1st British Council New Directions in English Language Assessment

in Latin America

Call for Papers

New Directions Latin America is an international conference on trends and issues in language assessment, with a focus on Latin America. The conference is organised by the British Council and will bring together language educators, policy makers, and assessment researchers to exchange ideas, information, and the latest research findings. This inaugural conference will look particularly at the interaction between assessment and education. This year’s conference is the first New Directions Latin America, which will be an annual event to provide connections between countries across the region and with the wider international language testing research community.

For more information please visit the website

Theme of the conference

Alignment of Assessment with Learning Outcomes, Curriculum and Teaching

Presentation proposals related to the main theme or any of the following subthemes are particularly welcome:

Subthemes

· Assessment for mobility in employment and education

· Assessing English for Specific Purposes

· Assessing the language proficiency of teachers

· Assessment literacy

· Assessment and stakeholder expectations / perceptions

· Assessing speaking

General strand

While priority will be given to proposals related to the main theme and the subthemes, we also welcome proposals on innovative assessment research of general interest to the wider field of language testing and assessment not directly related to the above themes. A section of parallel sessions will be set aside for outstanding proposals related to the general strand.

Event information

Location of Conference

Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO), Prolongación Paseo de Reforma 880, Lomas de Santa Fe, Mexico, C.P. 01219, Mexico City.

For more information about Universidad IBERO, please visit the website

Conference Dates

21 and 22 March 2019

Conference Workshops

23 March 2019

Information about the workshops will be announced on the New Directions Latin America website in November 2018.

Target audience

With a focus on language assessment within educational systems in Latin America, the conference seeks to attract testing specialists and practitioners, policy and decision makers, professors, lecturers and teachers, as well as those with an interest in assessment. It will also appeal to all who wish to gain insight into current research in the field as well as new directions in testing in practice in Latin America.

Types of proposals

Research presentations: 20 minutes in length plus 10 minutes for Q&A.

Research presentations can include studies involving quantitative and / or qualitative data collection and analysis methods, or on presentations describing new or innovative interpretations of theory relevant to the field.

Works-in-progress: 15 minutes plus 5 minutes Q&A

Works in progress are particularly appropriate for emerging researchers and PhD students in the process of designing and carrying out studies. We also welcome action-research oriented projects carried out by teachers and language assessment practitioners.

Criteria for submission of abstracts

Proposals should be:

· 250 words or less in length

· reflective of at least one of the sub-themes of the conference

· relevant to the target audience

· of practical interest to members of the target audience

· relevant to the Latin America region or including a regional perspective on an international paper

· original and offering insight

· submitted in English

· submitted to newdirectionslatam@britishcouncil.org

Presentations should be:

· 20 minutes in length plus 10 minutes for Q&A for research presentations

· 15 minutes in length plus 5 minutes for Q&A for works in progress

· in English

Please note that the working language of the conference is English.

Timeline

Submission of proposal abstracts: 11st February 2019

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N Notification of acceptance: 15th February 2019

Submission Guidelines

We ask prospective presenters to fill in a proposal form and return it to:

newdirectionslatam@britishcouncil.org

More Information

For further information about the conference, go to:

Website: https://americas.britishcouncil.org/new-directions/about

For any other questions, contact: newdirectionslatam@britishcouncil.org

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