Articles
Teachers' meet
Students aspiring to the teaching profession talk to educators and find out more about learning strategies and testing at a Dubai Men's College conference.
- By Maysam Ali, Notes Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:27 November 22, 2008
- Students at the 12th Annual Current Trends in English Language Testing Conference, at Dubai Men's College in Academic City, Dubai.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Dubai Men's College (DMC) recently held the 12th annual Current Trends in English Language Testing conference, highlighting the various English language assessment methods used in the region.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the three-day conference invited English teachers and educational experts to exchange views on teaching and evaluating English proficiency. It was inaugurated by Shaikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Dr Tayeb Kamali, Vice-Chancellor of HCT.
Alongside the sessions and lectures, the conference featured a book and software exhibition.
Importance of assessment tests
From developing test preparation books, to computer-based testing and teacher's English competency, experts discussed the importance of assessing language proficiency.
In her opening speech, Natalie Kuhlman from San Diego State University in the US, addressed the need for the holistic and formative assessment of students.
"Conferences like this one are important because education is the first step. Getting ideas out and getting people to talk about these issues is good because this is how the situation can be improved," she told Notes.
"There is a move towards accountability and towards completing accreditation processes in the country," she added.
Discussion on CEPA
Several of the lecturers focused on the Common Education Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) exam, introduced in the curriculum last year. All grade 12 students completing the Ministry of Education curriculum and all applicants to federal tertiary institutions take the test.
The topics related to CEPA included preparing teachers to prepare students for CEPA English, developing a test preparation book for the CEPA-English exam and computer-based testing for CEPA.
Paul Jaquith, CEPA supervisor of the National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) of the Ministry of Higher Education, discussed ways in which teachers can establish the authenticity of students' essays in tests and the strategies students use to gain the highest marks possible.
Annie Brown, associate director of the Assessment and Professional Development Department of Higher Education Policy, Planning and Coordination, said that the importance of the conference is that it focuses specifically on assessment, which is much needed in the region and the UAE.
"Assessment is important, particularly in language, because English is important. Classroom assessment is also important because teachers must know how their students are doing," she told Notes.
Students' feedback
Student aiming to become English teachers attended the conference and interacted with delegates. The conference gave them a chance to seek expert advice and find out about real-life situations.
"I will be graduating this year so I'm interested to learn more about the profession and the issues we're going to face," said Anoud Al Shehli.
Her colleague Fatima Al Shemali said: "We took part in this conference last year. It gives us ideas and is a training course for us that is part of our academic requirements at university."
Share this article
Your access to everything in education
