Event
HomeIdentity and Proficiency: Meaningful Approaches to Learning and Assessment
Saturday, January 27th, 2007, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Speaker: Trevor Holster, Siebold University of Nagasaki
Language proficiency is central to both teaching and assessment, yet proficiency testing and communicative teaching typically address not proficiency, but behavioristic notions of linguistic performance, failing to address whether learners are authentic users of language and constraining them to mimicry rather than language use. This presentation examines the notion of language proficiency by arguing that the ability to create and project a range of identities is fundamental to becoming a proficient user, and that teaching and assessment must address this use of language. The primacy of language use over behaviouristic performance has profound implications for both materials writers and test designers, and it is argued that the nature of commercial texts and tests precludes this use of language, so it is the role of the classroom teacher to fill this void.
Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Fukuoka JALT)
Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1,000 yen
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
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