The Pre-Conference workshops will be held in the afternoon of 24th November. All are welcome to attend!


Associate Professor Noriko Iwashita, University of Queensland

Exploring interactional competence: The influence of L1 communication styles on speaking test performance

As interactional competence becomes integrated into speaking assessments across various platforms, including major standardised tests and internal course evaluations, a growing body of research is delving into its nuances from diverse theoretical standpoints. These investigations encompass a range of topics, such as the defining characteristics of interactional competence, its scalability, and the multifaceted factors influencing its assessment, such as context, interlocutors, and task dynamics.

In the upcoming workshop, we aim to address practical assessment challenges and research priorities related to interactional competence. Firstly, participants will be invited to engage in discussions on the feasibility of assessing interactional competence by examining how its features can be effectively incorporated into the rating scales of standardised tests. Secondly, we will explore the various factors that can potentially influence the assessment of interactional competence, focusing on how a test-takers communication style in their native language (L1) might impact the evaluation process.

Lastly, we will delve into current research trends in interactional competence assessment, spanning both large-scale standardised tests and localised classroom evaluations. We hope to advance our understanding of this critical aspect of language proficiency assessment by fostering dialogue and collaboration.

VIEW BIODATA

Noriko Iwashita is an Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at The University of Queensland (UQ. At UQ she teaches language assessment and testing, language pedagogy and classroom SLA courses in the master’s program. She supervises PhD and MA students in assessment and classroom SLA. Noriko’s research interests include peer interaction in classroom-based research and classroom assessment, language assessment and SLA interfaces, and task-based language teaching and assessment. She had been involved in several validation projects for speaking assessments funded by ETS, IELTS, and The British Council. In 2018, she co-edited the special issue in Language Testing on Revisiting the Speaking Construct with India Plough (Michigan State University) and Jayanti Banerjee (Trinity College London). She is a President-Elect at ALAA and also served ALTAANZ (Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand) as a co-president in 2017-2020 and ILTA (International Language Testing Association) as a nominating committee (2018) and members-at-large (2022-23). Her work has appeared in a co-authored book, edited books, and flagship journals, including Language Testing, Applied Linguistics, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, The Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, and Language Teaching Research. 



ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Peter Crosthwaite, University of QUEENSLAND

Academic Publishing for Early Career Academics – Insights from the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics

Dive into the world of academic publishing with an exclusive opportunity for early career scholars (ECRs)! Join us at our pre-conference workshop, a pioneering initiative led by the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, designed to demystify the publication process and elevate your research to global audiences. This hands-on session will provide invaluable insights into writing, submission, and the peer review process, guiding you through the intricacies of academic publishing.   Dive deep into the do’s and don’ts of academic writing, learn how to craft a compelling narrative for your research, and master the art of persuasion to captivate your audience. Get an insider’s look into the peer review process, uncovering what editors and reviewers really look for. Learn how to identify the right journal for your work, navigate submission guidelines with ease, and tackle revisions like a seasoned academic.

VIEW BIODATA

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Cultures at UQ (since 2017), formerly assistant professor at the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES), University of Hong Kong (since 2014). I hold an MA TESOL from the University of London and an M.Phil/Ph.D in applied linguistics from the University of Cambridge, UK.

My areas of research and supervisory expertise include corpus linguistics and the use of corpora for language learning (known as ‘data-driven learning’), as well as computer-assisted language learning, and English for General and Specific Academic Purposes. I have published over 50 articles to date in many leading Q1 journals in the field of applied linguistics, 10+ book chapters, 4 books, 3 MOOCs, and several textbook series.

I am the Editor-in-Chief for the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (from 2024). I am also currently serving on the editorial boards of the Q1 journals IRAL, Journal of Second Language Writing, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and System, as well as Applied Corpus Linguistics, a new journal covering the direct applications of corpora to teaching and learning.


Dr Sophie Tauwehe Tamati, University of Auckland

TransAcquisition Pedagogy: An Indigenous Kaupapa Māori perspective on the biliterate development of emergent bilingual learners

TransAcquisition uses the entangled and entwined roots of kahikatea trees as a metaphor to provide a unique Indigenous perspective on the biliterate development of emergent bilingual learners. Intrinsic to this metaphor are the Kaupapa Māori cultural concepts of whānau’ which means extended family, and ‘whanaungatanga’ which refers to the myriad of relationships within a ‘whānau’. The kahikatea metaphor reimagines the bi/multilingual learner’s linguistic repertoire as a ‘whānau’ of language trees in the mind. Like the kahikatea trees, these cognitive language trees are also entwined in ‘whanaungatanga’ via the linguistic and conceptual interrelationships between the languages. In this reconceptualisation of  Cummins’ (1979) theory of developmental language interdependence, languages, and literacies are able to develop, grow and flourish independently and interdependently when all are utilised in the TransAcquisition Read-to-Retell-to-Revoice-to-Rewrite tasking process. The kahikatea metaphor also encapsulates Hornberger’s (2004) notion of language evolution, which depicts language and literacy learning as an organic process whereby language and literacy in one language is developed in relation to one or more other languages and literacies.

I will open this workshop with a brief presentation about the Kaupapa Māori cultural concepts of  ‘whānau’ and ‘whanaungatanga’ and the significance of the kahikatea metaphor. Participants will then be able to share their own cultural concepts and metaphors to describe their thoughts surrounding the development of bilingualism and biliteracy. I will then facilitate a practical session with participants working in small groups to complete a TransAcquisition Read-to-Retell-to-Revoice-to-Rewrite tasking cycle.

VIEW REFERENCES

Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research. Volume 49, Number 2, (Spring), pp. 222 – 251.

Hornberger, N. H. (2004). The continua of biliteracy and the bilingual educator: Educational linguistics in practice. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 7(2–3), pp. 155–171.

VIEW BIODATA

Kia ora everyone, I’m really looking forward to our conference this year. As a specialist in Māori-medium education and Māori language revitalisation, I helped to establish the Huarahi Māori-medium Initial Teacher Education program in 1998 to deliver the Huarahi Māori Bachelor of Education (Teaching) degree. With the guidance of kaumātua (elders) who were native speakers of Māori and experienced educators, I wrote all the Reo Māori courses for the degree program to revitalise and normalise the Māori language in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Since its inception, Huarahi Māori program graduates have taught in Kura Kaupapa Māori (pan-tribal schools) and Kura-ā-Iwi (tribal schools). Many also teach in Māori Bilingual and Māori Immersion classes in English-medium schools, while others teach Māori in English-medium secondary schools. I still teach in the program and consider my part in developing and establishing Huarahi Māori as a lifetime achievement for our people, our language, and our culture. I’m also an educational innovator, addicted to the thrill of creating ‘first-of-a-kind’ technologies. I love the feeling of ‘seeing’ a ‘solution’ in my mind’s eye and then the surge of energy to map out the steps in the design process to create the prototype. ‘Creativity’ is defined as the ‘ability to develop original work’, and that certainly describes what I can do and how I created ‘Hika’ the first smartphone (iPhone) app to learn the Māori language and the ‘Māori Mai Me’ app, the first Virtual Reality app to learn Māori. I’m now leading research projects to design and develop avatar and robotic innovations for Māori Sign Language.