Brno, Sept. 2016 STANAG 6001 Testing Workshop BILC Update Emilija Nesheva, BILC Secretary

BILC events and courses Annual Conference (May) STANAG 6001 Testing Workshop (September) Professional Seminar (October) Testing Seminars Faculty Development Workshops

2016 BILC Conference Riga, Latvia, 22-26 May Theme: From goals to outcomes: measuring success Topics: - Creating courses and validating their effectiveness - Accreditation of courses - Applying quality assurance measures to language programs - Creating coherence across different assessments in a language program - Portability of STANAG 6001 scores to civilian contexts - STANAG 6001-based training and the Bologna process - (Dis)parities between scales and tests - The impact of digital learning environments on learning success - Challenges of transitioning from traditional to blended learning - Enhancing performance through standardization - Creating templates for success. Study Groups Topics: - Quality assurance for language programs - Portability of STANAG 6001 certificates to civilian context - Best practices in blended learning - Successful templates for designing, developing and validating courses.

2016 BILC Professional Seminar, Budapest, Hungary, 23-28 October Theme: Authenticity in training and testing: making it real Topics Linking training and testing to real-world target language use Traditional textbooks versus authentic materials Co-operating/partnering with local universities Attaining concordance between linguistic objectives and training outcomes Benefitting from tele-collaboration between training establishments Using social media in training Teaching and learning as two sides of the same coin Language maintenance

Testing Seminars Hosted by the Partner Language Training Center Europe (PLTCE), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Language Testing Seminar 2 weeks Twice a year Advanced Language Testing Seminar 3 weeks Once a year Language Standards & Assessment Seminar

Why Have Annual STANAG 6001 Testing Workshops? Need for periodic renorming / standardization Chance to update approaches and knowledge of proficiency testing Forum for exchanging ideas / lessons learned

BILC STANAG 6001 Testing Workshops Zagreb, 2009 Focus on standardization, moderation and validation Sarajevo, 2010 Focus on testing speaking Stockholm, 2011 Focus on testing writing Copenhagen, 2012 Focus on testing listening SHAPE Mons, 2013 Focus on integrating test development stages Reichenau, 2014 Focus on item development practices Vilnius, 2015 - Challenges in STANAG 6001 testing

BILC 2017 Calendar (draft) Date Event 13-24 February Language Testing Seminar (LTS), ACT 647.10 Partner Language Training Center Europe; Garmisch, Germany 14-23 March English Teaching Faculty Development Workshop, ACT.659.1 24 April - 12 May Advanced Language Testing Seminar (ALTS), ACT 658.1 14-18 May BILC Conference, ACT 212.33 Vienna, Austria Theme: TBD 12-23 June Language Testing Seminar (LTS), ACT 647.11 11-20 July English Teaching Faculty Development Workshop, ACT.659.3 Foreign Languages Department; Shumen, Bulgaria 25 July - 3 August Language Standards & Assessment Seminar (LSAS), ACT 648.2 September STANAG 6001 Testing Workshop, ACT 212.34 Location: TBD Theme: TBD 19-28 September English Teaching Faculty Development Workshop, ACT.659.2 October BILC Professional Seminar, ACT 212.35 Tbilisi, Georgia 7-16 November English Teaching Faculty Development Workshop, ACT.659.4 School of Foreign Languages; Poljče, Slovenia 28 November – 7 December Language Standards & Assessment Seminar (LSAS), ACT 648.3

BILC site: www.natobilc.org BILC e-mail address: chairman@natobilc.org Questions? BILC site: www.natobilc.org BILC e-mail address: chairman@natobilc.org my e-mail address: e.nesheva@mod.bg