Curriculum Innovation, Testing and Evaluation:
Proceedings of the 1st Annual JALT Pan-SIG Conference

Cover of the 2002 JALT Pan-SIG Conference Proceedings

Proceedings of the JALT
CUE and TEVAL mini-conferences
held as part of the
JALT Pan-SIG Conference
on May 11th-12th 2002
at the Kyoto Inst. of Technology
(Kyoto, Japan)

These proceedings are the result of a two-day exploration into the different forms of curricular innovation happening in English programs in universities in Japan and neighbouring countries.

Many of these innovations involve changes in the field of testing and evaluation. The conference explored ways in which different approaches to structuring English programs and assessment schemes are being implemented, arise from their implementation.

Copyright © 2003 by the Japan Association for Language Teaching College and University Educators Special Interest Group (JALT CUE-SIG), Testing & Evaluation Special Interest Group (TEVAL SIG) & individual authors.

Ver. 4.2 - (16 Feb. 2011)

Contents

                                                                                                       page
Curriculum innovation, testing and evaluation by Alan S. Mackenzie and Tim Newfields  . . . . . . . . . 1

Curriculum Innovation Issues

                                                                                                       page
Developmental reform stages in the Japanese national university curriculum by Richard Blight  . . . .   7

Themes to content: Curriculum innovation at Ritsumeikan University by Anna Seabourne  . . . . . . . .  13

The evaluation of change: The role of evaluation in the curriculum renewal process
by Gregory V. G. O'Dowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23

Strawberry picking in Japan: Management, leadership, and change in a national university
by Neil Cowie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41

Caring for teachers in uncaring schools by Charles Kowalski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  53

EFL curriculum reform in Thailand by Alan S. Mackenzie  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59

Pro-autonomy curriculum innovation emancipatory student higher learning: 
The role of autonomy, authenticity, and criticality by Dr. Alan Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  71

Teaching autonomy: Exploring the paradox by Stacey Vye, Jodie Stephenson, Eric Skier, 
Miki Koyama, Rachelle Jorgenson, Hiromi Ishikawa, Kevin Bodwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  79

Video and learner enthusiasm: Stimulating personal interest as the first step toward autonomy
by Ikuko Kondo . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83

Bringing religion and worldviews into a college EFL curriculum: Some personal insights
by Carolyn Obara & Robert Kirkpatrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  87

Entrance Examinations & Placement

                                                                                                       page
English language entrance examinations: A progress report by James Dean Brown . . . . . . . . . . . .  95

Assessing speaking in the junior high school: Issues for a senior high school entrance examination 
by Tomoyasu Akiyama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

The CUE roundtable on leveling, streaming and placement testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Tokai University's Foreign Language Center by Deborah Bollinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Curriculum change and streaming in the department of English at Kyoto Sangyo University
by Amanda Gillis-Furutaka and Nobuko Sakurai . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Keisen University's Center for English Education and Research by Alan S. Mackenzie . . . . . . . . .  120

Testing within the Curriculum

                                                                                                      page
Improving test performance through a language test evaluation cycle by Richard Blight . . . . . . . . 125

Developing an EAP test for undergraduates at a national university in Malaysia: 
Meeting the challenges by Mohd. Sallehhudin Abd Aziz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Communicative assessment in a personal curriculum at Kanda University of International Studies
by Alistair Van Moere and Francis C. Johnson  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Annotated cloze: A viable alternative to verbal reports in data-elicitation? by Bob Gibson  . . . . . 163

How C-tests work by Ellen Head  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

An application of a multi-faceted Rasch model to writing test analysis by Yuji Nakamura . . . . . . . 171