Sino-British Academic Exchanges Take Step Forward in English Assessment

SHANGHAI, Dec. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- British Council, the global leading expert in English language teaching and assessment, and China's National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) jointly hosted the 5^th New Directions in English Language Assessment Conference in Shanghai on December 2, exploring the interactions between English teaching, learning and assessment and accelerating the progress of English language assessment in the APAC region.

The conference focused on the theme of "Connecting Assessment with Teaching and Learning", and discussed topics including language proficiency frameworks, measuring teachers' language teaching proficiency, etc. Besides, it has attracted unprecedented attention, with over 500 attendees including policy makers and professionals in the field of assessment and teaching. More than 200 academic papers were submitted worldwide, with 60 selected to be presented at the conference. Of these, 30% were from outside mainland China.

British Council is the Partner to Support the Internationalisation of China's English Testing

As the global leader of English teaching and assessment, the British Council has more than 80 years' experience in the field of English language assessment. In December 2016, China's Ministry of Education and the British Council signed a memorandum of understanding on the mutual recognition between the British English test and China's English proficiency level. Both parties also agreed on holding a joint conference on English language assessment, to accelerate international exchange and cooperation in English language learning, teaching and assessment.

"It is an honour to provide academic support to the linking project of China's Standards of English, and to be a partner and practitioner to support English assessment reform initiatives in China. IELTS and Aptis, which have been mapped with Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), become the first two internationally recognised English tests carrying out the linking research to CSE," said Barry O'Sullivan, head of British Council Assessment Research and Development.

British Council Supports English Assessment Reform Initiatives in China

At the conference, the British Council and NEEA announced the launch of 'The Joint Research Grant Scheme', which aims to promote research by international language assessment experts on the CSE and the linking research of the CSE to international examinations and language testing systems.

"We will be focusing our efforts on attracting local educators, researchers in China, as well as professionals, researchers and policy makers in assessment and education in other countries and regions," explained Tim Hood, Director Examinations China, British Council.