Darren Lingley, Professor of Intercultural Communication and Comparative Culture at Kochi University

Abstract: This workshop will cover issues in assessing small group oral interaction. Participants will use rating scales (keeping the conversation going, quality of content, grammar/vocabulary intelligibility, and pronunciation intelligibility) to assess three sets of Japanese learners. In the assessment of spoken language, there is wide variation in how raters evaluate output, and how scales are interpreted. In this workshop, I will suggest ways to more consistently evaluate spoken interaction, and discuss some of the issues in assessing oral proficiency for placement purposes.  
Speaker profile: Darren Lingley is Professor of Intercultural Communication and Comparative Culture at Kochi University. He is the immediate past Editor of JALT Journal, the applied research journal of the Japan Association of Language Teachers, and currently serves as JALT Publications Board Chair.
Walking Directions from Odakyu Sagamiono Station:
Exit Sagamiono Station North Exit
Turn Right before Station Square Shopping Complex
Turn Left at the courtyard and follow the covered walkway to Bono Sagamiono
Stay on the 2nd floor of Bono Sagamiono
Turn Left to the South Mall immediately after the SoftBank shop
Take the escalator one floor up to the 3rd floor of the South Mall
Unicom Plaza Sagamihara is next to the elevators