The CEFR and Language Testing and Assessment – Where are we now?

Since 2004, the EALTA conferences have addressed a variety of crucial issues in language testing and assessment, ranging from professionalism, assessment literacy, and collaboration to ethics, validity and impact of testing and assessment. It appears that one common underlying thread throughout the years has been the concern amongst practitioners and researchers about the role that the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) can play in the field of language testing and assessment. It was at the very first EALTA conference that we looked at the still hotly debated aspect of relating language examinations to the CEFR. This issue seems just as critical today as it was then, along with broader concerns about how the CEFR can be employed responsibly in language testing and assessment contexts. Hence, the 2014 conference aims to take stock of the influences the CEFR has exerted in Europe and beyond in the field of language testing and assessment since its publication in 2001.

The 2014 conference theme addresses practical and theoretical concerns around implementing the CEFR in different political, social, or educational settings. These concerns may be explored by a range of empirical, practical or theoretical approaches, projects and research methods.

We invite proposals for papers, work-in- progress presentations and poster presentations which discuss critically the benefits, challenges and limitations of the CEFR in the field of testing and assessment. The topics suggested include the following:

• The implications of the CEFR for developing tests and assessments
• CEFR linking procedures and their implications
• CEFR in the language classroom; e.g. ESP and self-assessment, text books and course books
• CEFR in higher education, e.g. in the admissions process
• Politics and the CEFR, e.g. educational policy, immigration policy
• The role of the CEFR in professional contexts, e.g. aviation English

• Implementation and impact of the CEFR in different social, political and/or educational contexts.

You can find information on the vetting process here.

 

Abstract Submission is now closed. Many thanks to all who submitted. We will notify you in February 2014.

Here, you can find information on the vetting process and guidance for writing your abstract: