The Pre-Conference workshops will be held in the afternoon of 24th November, with times to be confirmed once the program is released. All are welcome to attend!
Professor Judit Kormos, Lancaster University
Fairness and accessibility in second language assessment for neurodiverse candidates
The number of neurodiverse students with tests of second language proficiency is increasing. It is therefore essential that neither the test design nor test implementation procedures create an unfair barrier for these students. In this workshop you will learn about what makes a test fair and valid from the perspective of neurodiverse test takers. We will cover three main issues in relation to fairness, special arrangements and universal design. First, we will consider how special arrangements may impact on the construct being assessed and to what extent that is acceptable or desirable as far as the meaning and usefulness of any test score outcomes are concerned. Second, given the need for special arrangements for certain test taker groups, we will examine how accommodations might be differentially beneficial for test takers with SpLDs. I will also share recent research findings on how various types of special arrangements such as time-extension and read-aloud affect the performance of neurodiverse students. Some of these research findings show that everyone might benefit from certain types of special arrangements, which means that test takers in general may not be able to demonstrate the best of their knowledge under standard test administration conditions. Therefore, the third theme of the workshop will focus on universal design, which aims to ensure that the diverse needs of individuals are met flexibly so that language tests become more accessible for everyone including neurodiverse candidates. Participants will take part in a number of interactive activities and apply principles of fairness, accessibility and universal design for language tests relevant for their contexts.
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Judit Kormos is a Professor in Second Language Acquisition at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning and using additional languages. She has published widely on the effect of dyslexia on learning additional languages including the book “The Second Language Acquisition Process of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties” (Routledge, 2017). She is also the author of several research papers that have investigated the accessibility of language tests for young learners. She was a key partner in the EU-sponsored Dyslexia for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language and the Comics for Inclusive Language Teaching projects both of which won the British Council’s ELTon award. She is the lead educator of the Dyslexia and Foreign Language Teaching massive open online learning course offered by FutureLearn and has run teacher education workshops and webinars on inclusive language teaching in a large variety of international contexts.
Assistant Professor María Cioè-Peña, University of Pennsylvania
Descriptive Inquiry at the Margins: A constructivist approach to data collection in classrooms and communities
As part of this session, participants will learn about the descriptive inquiry processes —particularly reflections on words, recollections and descriptive reviews— and their potential for creating fuller and more expansive understandings of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, inclusive of children and their families. Developed by Patricia Carini and educators at Vermont’s Prospect School, these processes serve as a means to go beyond viewing individuals solely through the lens of their language- and/or disability-related learning needs. Rooted in progressive education, the processes aim to construct nuanced portraits of people and spaces, empowering teacher-researchers to deepen their pedagogical and investigative approaches. After this session participants will have an understanding of the core principles behind descriptive inquiry, the critical theories used to expand the processes, the varied contexts where the processes can be enacted as well as have an opportunity to review/engage with the processes in small groups.
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María Cioè-Peña is an assistant professor in the educational linguistics division at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former bilingual special education teacher, she studies bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families, and their ability to access multilingual and inclusive learning spaces within public schools. Her interests are deeply rooted in political economy, critical dis/ability awareness, and raciolinguistic perspectives within schools and families. Her work appears in Teachers College Record (2021), Urban Review (2020), Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2022), International Journal of Inclusive Education (2017/2022), Journal of Latinos & Education (2021/2022). Her book, (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, received the 2023 American Association of Applied Linguistics First Book Award. In 2022, her article “Wanting to Leave; Needing to Stay: Issues for undocumented mothers of children with disabilities” received the Inaugural Outstanding Publication Award from the Council For Exceptional Children’s Division for Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners. She was also awarded the Early Career Award by AERA’s Bilingual Education Research SIG in 2022. She is a 2023 National Academy of Education-Spencer post-doctoral fellow.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
theresa sainty, University of tasmania
Interpreting Palawa Ngini voices from the past through colonial documents: Staying faithful to culturally embedded meaning
During this workshop we will discuss the often difficult task of making meaning and interpretation of colonial documents while remaining faithful to the original meaning of written records. That is, remaining true to the voices of our Old People; those who told white people words, phrases, songs and cultural information that have become our (Palawa) oral histories.
I will provide practical examples from my own language context and linguistic research with the view to broadening out to consider how we work faithfully with written or oral data across any language pairings. Participants will be asked to consider how they would go about identifying places from a poorly sketched ‘map’ with only the original place words marked on said ‘map’, as an illustration of how linguistic reference points shift over time and challenge researchers to remain faithful to past realities while also making meaning in today’s reality. How will you make sense of the way in which the recorder has interpreted this important information: indeed, can you make sense of it? These questions are central to the ethics and integrity of working with culturally embedded meanings.
This interactive activity is a ‘treasure hunt’, as the information about our languages entrusted to recorders by our Peoples are truly treasures meant for us to retrieve.
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Theresa is a Palawa woman of the Truwulway People, and whose Ancestral homelands include Lumaranatana/Cape Portland. She is part of a large well-known family grown by Luna Rrala (strong Aboriginal women) on Tayaritja (islands in Bass Strait), with particular connection to Flinders Island and Truwana/Cape Barren Island.
Theresa is a Senior Indigenous Scholar with UTAS, undertaking a PhD which is a continuation of her decades long linguistic research and analysis (which began in 1997) as Aboriginal Linguistic Consultant with the palawa kani Language Program. From the very beginning of Community discussions regarding the processes required to reawaken a language, the Palawa Community was clear – that although it was a necessity to employ a linguist, an Aboriginal community member must be trained to do the ‘work on the words’. So, Theresa trained for 3 years ‘on-the-job’ with Leo Edwardsson, BA Honours in Linguistics, ANU, and has worked ‘on the words’ since.
Retrieving, reconstructing and reviving ‘language’ words, written down by some 20 recorders from many European nations, including officers of the d’Entrecasteaux Expedition (1793), George Augustus Robinson (1829-34) and Ernest Westlake (1909-10) has been and continues to be the most important work she has undertaken; and her life’s work.
Palawa people of all ages are now writing and performing songs, poetry and speeches in language; translating scripts for feature films (e.g. The Nightingale), as well as providing voiceovers for series such as Little J and Big Cuz, and speaking to and on behalf of Country in their own language. Two editions of the palawa kani Dictionary have been published, with posters, interactive maps and booklets and social media pages exclusively for Community people produced – all to assist the Palawa Community in language acquisition.