2nd EALTA WINTER SCHOOL
hosted by the Language Testing Research Group Innsbruck
University of Innsbruck
Dec. 9 to Dec. 13, 2024
Tasks in Language Assessment
Following the very successful first EALTA Winter School in 2018 on “Assessing vocabulary in/for the language skills”, the Language Testing Research Group Innsbruck hosted a second winter school under the patronage of EALTA in 2024. It was an inspiring event that brought togetherresearchers, test developers, teachers, teacher trainers and students from the TBLT and testing community from 15 different countries.
Given the crucial importance of tasks in authentic language assessments, and the need for more interdisciplinary approaches to tackle present and future challenges in language teaching and assessment, the winter school brought together the members of the language assessment community and the task-based language teaching (TBLT) community. The theme targeted an aspect at the heart of any assessment design, development and validation which does not always receive its due attention: the task.
The aim of this Winter School was to address theoretical and practical underpinnings of the role of tasks in language assessment from multiple perspectives. Current social and technological developments are changing the nature of communication rapidly and are thus confronting language teachers and testers with new challenges. Will tasks need to change given that the use of AI tools in communication is becoming more prevalent, and if so, how? How can we pitch tasks at the appropriate level of difficulty and complexity? How will different task-related factors impact on performance and thus the validity of our score interpretations? How can we use technology beneficially in all of this, for instance to make sure that tasks and conditions are inclusive, fair, and equitable?
We thank the trainers Paula Winke (Michigan State University, USA), Judith Kormos (Lancaster University, GB), Kathrin Eberharter (University of Innsbruck), Marije Michel (University of Groningen, NL), and Koen Van Gorp (Michigan State University, USA) for their valuable input and all the participants for coming to Obergurgl and enriching the Winter School!
Thanks to our WINTER SCHOOL SPONSORS:
