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International Conference TACE: “Teaching and Assessing Chinese in Europe: Proficiency Expectations and Assessment Instruments”
June 2, 2017, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Update: A summary of the Conference TACE, you will find here.
What levels of Chinese proficiency may be expected after so many years of secondary or tertiary education? How should proficiency be measured? Are all frameworks equal: HSK, the Common European Framework of Reference (CERF), the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012? What are the correspondences between these frameworks and how can they inform the development of Chinese curricula in Europe focused on success?
Discussions are also expected to address questions such as the roles of oral and written proficiency, hand-written and digital writing abilities, as well as linguistic and socio-cultural competences in the evaluation of Chinese language abilities, to name but a few.
The goal of this conference is to bring together experts from around the world who have been working on articulating proficiency expectations for their constituencies based on current frameworks of proficiency and theories of language learning and on developing assessment instruments to enhance the teaching and learning of the Chinese language in Europe and beyond. The conference intends to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and network building, and will culminate in a publication highlighting diverse approaches to Chinese language testing and learning.
Projects that are invited to present:
- Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK)
- The Graded Chinese Syllables, Characters and Words for the Application of Teaching Chinese to the Speakers of Other languages (National Standard, PR China)
- European Benchmarks for the Chinese Language (EBCL)
- Cambridge IGCSE Chinese (UK)
- Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (SC-TOP)
- ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) OPI
- US Language Testing International (LTI)
- Vaartigkeitstoetsen Chinees, Netherlands
- Diplôme de compétence en langues Chinois, France
- Seagull (Smart Educational Autonomy through Guided Language Learning) Chinese, University of Greifswald / CI Hamburg
Invited speakers will introduce their respective projects. They are kindly requested to include the following:
Original Initiative / Test Purposes
Test Constructs and Rating Criteria / Proctoring and Test Administration / Quality Assurance Sample Items
Friday, June 2nd: Introduction of the participating projects on Chinese language assessment (see above)
Saturday, June 3rd: Keynotes on Language Assessment (with workshops)
Erwin Tschirner (Leipzig): Assessment for Learning: Comparing Frameworks, Proficiency Expectations, and Assessment Practices
Olaf Bärenfänger (Leipzig): Validity Claims of Language Examinations: How Can They be Established?
Leah Graham (ACTFL): Current Approaches and Innovations in ACTFL Assessments Workshops on Assessment practices
The conference will be organized and supported by the Academic Confucius Institute (AKI) of Göttingen University. One main mission of the AKI is to generate and organize scholarly debate and to support research projects focusing on International Chinese Language Education. The AKI will pay travel costs (economy flight to Hamburg, Hannover, or Frankfurt), train tickets and accommodation for up to three nights for invited speakers .
Colleagues with similar projects are welcome to indicate their interest to participate by writing to the conference organizers.
The Conference language will be English. Presenters in languages other than English are kindly asked to prepare a written version of their presentation in English.
Welcome to Göttingen!
Update: A summary of the Conference TACE, you will find here.
What levels of Chinese proficiency may be expected after so many years of secondary or tertiary education? How should proficiency be measured? Are all frameworks equal: HSK, the Common European Framework of Reference (CERF), the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012? What are the correspondences between these frameworks and how can they inform the development of Chinese curricula in Europe focused on success?
Discussions are also expected to address questions such as the roles of oral and written proficiency, hand-written and digital writing abilities, as well as linguistic and socio-cultural competences in the evaluation of Chinese language abilities, to name but a few.
The goal of this conference is to bring together experts from around the world who have been working on articulating proficiency expectations for their constituencies based on current frameworks of proficiency and theories of language learning and on developing assessment instruments to enhance the teaching and learning of the Chinese language in Europe and beyond. The conference intends to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and network building, and will culminate in a publication highlighting diverse approaches to Chinese language testing and learning.
Projects that are invited to present:
- Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK)
- The Graded Chinese Syllables, Characters and Words for the Application of Teaching Chinese to the Speakers of Other languages (National Standard, PR China)
- European Benchmarks for the Chinese Language (EBCL)
- Cambridge IGCSE Chinese (UK)
- Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (SC-TOP)
- ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) OPI
- US Language Testing International (LTI)
- Vaartigkeitstoetsen Chinees, Netherlands
- Diplôme de compétence en langues Chinois, France
- Seagull (Smart Educational Autonomy through Guided Language Learning) Chinese, University of Greifswald / CI Hamburg
Invited speakers will introduce their respective projects. They are kindly requested to include the following:
Original Initiative / Test Purposes
Test Constructs and Rating Criteria / Proctoring and Test Administration / Quality Assurance Sample Items
Friday, June 2nd: Introduction of the participating projects on Chinese language assessment (see above)
Saturday, June 3rd: Keynotes on Language Assessment (with workshops)
Erwin Tschirner (Leipzig): Assessment for Learning: Comparing Frameworks, Proficiency Expectations, and Assessment Practices
Olaf Bärenfänger (Leipzig): Validity Claims of Language Examinations: How Can They be Established?
Leah Graham (ACTFL): Current Approaches and Innovations in ACTFL Assessments Workshops on Assessment practices
The conference will be organized and supported by the Academic Confucius Institute (AKI) of Göttingen University. One main mission of the AKI is to generate and organize scholarly debate and to support research projects focusing on International Chinese Language Education. The AKI will pay travel costs (economy flight to Hamburg, Hannover, or Frankfurt), train tickets and accommodation for up to three nights for invited speakers .
Colleagues with similar projects are welcome to indicate their interest to participate by writing to the conference organizers.
The Conference language will be English. Presenters in languages other than English are kindly asked to prepare a written version of their presentation in English.
Welcome to Göttingen!