corpus Linguistics: Approaches, Challenges and Future Directions |