Over 500 education and testing practitioners and policymakers explored the interactions between English teaching, learning and assessment to accelerate the progress of English language assessment in the APAC region.
This annual event on the APAC language assessment calendar provided insight into trends in English language assessment and was a showcase for innovative approaches and research in the field, locally and internationally. Launched in 2013, it has been held in Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Hanoi, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response within the field.
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This year’s event focused on the theme of “Connecting Assessment with Teaching and Learning”, and discussed topics including language proficiency frameworks, foreign language testing for admissions and exit tests in education systems, measuring teachers’ language teaching proficiency, assessment literacy for language teachers, foreign language testing for employability, and artificial intelligence and technology in language testing.
In December 2016, China’s Ministry of Education and the British Council (the global leading expert in English language teaching and assessment) signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out linking research between UK exams and China’s Standards of English (CSE). Both parties also agreed on holding a joint conference on English language assessment to accelerate international exchange and cooperation in English language learning, teaching and assessment.
The organizers launched the Joint Research Grant Scheme which aims to promote the research carried out by international language assessment research experts on the CSE applications and the relationship between CSE and international examinations.
The conference has launched a lasting partnership between Asia Pacific countries and Britain in supporting foreign language proficiency testing in Asia Pacific, thus accelerating international exchange and cooperation beyond the region in English language learning, teaching and assessment.
Besides, it will continue to serve as a space in which regional and international policy makers, educational professionals, academics, teachers, and assessment practitioners can interact, exchange information, and keep abreast of the leading developments in the field./.