立教大学

・Date and Time: Thursday 6 April 2023, 15.30-17.00
・Venue: Meeting Room 1/2, 1st floor of Tachikawa Memorial Building, Ikebukuro Campus, Rikkyo University（立教大学池袋キャンパス太刀川記念館１階第１・第２会議室）

Focusing on online communication mediated through video calls, this talk discusses how new technologies can be harnessed to successfully deliver video-call speaking tests and the extent to which such tests can tap into the emerging construct of speaking through online communication. The first part of the talk will present a 3-phase mixed-methods study which involved a total of 220 test-takers and 22 examiners in the UK, China and four Latin American countries, to investigate the equivalence of the construct in face-to-face and video-call modes of the IELTS Speaking test. The second part will then report on another study that explored language functions and skills utilised in online academic speaking contexts. The research analysed online spoken communication in 17 lectures and 23 research supervision meetings in Australian and UK universities, as well as students’ and lecturers’ self-reports on distinctive features of online academic speaking. The seminar participants are invited to discuss how video-call speaking tests can best reflect digitally-mediated communication in academic settings.

・Date and Time: Thursday 20 April 2023, 18.00-19.30
・Venue: Meeting Room 1/2, 1st floor of Tachikawa Memorial Building, Ikebukuro Campus, Rikkyo University（立教大学池袋キャンパス太刀川記念館１階第１・第２会議室）

While interactional competence (IC) has attracted considerable attention in the field of L2 speaking assessment, the findings have not been fully realised in terms of informing the teaching and learning of interactional skills in a comprehensive and user-friendly way. This talk reports on a project where practical tools to support the development of learners’ IC have been developed in relation to Cambridge B2 First. To develop a checklist and accompanying descriptors/recommendations that teachers can use to provide feedback on learners’interactional skills, 72 stimulated verbal reports were elicited from six trained examiners who are also experienced teachers. Their detailed comments, as well as the existing examiner training materials and expert judgement, formed the basis for a draft checklist and accompanying materials, which were then trialled and discussed by four teachers to further refine these resources. This talk concludes with a discussion on how the developed tools can bridge the theoretical discussions on IC and its’ practical use in testing and teaching.

Admission: Free
Admission capacity: 30 participants for each seminar
Registration: Sigh up online.

Fumiyo Nakatsuhara is Reader (Associate Professor) at the Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment (CRELLA), University of Bedfordshire, UK. Her main research interests lie in the nature of co-constructed interaction in various speaking test formats (e.g., interview, paired and group formats), the impact of test-taker characteristics on test performance, task design, rating scale development, and the relationship between listening and speaking skills. She has carried out a number of international testing projects, working with ministries, universities and examination boards. Fumiyo is the Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics: Testing, Evaluation, and Assessment Special Interest Group (BAAL TEASIG) and an Expert Member of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA). She was a steering committee member in the creation of the UK Association of Language Testing and Assessment (UKALTA), and She guest edited a special issue of Assessment in Education Principles, Policy & Practice (2021) on the use of innovative technology in oral language assessment.
See the following website for more information about her research: