Call for Papers is open now!

Teaching, learning, and assessment are three pillars of educational systems that have been traditionally viewed as independent activities. Therefore, more systematic complementary planning and integration of these three activities often lacks, despite possible considerations of the impact they may exert on each other. The success of educational/academic systems, however, depends on the degree of alignment of needs, goals, and practices among teaching, learning, and assessment (O’Sullivan, 2020). The need for collaboration among curriculum developers, materials developers, teacher trainers, and assessment specialists becomes even more pronounced when educational, pedagogical, and programmatic transitions and reforms within educational systems occur. Such reforms require revisiting theoretical models and constructs, research approaches, and established practices. 

The 21st EALTA Conference will focus on the impact of language assessment on various aspects of teaching and learning, as well as how it is shaped by reforms in educational systems. The conference will address, on one hand, how external tests influence teachers’ attitudes and practices related to standardized testing, students’ learning strategies, and the decision-making processes of other stakeholders. On the other hand, it will focus on how changes in education—such as discussions around equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), the rise of generative AI, and the growth of multilingualism, among others—affect language assessment theory, research, and practice.

We invite proposals for conceptual and empirical papers, work-in-progress presentations, posters, and symposia that relate to this broad conference theme of flexibility and adaptation in language testing and assessment.

EALTA particularly encourages proposals on, but not limited to, the following areas related to the conference theme:

  • collaboration between language assessment professionals, test providers, test users and/or other stakeholders
  • synergies and tensions between assessment and teaching practices and pedagogies
  • assessment literacy of various stakeholders in the language assessment process
  • defining and validating emerging constructs and target language use domains (e.g., multilingual competence, content and language integration)
  • considering EDI in assessment development and use
  • implications of new technology in teaching and assessment design (e.g., test delivery, item design, score reporting)
  • power relations between language policy and language testing and assessment

Proposals that are not directly related to the theme can be submitted if they provide timely and important contributions to our field in terms of new theory and empirical research findings.

Please submit your abstract online here.

Deadline: 30 November 2024

Please see presentation categories and guidelines for submission below.

If you have any questions during the process of submitting your proposal, please send an email to ealta2025@phsalzburg.at.

 

Presentation Categories

Papers (20 minutes presentation, followed by a a 10-minute discussion)

Paper presentations can either be empirical or theoretical. They offer researchers the opportunity to present their work, typically followed by a Q&A. Each presentation will be allotted 20 minutes, during which authors are expected to discuss the objectives, methodology, key findings, and implications of their research.

NEW format: Works-in-Progress (10 minutes presentation, followed by a 10-minute discussion)

Work-in-Progress (WiP) presentations provide researchers with the opportunity to present early-stage projects. Each presenter will have 10 minutes to outline their research goals and the challenges they are currently facing. In the abstract, presenters should phrase questions for discussion, specifying the areas they want to get constructive feedback on from the audience. This format encourages an open dialogue, offering valuable insights to guide future stages of the research project presented.

Posters

Poster presentations provide an interactive platform for researchers to showcase their work in a visual format. Accepted posters will be displayed during a dedicated session, where presenters engage with conference attendees, discuss their findings, and receive valuable feedback. Posters should highlight key aspects of research, but are also suitable for presenting test development projects, new forms of assessments, and technological innovations.

Symposia (90 minutes)

A symposium addresses a topic from multiple perspectives. It should begin with an introduction to the topic, followed by individual presentations and a synthesis by a discussant. Please consider ample time for discussion with the audience in the scheduling of the symposium.

 

Guidelines for submission

We would like to encourage as many people as possible to submit proposals, but every year we receive far more than can be included in the programme. The following guidelines will help you make your proposal as effective as possible and give you the best chance of success. Please note that authors should not submit more than one proposal on which they are first author in the same category (e.g. papers).

I. We will consider proposals for PAPERS (20-minute presentations), WORKS-IN-PROGRESS (10-minute presentations) and POSTERS adhering to the conference theme, and in a separate strand we will consider proposals which make a significant contribution to language testing and assessment research not directly related to the theme.

The proposals for papers, works-in-progress and posters must:

  1. contain a clear explanation of how the paper relates to the conference theme, or if it is not related to the theme, why it is of significance to the field
  2. keep to the stipulated maximum word count (250 words max.)
  3. be well-structured
  4. clearly outline:
    • the objectives of the paper
    • for empirical papers: its methods (design, participants, instruments, procedures);
    • for theoretical papers: its theoretical framework or literature upon which it is based
    • the contribution it makes to the field of Language Testing and Assessment
    • the novelty it may offer in terms of concepts, approaches or methods
  5. be likely to promote discussion and interaction amongst conference participants

 II. We will consider proposals for SYMPOSIA adhering to the conference theme (90 minutes).

The proposals for symposia must:

  1. contain a clear rationale for the symposium (500 words max.) which
    • is well-structured
    • outlines the objectives of the symposium
    • explains how the papers within the symposium relate to each other and contribute to the symposium goals
  2. contain a separate abstract for each contribution which
    • outlines its relation to the conference theme and contribution to the symposium
    • is well-structured
    • keeps to the stipulated word count (250 words max.)
    • clearly outlines the objectives, its methods or its theoretical framework, and the novelty it may offer in terms of concepts, approaches or methods
  3. be likely to promote discussion and interaction amongst conference participants.

The rationale and the abstracts for the contributions are to be submitted in one document.

III. Each proposal is rated by independent vetters.

We want to ensure an anonymous and impartial vetting procedure. Therefore, we will collect your contact details and the abstract separately. The data containing your name, affiliation etc. go to the conference administrators. They will use IDs to match your personal details with your abstract. You will submit your abstract in a separate file, which goes to the vetters.

NB To ensure anonymity, you are required to avoid any information in your title and abstract that may lead to identifying you or your institution as the author or origin of the proposal.