British Council Korea has announced the program of the third annual New Directions Conference, which will take place at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul on Oct. 15 and 16. 


New Directions is an annual conference organized by the British Council in East Asia, providing perspectives and insight on trends and approaches in English assessment and education in the region. Previous conferences were held in Beijing and Tokyo. 


This year's event has been designed to provide an innovative and comprehensive overview of the latest research developments in English Language Assessment around the themes: ‘Consequences for Stakes and Stakeholders,’ ’Test Quality’ and ‘Classroom and Curriculum.’ Attendees will include teachers, academics, examiners, senior researchers and education officials from the U.K. and across East Asia. 


The Conference Organizing Committee has now reviewed submitted papers and released a confirmed program. Barry O’Sullivan, head of assessment research and development at the British Council, remarks, “We are very excited about the level of enthusiasm we have received from speakers, colleagues and attendees for this unique conference.”


The conference will include two keynote speeches, nine plenary speeches, three panel sessions and 18 break-out sessions that will explore a variety of international case studies, research, ideas and topics focusing on English assessment in East Asia. Keynote speakers include President of Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), Kim Young-soo, who will start proceedings with a speech about ‘New Directions in English Assessment of Korea: Educational Policies and Practices.’ 


Other notable speakers for the conference include Professor Constant Leung from King's College London, Dr. John de Jong from Pearson, Dr. Nick Saville from Cambridge English Language Assessment, Professor Barry O'Sullivan from the British Council, Dr. Jessica Wu from the Language Training and Testing Center in Taiwan and Professor Tineke Brunfaunt from Lancaster University in the U.K. 


“New Directions exists in order to promote U.K. and East Asia expertise in English language assessment. To do this, we support research, debate and insight into areas of English language assessment relevant to East Asia and convene a wide range of test stakeholders. The conferences focus on local issues framed in regional and global contexts. 

This year, we will bring together a number of academics, researchers and professionals for unrivalled networking, new English assessment practices, exchange of ideas and discussion of the latest issues and development across the regions,” said Martin Fryer, director British Council Korea.


Pre-registration is now open to anyone interested in English education and assessment.

To preview the conference line-up or to register, visit the New Directions 2015 website: www.britishcouncil.kr/en/new-directions.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)