Computer Assisted Screening Tool (CAST)

Link: CAST

The purpose of the CAST diagnostic screening tool is to:
1) Elicit an adequate speech sample from examinees to assure a reliable floor (or baseline) rating
2) Provide feedback to the examinees on how their proficiency can be improved
3) Estimate examinees likely score on the official ACTFL OPI
4) Provide positive wash back for proficiency-based teaching. With the newly-added “reviewer” interface, the CAST can be effectively used by instructors as a tool to rate their students’ oral production and to increase their own understanding of the criteria by which ACTFL ratings are given.

CAST tests advanced level speaking proficiency in nine languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino (Tagalog), Arabic (Modern Standard), Iraqi Dialect, Persian (Farsi), and English as a Second Language.
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CAST Assessor Training

A: Become an official CAST rater (for those who have completed the OPI workshop training)

B: Become a teacher reviewer and use CAST to assess students in your classes and give them highly focused feedback on their spoken skills

Current CAST Languages: Arabic, ESL, Filipino, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Russian and Spanish

Advanced Level CAST Assessor Training
Dates: Aug 6 – 8, 2012
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: SDSU EBA 410 (map)
Pre-Register Here

Intermediate CAST Workshop
Dates: Aug 8 – 10, 2012
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: SDSU EBA 410 (map)
Pre-Register Here

Letter Grade and Assignment: Letter grade will be based on a ten-page reflection paper on the process of creating test items and rating student responses. Research goals will also be reviewed.

Some participants may opt to receive College of Extended Studies credit, however, and this is available at a cost of $TBA per credit unit. Forms for enrollment for credit are available through the College of Extended Studies website, and participants can also enroll on site during the first day of the workshop.

Contact Information:
M. Trevor Shanklin, Director, LARC Language Labs, shanklin@mail.sdsu.edu.

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LARC/CALPER Testing and Assessment Webinars

Language acquisition research increasingly points to targeted feedback as a key component for increasing learner proficiency. To receive targeted feedback,however, more refined tools for testing and assessment of learner language are needed. To this end, LARC and CALPER at Penn State (a sister national Language Resource Center) are partnering to offer a series of webinars bringing well-known researchers and practitioners together in online classrooms, with supporting podcasts for each session and webinar archives available for post-session review.

Upcoming Webinars

Date	Time	Title	Presenter	Description	Links
Thursday April 19, 2012	9:00-10:10 am (PST) Check your time zone	Assessing Speaking	Dr. Glenn Fulcher The University of Leicester (UK)	Assessing Speaking	Full Description Sign Up Here