The 5th Annual International Conference of the Asian Association

for Language Assessment (AALA)

October 18-20, 2018, Shanghai, China

 

Theme

Standards in Language Assessment

We warmly invite you to participate in the 5th Annual International Conference of the Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA), which will be held in Shanghai, China, from 18 to 20 October 2018. This conference provides an outstanding opportunity for language assessment scholars and practitioners to share invaluable ideas and experiences related to language assessment in Asia.

Conference dates

October 18-20, 2018

Pre-conference workshop

October 18, 2018

Conference

October 19-20, 2018

Location

Shanghai, China

Host

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Associate host

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

Conference chairs

David Qian

Jessica Wu

Local chair

Yan Jin

Contact info

2018aalaconf@fltrp.com

Call for abstracts

Revised Deadline for Submissions: April 15, 2018

We are now inviting proposals for the 5th Annual International Conference of the Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA), Shanghai, October 18-20, 2018 from researchers, teachers, students and professional assessment agencies.

We welcome proposals that are related to the main conference theme and cover one or more of the following sub-themes:

1. Principles and methodology of developing standards for language assessment

2. Standards in developing language assessments (such as classroom and large-scale language assessments; teacher-developed and professional-staff developed language assessments)

3. Standards in validating language assessments (such as construct validation, consequential research, alignment studies, etc.)

Presentation formats

AALA 2018 invites proposals for the presentation categories listed below:

Paper presentation

Paper presentations are 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes for Q&A.

Research papers are invited that address theoretically oriented work or empirical research on language assessment.

Poster presentation

Contributors can be either independent researchers, students, faculty members or professionals from assessment agencies.

Posters will be displayed during timetabled sessions and presenters should be available for discussion of their work at that time.

Note

An individual participant may be a first author on only one proposal. However, that individual may be a co-author/presenter on another proposal.

Submission of abstracts

Please click here after January 25, 2018 to submit your abstract. The website for online submissions will request the following information:

1. Sub-theme

2. Preferred presentation format

3. Title: max. 20 words

4. Abstract: max. 400 words, clearly highlighting the relevance and quality of your research

5. Presenter details: including name(s), affiliation(s), country(ies), and email address(es)

Deadline for submissions

April 15, 2018

       Notification of acceptance

May 13, 2018

Information on AALA student awards

The AALA Best Student Paper Award and AALA Best Student Poster Award are merit-based awards that support the attendance of two graduate students at an AALA annual conference. All single-authored/individual student submissions will be automatically considered for the awards. To qualify for the student awards, contributors must be graduate students currently enrolled in a university Master’s or doctoral program in applied linguistics or a related field. A letter of matriculation/active student status must be shown upon request.

Winners MUST present their works at the AALA annual conference to receive the awards. Winners for the Best Student Paper Award and Best Student Poster Award will each receive a certificate, have their conference and pre-conference workshop registration fees waived, and be invited to the banquet.

Evaluation criteria

Proposals for individual papers and posters will be evaluated by a team of reviewers. The reviewers’ decision is final. The evaluation criteria include:

1. Significance of the research topic/Contribution to the field

2. Relevance to conference theme

3. Rigor of study (e.g., rationale for the research, contextualization within the literature, design of research question(s), choice and use of methodology, interpretation and conclusion, etc.)