Language Centres at a Crossroads

With the application of new technology to language teaching and learning, the ways in which language learners are assessed can be very much challenged. The presentation explores into alternatives to the traditional formats of formative and summative assessment in the form of tests and essays. Following the principles of empowering learners to be responsible for their own learning and actively engaging them into assessment process, the authors tried the two innovative tools, i.e. e-portfolio and video essay in their modules of teaching Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) and teaching Russian in a British university. The research involved around 20 participants who took Chinese and Russian respectively as part of their degree and as their second or third foreign language in their university study. The students of Chinese were in their 1st year and those of Russian in their final year. By adopting instruments such as questionnaire, focus group discussion and individual interviewing, advantages and disadvantages of e-portfolio and video essays were explored and evaluated. These were also illustrated with data, for example, extracts of the interview transcripts from the participants. In addition, it was found that students were given ample opportunities to personalise their learning, reflect their own strengths and weaknesses, analyse their learning strategies and plan their future directions of learning; at the same time, they developed their digital literacy, critical thinking and employability skills. This also allowed teachers to look into the process of learning and assessment from different perspectives, contributing to foster autonomous and reflective learners while developing their linguistic competence. Along with the benefits of this assessment, issues have also emerged from both the learner and the teacher's perspectives. The presentation will offer examples from beginners' Chinese class and advanced Russian class using the alternative assessment formats and discuss problems arisen in the current teaching contexts.

随着新技术在语言教学中日益广泛的应用，如何在评测语言学习者方面更加适应新技术的需求，是各个高等院校均面临的新问题。传统的评测方式包括以考试和论文的形式进行的形成性和总结性测试，本次报告探讨不同于这些传统的评测方式，即：电子软件包和视频论文。此次研究涉及一所英国大学的语言学位课，有20名学生参与，他们学习汉语和俄语是作为他们语言学位课的一部分，是第二语言或第三语言，同时他们的主修是其它主要欧洲语言。学中文的学生是大一的学生，而学俄语的学生是大四的学生。本研究采取问卷、小组讨论和个人访谈的形式采集数据，以说明和评估电子软件包和视频论文的好处和弊端。同时也发现这样的评测方式，给学生充分展示他们个性化学习的机会，由此他们反思自己学习语言的方式方法和各种方法的优缺点、个人学习策略和学习风格及对将来学习的借鉴意义；同时他们发展了使用电子技术的技能，批判性思维能力和参与未来工作的技能。此研究对于教师来说，也提供了不同的视角，看到学生的语言学习过程的同时，审视评测过程，这也为语言教学的过程中，培养自觉学习者和反思型学习者提供了很好的条件。本报告对于软件包和视频论文这两种测评方法引发的问题及在高校环境下如何克服亦尝试提出建议。

Dr Zhiyan Guo, Associated Professor and subject leader of Chinese in the University of Warwick, and Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK. She leads the Chinese programme to become an essential part of degree courses and optional modules. Her research interests are in intercultural communication, language acquisition, Chinese characters and reading, and language teaching and technology. She has worked on projects concerning Internationalisation, e-learning, teaching and assessment, and has been review editor of journals and published articles and edited books on Chinese pedagogy. She is the author of Young Children as Intercultural Mediator: a Study of Mandarin-speaking Chinese Families in Britain published by Multilingual Matters.

Alexandra Kulikova, Teaching Fellow and subject leader of Russian in the University of Warwick. Following experience in book editing, translation and proofreading (during which time she had five books published), she joined University of Warwick in 2005 as a Russian language tutor and played a leading role in establishing Russian Language courses on Modern Languages degrees. Her research interests are in bilingualism and multilingualism, blended learning and language acquisition. She worked on projects concerning integration of culture and cultural awareness in language classes, new approach to language teaching and assessment.