Testing Unit Workshops

The Language Centre Testing Unit (LCTU) organizes workshops throughout the year both within the university and for external organizations. These workshops are designed for academic and administrative staff, as well as for students, in order to develop their knowledge of issues in the field of testing and assessment, in the context of internationalization. These workshops are also available to organisations and groups outside the university. All LCTU workshops are customized to suit the needs of individual groups.

Indication of possible workshops

Building up Language Skills Profiles

This workshop theme is invaluable for members of the university working in the area of admissions to English medium undergraduate and postgraduate studies. It would also be of interest for those involved in PhD admissions.

• In the first part of the workshop, the thinking behind international examinations, such as IELTS, TOEFL, the Cambridge CAE & CPE and other relevant examinations, will be explained, in order to show the type of information about candidates’ language skills profiles these examinations actually provide for stakeholders.
• In the second part of the workshop, participants will be able to apply their knowledge and experience in a practical way by exploring what the balance should be between the 4 skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking) in their courses, in order to build up the dream language skills profile.

Language Learning through the Use of Social Media

Language learning has changed tremendously. There does not seem particular need any more to attend regular language classes to learn what you want to learn. Due to the amount of various social media tools it has become possible to learn any language wherever and whenever you want, autonomously or alongside regular language courses. This workshop will guide you through the various social media tools that are available out there.

The CEFR in Context

In this series of workshops 3 levels are dealt with. The overall objective of these workshops is to help participants understand and use the CEFR effectively in their own work environment. The CEFR workshops are useful for language professionals. Other versions of the workshop on the CEFR are available for academic and administrative staff involved in internationalisation. The CEFR workshops are given by experienced trainers, previously involved in the EMBED project.

• CEFR Workshop – Stage 1 deals with familiarisation with the CEFR philosophy and levels. It also covers standardisation of raters in the assessment of course work, for example when using the European Language Portfolio.
• CEFR Workshop – Stage 2 focuses on standardisation leading to empowerment. The participants build up the ability to set up a systematic standardisation process within their organisation, with occasional external support. Participants will use language samples from their work situation in the workshop.
• CEFR Workshop – Stage 3 further develops the ability to standardise independently, using benchmarked samples, together with material from their own work environment, in order to produce locally annotated CEFR samples.

Contact Us

If you cannot see a workshop, which covers your needs, then please e-mail to testingunit rug.nl, as the information above is only an indication of what is on offer.