03 July 2011
Pearson recently attended the Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) at the University of Michigan to present research gathered from their English language test, PTE Academic.
LTRC is the most important annual conference for language testing and attracts language testing professionals from around the world. This year the conference was devoted to the significant developments in language testing from the last fifty years to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first language assessment text book published by Robert Lado, Language Testing. Presentations from Pearson included:
- The validity of using integrated tasks to assess listening skills – Ying Zheng / John H.A.L. de Jong
- Investigating the use of academic vocabulary and its effect on test taker performance – Kirsten Ackermann
- Testing spelling: An investigation into non-native test takers’ spelling errors – Catherine Hayes
John H.A.L. de Jong said: “I’m very pleased that there were so many presentations delivered by Pearson this year. I’m also pleased that other presenters used data from PTE Academic as a basis of their research. At Pearson we will continue to contribute to and support language testing conferences to showcase our work and that of our language testing colleagues worldwide.”
Since PTE Academic’s launch in 2009, Pearson has committed to providing cutting-edge research done internally and externally so that PTE Academic continues to be a valid assessment of an international student’s ability to communicate in academic English.