The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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34 The Linguist Vol/57 No/2 2018 www.ciol.org.uk INSTITUTE MATTERS Thomas H Bak Dr Thomas Bak is a researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh with a particular interest is the relationship between language, cognition and the brain. He is President of the World Federation of Neurology's Aphasia, Dementia and Cognitive Disorders Applied Research Group. See p.13 Mark Critchley Mark Critchley MCIL is Director of Durham University's Centre for Foreign Language Study and Secretary/Treasurer of AULC. He has worked in the commercial sector and Higher Education, especially in linking academic, business and government agencies. See p.22 Dina Mehmedbegovic Dina Mehmedbegovic is a lecturer at the UCL Institute of Education (IoE) at PGCE, MA and doctoral level. She was previously Deputy Director of the London Education Research Unit and Editor of IoE's London Digest. Her research focuses on attitudes to bilingualism, multilingualism and plurilingualism. See p.13 Sabela Melchor-Couto Dr Sabela Melchor-Couto is a Senior Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Roehampton (London). Her research focuses on technology for language learning, and she has participated in two telecollaboration projects funded by the EU: TeCoLa (2015-2019) and TILA (2012-2015). See p.16 Jessica Moore Freelance writer and editor Jessica Moore is Co-Founder of WM Editorial (wmeditorial.com) and has worked for several national publications, including The Independent and The Telegraph. See p.10 Enkhtuvshin Namsrai Enkhee Namsrai MCIL is a cross-cultural consultant and Mongolian language trainer based in London. A SOAS MSc graduate, she designs and delivers language training and cultural orientation for various clients including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. See p.18 CONTRIBUTORS Delivering results Amanda Wood, Live Assessment Team Leader, explains her role in making sure our assessments run smoothly I joined the Institute last summer, to focus on the qualification and assessment side of things in the Live Assessment (LA) Team. This is one of two relatively new teams, set up about a year ago following a reorganisation of how we deliver exams. Our job in the LA Team is to make sure that the assessments we run are spot on – from providing a smooth experience for candidates to making sure that we have top teams of assessors who can deliver accurate and reliable assessments across all of our qualifications. This breaks down into a pretty wide variety of tasks for us. We need to be on the ball with logistics planning, event management, assessor training and performance management, moderation, and data quality assurance – and to be literally results driven! Our focus is to make sure that candidates get accurate results, on time, through a meaningful assessment of their skills, knowledge and understanding. The bespoke assessment design and delivery that IoLET (the Institute of Linguists Educational Trust) provides is key to the success of our qualifications, and this certainly keeps the LA Team busy. There aren't many organisations that can offer assessment on a near enough monthly basis in up to 40 languages. My background is in training and assessment, and while models and methods of delivery vary hugely, the principles of good assessment are fairly universal. In leading this team, my goals are to focus on how we can best train and support our assessors so that they can perform at the top of their game, how we can ensure that our moderation processes are robust and standardised across qualifications, and how we make sure that we always deliver rigorous assessments that support our qualifications' excellent reputation. Building on the knowledge I already have of assessment management, it's fascinating for me to learn more about languages and how language assessments work. More importantly, I've joined a fantastic, supportive team, with an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience, who have really welcomed me on board.