SESSION 4E

Kerensa Townsend, QUT
Strategies for managing teams aiming to co-create listening and reading assessments for EAP programs

Abstract
This session will highlight the lessons learned from managing a small team of teachers in a test writing project, which saw the production of a new suite of assessments for an EAP program at a university language centre. It will outline the challenges associated with producing quality assessment items under time pressure with a group of writers of varying experience, but also describe the successes. It will then suggest some useful strategies for teams of teachers aiming to co-create Listening and Reading assessments for EAP programs.

Bio
Kerensa Townsend is an English Language Educator who has been working in the Queensland University of Technology International College (QUTIC) for many years. She has taught across a wide range of language programs, but has most experience with EAP courses. She has a keen interest in English language assessment, especially in the area of testing Academic Listening. She has been involved in a number of assessment design projects, and is also interested in test validation and statistical procedures for item analysis.