News

Elisa Guggenbichler wins a Duolingo Doctoral Dissertation Award

LTRGI is proud to announce that Elisa Guggenbichler was successful with her application for a 2023 Duolingo DET Doctoral Dissertation Award: Her PhD project was selected in a competitive scheme as one of 13 projects worldwide to be funded this year. The funding will go to supporting the upcoming data collection for her PhD studies, which will explore whether self-pacing in listening exams affects learners differently across L1 literacy skills, L2 vocabulary knowledge and test formats in terms of performance, anxiety and strategy use. You can read Elisa’s citation and those of this year’s other recipients here: https://blog.englishtest.duolingo.com/congratulations-to-the-winners-of-the-dets-2023-doctoral-dissertation-awards/#elisa-guggenbichler. Congratulations, Elisa!

28.09.2023

LTRGI represented at DGFF Kongress

Elisa Guggenbichler represented LTRGI at this year’s Conference of the German Association for Foreign Language Research (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung, DGFF), in Freiburg, Germany. She presented a spin-off study from her MA thesis on the pre-writing processes of foreign language learners.

14.09.2023

LTRC 2024 Call for Papers now open!

We are very excited to announce that the Call for proposals for LTRC 2024 in Innsbruck (July 01-05, 2024) is now live and can now be found at https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/congress/ltrc2024/call-for-proposals/. The conference theme is “Reforming language assessment systems – reforming language assessment research” and more information on the conference can be found at our conference website (https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/congress/ltrc2024/) or by following our twitter account @LTRC2024. Considerer submitting a proposal for a symposium, paper, poster, demo, or work-in-progress and join us next summer in beautiful Innsbruck!

07.09.2023

LTRGI member receives Early Stage Funding of the University of Innsbruck

LTRGI is proud to announce that Elisa Guggenbichler was successful with her application for the Early Stage Funding from the University of Innsbruck. The funding will go to supporting the upcoming data collection for the first study of her PhD, which will explore whether self-pacing in listening exams affects learners differently across L1 literacy skills, L2 vocabulary knowledge and test formats in terms of performance, anxiety and strategy use. We are grateful to the University of Innsbruck’s VR for Research for supporting emerging researchers through this funding scheme. Congratulations, Elisa!

30.08.2023

LTRGI at EUROSLA 32 Birmingham

Benjamin Kremmel was invited to present the team‘s work on the intricacies of implementing self-pacing as an accommodation listening assessments at this year’s Language Learning Roundtable of the 32nd EUROSLA conference, which took place at the University of Birmingham from August 30-September 2, 2023.

10.08.2023

LTRGI member appointed as EALTA Expert Member

LTRGI is thrilled to announce that Benjamin Kremmel, Head of LTRGI, has been appointed as an Expert Member of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA). EALTA Expert members (http://www.ealta.eu.org/expert-members.php) are individuals who have demonstrated outstanding expertise and merits in the field of language testing and have been particularly active within and outside the association in promoting EALTA’s mission. Benjamin is the first Austrian researcher to receive this honor and is currently the youngest EALTA Expert member. Congratulations, Benjamin!

14.06.2023

LTRGI at annual EALTA conference in Helsinki

This year’s annual conference of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment took place at the University of Helsinki, Finland, under the timely theme “Sustainable Language Assessment: Improving Educational Opportunities at the Individual, Local, and Global level”. LTRGI made several contributions, which were all very well received. Elisa Guggenbichler  presented some of our team’s work in progress on “Exploring novice item writing processes for classroom assessment”, Doris Moser-Froetscher gave a talk on behalf of our team on our work “Tracing preservice language teachers’ emerging language assessment literacy and item quality”, and Benjamin Kremmel presented both a paper on his joint work with his colleagues Isbell and Kim from the University of Hawaii at Mano on Remote proctoring and validation implications, as well as a lunchtime session for emerging researchers on “How to write abstracts for conference calls” together with Barry O’Sullivan from the British Council.

07.06.2023

LTRGI at Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) 2023 in New York City

Our research group showed a strong presence at this year’s Language Testing Research Colloquium, the annual conference of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) and premier conference in our field. Eight members of our team did not only take copious notes on the event organization and drum up excitement for the 2024 conference, which we will host at the University of Innsbruck from July 01-05, 2024. Our team was also busy presenting their work: Viktoria Ebner presented a poster on her MA thesis on the thought processes of Science teachers when evaluating written assignments. Elisa Guggenbichler presented a poster on our team’s work on “Exploring novice item writing processes: A think-aloud study”. Eva Konrad and Doris Moser-Froetscher presented work-in-progress on “Researching pre-service teachers’ language assessment literacy and item writing skills development”. Kathrin Eberharter gave a talk on our ETS-funded project in the context of the symposium on “Accessibility considerations and practices: The case of listening assessment”, and Benjamin Kremmel and Jieun Kim (University of Hawaii at Manoa) presented their framework, developed together with Dan Isbell (University of Hawaii at Manoa), on remote proctoring implications for fairness and justice. We are excited to soon launch the call for proposals for the 2024 conference and welcome this international community to Innsbruck next year.

02.06.2023

Conference website for LTRC 2024 Innsbruck now live

LTRGI is very excited to announce that the conference website for the 45th Language Testing Research Colloquium, hosted by the University of Innsbruck from July 01-05, 2024, is now live: https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/congress/ltrc2024/ 

The call for proposals will go live in August 2023. Follow the website or our official Conference Twitter account @LTRC2024 for updates. 

01.01.2023

LTRGI members elected to executive board of International Language Testing Association

LTRGI congratulates Kathrin Eberharter to being elected as a Member at Large of the International Language Testing Association’s Executive Committee. Kathrin stars her 2-year term today and will work with the international committee towards promoting ILTA’s mission of promoting the improvement of language testing throughout the world. LTRGI member Benjamin Kremmel was further elected to the ILTA Nominating Committee, making for a strong presence of the University of Innsbruck in the leadership of the field’s global association.

10.03.2021

LTRGI member passes viva

LTRGI is very excited to share the news that our team member Kathrin Eberharter successfully defended her PhD thesis on "An investigation into the rater cognition of novice raters and the impact of cognitive attributes when assessing speaking" at Lancaster University today. Congratulations to Dr Eberharter and her supervisor Dr Luke Harding on this great achievement!

(picture copyright L. Harding, 2021)

01.12.2020

LTRGI member wins presentation award

We are very excited to announce that Franz Holzknecht from LTRGI won the prize for best postgraduate student presentation at the 2020 Language Testing Forum (LTF). LTF is an annual conference organised by the UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment and was held virtually this year. Franz presented findings from his PhD, which he completed at Lancaster University, in a 3-slide 3-minute presentation. Go to our "Awards" page to find out more about awards from LTRGI members.

21.07.2020

Publications update

LTRGI is very excited to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal publication by a team member. The commissioned test review entitled "Current Options in At-Home Language Proficiency Tests for Making High-Stakes Decisions" was co-authored by Daniel R. Isbell (University of Hawai'i at Manoa) and Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI). The topical paper discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the field of language testing and was published open access in the journal Language Testing. You can find an interview on the article here. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

07.07.2020

Open Accessible Summaries of LTRGI research now available

The OASIS Database (Open Accessible Summaries in Language Studies) is a database of one-page, non-technical summaries of research about language learning and teaching. LTRGI is proud to support this initiative for science communication by publishing summaries of our research publications through this platform. Three summaries are now available, more will follow soon. Visit our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming summaries.

26.06.2020

Another LTRGI graduation

LTRGI is very happy to announce that our team member Elisa Guggenbichler has completed her Magister degree in Teaching English and French at the University of Innsbruck. Despite exceptional circumstances, she delivered an outstanding thesis and an outstanding performance in her final exam. A very brief summary of her thesis on comparing cognitive writing processes on the same test task across different foreign languages using eye-tracking, keystroke logging and stimulated recalls can be viewed here, as part of the 2020 IMoF Nachwuchsforum presentations on dissertations recently completed in the department. Congratulations, Mag.a Elisa Guggenbichler!

07.05.2020

Publications update

LTRGI is very excited to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal article by our team. The article entitled "The effect of response order on candidate viewing behaviour and item difficulty in a multiple-choice listening test" was co-authored by Franz Holzknecht (LTRGI), Gareth McCray (Keele University), Kathrin Eberharter, Benjamin Kremmel, Matthias Zehentner (all LTRGI) and Richard Spiby and Jamie Dunlea (both British Council). It was published open access in the journal Language Testing. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

23.12.2019

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal article. The paper entitled  "Second language learning induces grey matter volume increase in people with multiple sclerosis" was co-authored by Rainer Ehling (Rehabilitation Centre Münster), Matthias Amprosi (Medical University of Innsbruck), Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI), Gabriel Bsteh (Medical University of Innsbruck), Kathrin Eberharter, Matthias Zehentner (both LTRGI), Ruth Steiger, Noora Tuovinen, Elke Gizewski, Thomas Benke, Thomas Berger (Medical University of Innsbruck), Carol Spöttl (LTRGI), Christian Brenneis (Rehabilitation Centre Münster) and Christoph Scherfler (Medical University of Innsbruck) and was published with open access in the journal PLOS One. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

08.11.2019

LTRGI member passes viva

LTRGI is very excited to share the news that our team member Franz Holzknecht successfully defended his PhD thesis on "Double play in listening assessment" at Lancaster University yesterday. Congratulations to Franz and his supervisor Dr Luke Harding on this great achievement!

04.11.2019

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of two further peer-reviewed journal articles by one of its members. The article entitled "Moving the field of vocabulary assessment forward: The need for more rigorous test development and validation" was co-authored by Norbert Schmitt (University of Nottingham), Paul Nation (Victoria University of Wellington) and Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI), and was published in the journal Language Teaching. Another article with the title "Towards a Comprehensive, Empirical Model of Language Assessment Literacy across Stakeholder Groups: Developing the Language Assessment Literacy Survey" by Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI) and Luke Harding (Lancaster University) was recently published Open Access in Language Assessment Quarterly. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

23.08.2019

LTRGI receives award commendation

LTRGI would like to congratulate its member Benjamin Kremmel for receiving the commendation award of City of Innsbruck for scientific research 2019. Benjamin was awarded for his research and publications on vocabulary assessment. Congratulations!

23.08.2019

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of two handbook chapters in prestigious volumes by one of its members. Benjamin Kremmel co-authored with Carol Chapelle (Iowa State University) and Geoff Brindley (Macquarie University) the revised chapter on "Assessment" in the third edition of An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (Routledge) edited by Norbert Schmitt (University of Nottingham) and Michael P.H. Rodgers (Carleton University). Benjamin's chapter on "Measuring vocabulary learning progress" in The Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies (Routledge), edited by Stuart Webb (Western University) also appeared this month. We are excited that LTRGI members are being invited to contribute to such reputable works. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

12.04.2019

LTRGI hosts BritInn Fellow Prof Judit Kormos

Professor Judit Kormos (Lancaster University, UK) visited LTRGI this week. She spent an entire week (April 8-12) with LTRGI as a BritInn Visiting Fellow to work on current and future collaborations with the group members, particularly relating to projects on language assessment accommodations for learners with specific learning differences. Her guest talk on "The role of cognitive factors in learning additional languages: How research findings can assist teachers?" was well-attended and instigated a lively discussion among the audience. A detailed report about the BritInn visit is available here. We are grateful to the BritInn scheme for making this fruitful visit possible.

16.03.2019

LTRGI presenting at three major conferences in US 

LTRGI members Kathrin Eberharter and Benjamin Kremmel presented their work at LTRC 2019 (Language Testing Research Colloquium), the AAAL (American Association of Applied Linguistics) conference, and the TESOL convention, all held in Atlanta this year. Between them, they gave seven presentations on projects and topics ranging from language assessment literacy, rating processes in speaking assessment, to language learning with neurdegenerative diseases. The presentations were well-received by the variety of stakeholder groups in the audiences and showcased the breadth and depth of high-quality research that is being conducted at LTRGI.

28.02.2019

LTRGI member's publication shortlisted for ILTA Best Article Award

Benjamin Kremmel's article "Exploring the Role of Phraseological Knowledge in Foreign Language Reading", co-authored with Tineke Brunfaut and J. Charles Alderson (Lancaster University, UK) was shortlisted for the ILTA Best Article Award 2017. The paper was published in Applied Linguistics in 2016 and can be downloaded open-access here.  The award is given annually for the article that makes a significant contribution to the field of language testing. The deserved winner of this year's award was Plakans, L. & Gebril, A. (2017). Exploring the relationship of organization and connection with scores in integrated writing assessment. Assessing Writing, 31: 98–112. Being among the handful of shortlisted publications for this highly-competitive and prestigious award is testimony to the high-quality research that is being carried out at LTRGI. Congratulations!

01.02.2019

LTRGI receives funding from Cambridge Assessment English 

LTRGI was successful in securing a research grant from Cambridge Assessment English's Funded Research Program (Round 9) to investigate the cognitive validity of the Linguaskill Writing component.  The research project of their winning proposal focusses on the cognitive validity of the computer-based tasks of the Linguaskill Writing component in relation to test taker characteristics. In particular, it will investigate the cognitive processes engaged by a mixed-proficiency sample of L2 learners when responding to the Linguaskill tasks, and in how far they resemble a full model of the L2 writing process. In addition, it aims to uncover the links between computer writing behaviour (i.e. fluency, pausing and revision behaviours of candidates) and the outcome of the L2 writing process. The study will do so by triangulating data from eye-movement analysis, keystroke logging, and stimulated recalls. We are excited that our proposal has been selected for fudning and to be working with Cambridge Assessment English on this project.

29.08.2018

LTRGI now represented on editorial boards of two major language assessment journals

LTRGI member Benjamin Kremmel was recently invited to serve on the editorial board of Language Assessment Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal (2017 5-year-IF: 1.398) "dedicated to the advancement of theory, research, and practice in first, second, and foreign language assessment for school, college, and university students; for employment; and for immigration and citizenship". After joining the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Language Testing (2017 5-year-IF: 1.431) in January 2018, this means that Benjamin is now representing LTRGI on the editorial boards of the two major language assessment journals. Congratulations!

08.06.2018

Symposium in honour of Dr Carol Spöttl: Reforming the Austrian Matura - 10 years on

LTRGI and the Department for Subject-Specific Education hosted a symposium on June 8, 2019, to mark the retirement of Dr Carol Spöttl and honour her outstanding achievements regarding the reform of the Austrian school-leaving exam. Many national and international colleagues came to celebrate the extraordinary academic legacy of Carol, one of which is LTRGI. Tineke Brunfaut (Lancaster University, UK), Claudia Harsch (University of Bremen, GER), and John de Jong (VU Amsterdam, NED) gave plenary talks on the theme of the event. A detailed report of the event can be found here [German only].

03.06.2018

Carol Spöttl receives International Assessment Award

LTRGI is incredibly proud and happy to announce that Dr Carol Spöttl, intiator and former head of our Language Testing Research Group, is the deserved recipient of the 2018 British Council International Assessment Award. The award was presented to Carol at the most recent EALTA conference in Bochum. It is awarded annually to an "individual working for the promotion of excellence in language assessment on the international stage" to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of language testing through their career.

28.05.2018

LTRGI members present their work at EALTA 2018

LTRGI showed a strong presence at the EALTA conference this weekend held in Bochum, Germany. 220 international scholars had gathered to present and discuss papers on the theme of "Technology-Based Language Assessment: Benefits and Challenges". LTRGI demonstrated that it is at the forefront of state-of-the-art developments and research trends in language testing and assessment by delivering a remarkable seven paper and poster presentations at the event on a wide range of areas and projects that its members are involved in. To find out more about the LTRGI papers presented, go to our Presentations page.

03.05.2018

LTRGI hosts international guests

Two internationally renowned researchers visited LTRGI over the past weeks. Dr Luke Harding (Lancaster University, UK) spent an entire week (April 16-20) with LTRGI as a BritInn Visiting Fellow to work on current and future collaborations with the group members, particularly relating to projects on language assessment literacy. His guest talk on "Language testing at the border: Examining ‘secure English language testing’ policy in the United Kingdom" instigated a lively discussion among the audience. A detailed report about the BritInn visit will be available shortly. We are grateful to the BritInn scheme for making this fruitful visit possible. 

On April 24, Prof. Dr. Tobias Haug (Interkantonale Hochschule für Heilpädagogik Zürich, CH) gave a talk on automated sign language recognition systems and sign language assessment. The talk was interpreted in sign language and attracted a very interested audience. We would like to thank the University of Innsbruck for making the talk accessible to a wide audience by funding the costs of the sign language interpreter. After the talk, our group was able to discuss ongoing and potential future projects with Prof. Haug. 

LTRGI is very happy to be able to consolidate and extend its international research networks through visits of such esteemed international scholars.

18.04.2018

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal article by one of its members. The article entitled "Comparing the outcomes of two different approaches to CEFR-based rating of students' writing performances across two European countries" was co-authored by Franz Holzknecht (LTRGI), Ari Huhta (University of Jyväskylä) and Iasonas Lamprianou (University of Cyprus) and was published in the journal Assessing Writing. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

08.03.2018

Update on benchmarked performances now online

LTRGI is happy to announce that further benchmarked performances have been uploaded to our website. Head over to our Projects page to find ratings and justifications for speaking and writing performances across the two major school types (AHS and BHS).

19.02.2018

LTRGI hosts successful first EALTA Winter School

From January 06-10, 2018, the Language Testing Research Group hosted the first ever Winter School of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) at the University Center Obergurgl. 42 participants from all over the world were trained in all matters related to vocabulary assessment by four internationally renowned experts.  The materials of the workshops can be found on the EALTA website. A report about the week will be available shortly.

13.12.2017

LTRGI Graduations       

LTRGI is very excited to announce and celebrate the graduation of two team members. Carol Spöttl was awarded her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Matthias Zehentner was awarded his MA in Language Testing today. Both completed their degrees at Lancaster University, UK. Congratulations!

Also in the picture:  Lancaster faculty Dr Luke Harding and Dr Tineke Brunfaut, as well as our former SRP team colleague Dr Doris Frötscher.

10.10.2017

LTRGI member called to serve on editorial board of refereed journal

LTRGI member Benjamin Kremmel has been invited to serve on the editorial board of ITLInternational Journal of Applied Linguistics, a refereed journal published by John Benjamins devoted to studies in the field of language acquisition in a multilingual society. The journal is particularly interested in manuscripts reporting on studies that apply a multidisciplinary approach to research on second/foreign language acquisition of any language, mother tongue education, educational linguistics, computer-assisted language learning, classroom-based research, language policy, and language assessment. Benjamin will join the board as of the fall issue of 2017.

29.07.2017

LTRGI at LTRC 2017

Kathrin Eberharter and Benjamin Kremmel represented LTRGI at the 39th Language Testing Research Colloquium 2017 in Bogotá, Colombia. Together, they presented four LTRGI papers at the conference themed "Language Assessment Literacy across Stakeholder Boundaries". It was a particular honor for them to be part of the opening symposium of the conference that featured Cathie Elder (University of Melbourne), Meg Malone (Georgetown University), Dina Tsagari (University of Cyprus), Tim McNamara (University of Melbourne), and Micheline Chalhoub-Deville (University of North Carolina Greensboro) as the other speakers and allowed them to present the paper "Putting language into language assessment literacy" co-authored with Luke Harding (Lancaster University). To find out about the other LTRGI papers presented, go to our Presentations page.

02.07.2017

1st EALTA Winter School 2018 hosted by LTRGI - Registration now open!

LTRGI is proud to announce that we will be hosting the first EALTA Winter School in 2018. The event will take place at the University Center Obergurgl near Innsbruck from Jan 6-10, 2018, and will be themed "Assessing Vocabulary in/for/through the Language Skills". The aim of the Winter School is to address theoretical and practical underpinnings of assessing vocabulary and its relation to the language skills. The course tutors will be Tineke Brunfaut (Lancaster University), Diane Schmitt (Nottingham Trent University), Norbert Schmitt (University of Nottingham), and Benjamin Kremmel (University of Innsbruck). The target audience are graduate students, pre- and in-service language teachers and teacher trainers, test developers and researchers, school program planners and other interested stakeholders involved in matters related to vocabulary assessment. There will also be plenty of time in the schedule to enjoy the surroundings of Obergurgl. We are looking forward to welcoming an international audience. Find more information about the Winter School and register for the event here.

01.06.2017

LTRGI at EALTA 2017

Three members (Kathrin Eberharter, Benjamin Kremmel and Matthias Zehentner) represented LTRGI at the 2017 Annual Conference of EALTA in Sèvres, France, where the CIEP (Centre international d'études pédagogiques) hosted a fantastic and thought-provoking conference on "Language testing and assessment: Its role in mobility and social integration". Benjamin Kremmel co-facilitated one of the pre-conference events with Claudia Harsch (Uni Bremen) and Steffen Brandt (KIRON) to kick-off a project developing a multilingual C-Test battery for charitable use. LTRGI also used the EALTA AGM to announce another exciting testing event coming to Innsbruck in January 2018.

20.05.2017

LTRGI research presented at symposium of Austrian Society for Language Teaching

LTRGI was well-represented at the 10-year symposium of the Austrian Society for Language Teaching (ÖGSD) at the University of Vienna on May 19, 2017. Kathrin Eberharter, Franz Holzknecht, Benjamin Kremmel, and Matthias Zehentner successfully presented three posters that showcased the high-quality research projects taking place in our group. Go to our "Presentations" page to find out more.

14.03.2017

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of a peer-reviewed report. The paper entitled "Looking into listening: Using eye-tracking to establish the cognitive validity of the Aptis Listening Test" was co-authored by Franz Holzknecht and Kathrin Eberharter (joint first authors), Benjamin Kremmel, Matthias Zehentner (all LTRGI), Gareth McCray (Keele University, UK), Eva Konrad and Carol Spöttl (LTRGI) and was published online as part of the British Council's Assessment Research Grants Reports. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

30.01.2017

LTRGI member receives funding from EALTA to hold workshop series

LTRGI member Benjamin Kremmel has secured financial support from EALTA to hold a series of workshops in Lithuania. In a competitive bid, the EALTA executive committee chose the proposal for a series of workshops to improve classroom-based language assessment of foreign languages in lower secondary schools in Lithuania jointly submitted by Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI), Monique Yoder (LCC Klaipeda) and Laura Vilkaitė (University of Vilnius) as one of four recipients for EALTA event funding in 2017. The workshop series in scheduled to take place in four cities in the Baltic state in November this year.

09.01.2017

Writing retreat

LTRGI has kicked off the new year with a two-day writing retreat. Go to our "Publications" page for updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members. 

12.12.2016

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of two more peer-reviewed journal articles by one of its members. Benjamin Kremmel's article "Word families and frequency bands in vocabulary tests: challenging conventions" was recently published in the Research issues section of TESOL Quarterly. Another article entitled "Interpreting vocabulary test scores: What do various item formats tell us about learners’ ability to employ words?" was co-authored by Benjamin Kremmel and Norbert Schmitt from the University of Nottingham, UK, and was published in the latest issue of Language Assessment Quarterly. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

30.11.2016

LTRGI member nominated for teaching award

Benjamin Kremmel has won a nomination for the Lehre Plus! Teaching Award 2016 of the University of Innsbruck. The award is presented every two years to honour "excellent and innovative university teaching". Benjamin was nominated by the School of Education's Dean of Studies for his course "Vocabulary: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment" and his initiative to involve undergraduate students in research, which has already resulted in a publication. A report of the award ceremony can be found here(German only).

20.11.2016

LTRGI receives training from British Council

Last week, Judith Fairbairn from the British Council APTIS research team visited the LTRGI in Innsbruck. The team used the days with Judith for professional development and rater training sessions, but also for discussions about ongoing and future research projects. We'd like to thank Judith for very insightful sessions and a valuable learning experience and look forward to future collaborations.

01.09.2016

EALTA Summer School a big success for the LTRGI 

From July 18-22, 2016, the Language Testing Research Group hosted the fourth Summer School of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA). 40 participants from all over the world were trained in all matters related to the assessment of the productive skills by four internationally renowned experts.  The materials of the workshops can be found on the EALTA website here. A report about the week can be accessed here (available only in German).

15.06.2016

TOEFL® Grant for LTRGI researcher

Benjamin Kremmel was awarded one of ten TOEFL® Small Grants for Doctoral Research in Second or Foreign Language Assessment. The grant will support his PhD research project at the University of Nottingham, UK, which looks into the development and validation of a computer-adaptive diagnostic vocabulary test. The grant (2,000 USD) is awarded every year by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to "promising doctoral students working in the area of foreign or second language assessment" to "help them finish their dissertations in a timely manner". Benjamin's PhD project was selected as one of only 10 awardees for the year 2015. Find out more about the grant here.

01.06.2015

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal article by three of its members. The article entitled "Evaluating the achievements and challenges in reforming a national language exam: The reform team’s perspective" was co-authored by Carol Spöttl, Benjamin Kremmel, Franz Holzknecht (LTRGI) and J. Charles Alderson from Lancaster University, UK and was published online in a special issue of the journal Papers in Language Testing and Assessment. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

03.05.2016

Strong presence of LTRGI research at EALTA 2016 conference in Valencia

The program of the annual conference of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) in Valencia, Spain, featured a total of four paper presentations and one poster presentation by LTRGI researchers. Find out more about the conference here.

21.04.2016

LTRGI member wins Assessment Research Award

Benjamin Kremmel was awarded an APTIS Assessment Research Award to support his PhD research project at the University of Nottingham, UK. The APTIS Assessment Research Awards (£2,500) are sponsored annually by the British Council "to assist doctoral level research students (Ph.D/Ed.D.) in their data collection and/or analysis activities or in presenting their work at an international conference". Benjamin's PhD project of developing and validating a computer-adaptive diagnostic vocabulary test was selected as one of six awardees from a competitive international field of applicants. Find out more about the grant here.

11.03.2016

LTRGI to host EALTA Summer School - Registration now open!

The 4th EALTA Summer School will be held at the University of Innsbruck from July 18-22, 2016. Organized by the LTRGI, the summer school aims to bring together graduate students, pre- and in-service language teachers and teacher trainers, administrators and school programme planners who are responsible for language assessment, to discuss the theoretical and practical underpinnings of assessing the productive skills. Details on the programme and the international trainers can be found here. To apply for a place in the EALTA summer school click here. 

30.12.2015

Publications update

LTRGI is happy to announce the publication of another peer-reviewed journal article by one of its members. The article entitled "Exploring the role of phraseological knowledge in foreign language reading" was co-authored by Benjamin Kremmel (LTRGI) and Tineke Brunfaut and J. Charles Alderson from Lancaster University, UK and was published Open Access in the journal Applied Linguistics. Go to our "Publications" page for further updates on forthcoming publications by LTRGI members.

23.12.2015

Congratulations to Mag. Matthias Zehentner and Mag. Michael Maurer, MA

The Language Testing Research Group is happy to congratulate team members Matthias Zehentner on the completion of his Mag. phil. degree at the University of Innsbruck and Michael Maurer on his completion of an MA degree in Language Testing at Lancaster University, UK.

17.12.2015

LTRGI contributes to European project on expansion of CEFR

The Language Testing Research Group has recently completed a series of three workshops to contribute to the validation of new descriptors on "mediation" for the Common European Framework of References (CEFR). The collaborative project involved more than 130 institutions across Europe and was headed by Dr Brian North and the Council of Europe's Language Policy Unit. The LTRGI is proud to have played a role in this prestigious project of updating one of the most important documents on language policy, teaching and assessment currently in use.

Read full report in German here.

20.05.2017

LTRGI research presented at symposium of Austrian Society for Language Teaching

LTRGI was well-represented at the 10-year symposium of the Austrian Society for Language Teaching (ÖGSD) at the University of Vienna on May 19, 2017. Kathrin Eberharter, Franz Holzknecht, Benjamin Kremmel, and Matthias Zehentner successfully presented three posters that showcased the high-quality research projects taking place in our group. Go to our "Presentations" page to find out more.