OET FORUM 09
Friday 04 September 2009
The fifth annual OET Forum, held at the Langham Hotel, Southbank engaged over 75 attendees who listened to presentations and took part in discussion focused on effective communication in the workplace. Speakers included educators, practitioners, researchers from the University of Melbourne and representatives of government departments and key professional bodies. For a copy of the full program click here
The Forum was opened and attendees welcomed by Ms Denise O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Adult Education (CAE) owner and operator of the OET Centre & its world class Occupational English Test (OET). Ms O’Brien was followed by Mr Josh McConnell, Manager of the OET Centre who provided attendees with updates from the OET Centre which included projected 2009 candidate numbers, OET dates for 2010 and the announcement of the new OET Reading Sub-test being introduced March 2010.
OET Forum 2009 presenters included:
Professor Tim McNamaraLinguistics and Applied Linguistics Discipline Chair
School of Languages & Linguistics
The University of Melbourne
Our keynote speaker was
Professor Tim McNamara who is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne, where he taught Applied Linguistics since 1987. Tim’s language testing research has focused on performance assessment, theories of validity, the use of Rasch models, and the social and political meaning of language tests. He is the author of
Language Testing and co-author (with Carsten Roever) of
Language Testing:
The Social Dimension. Tim developed the OET in the 1980s and has worked on the development of the Speaking sub-test of TOEFL iBT; he was also one of the original developers of IELTS. Tim is a frequent speaker at international conferences and has served on the board of the many journals.
Click here for presentation
Professor Elizabeth ManiasAssociate Head (Research), School of Nursing and Social Work, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences,
Equity and Staff Development Coordinator
The University of Melbourne
Professor Elizabeth Manias discussed how health professionals communicate about the management of medications. Professor Elizabeth Manias works at The University of Melbourne in the School of Health Sciences, and is a registered pharmacist and nurse. Her research endeavours include: patient safety, medication management, interpersonal and organisational communication, and consumer participation. Specifically, her work considers different individuals’ perspectives and the complexities of the dynamic environment in which communication takes place. Click here for presentation
Dr. Robyn Woodward-Kron
Senior Lecturer, Coordinator
Clinical Communication & Learning Development
Medical Education Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
The University of Melbourne
After completing her PhD,
Robyn Woodward-Kron taught introductory linguistics and discourse analysis in Canada. She has extensive ESL teaching experience in workplace and academic settings, has worked as a consultant for a number of universities developing English for Academic Purposes materials, and is co-author of the prize winning CD-ROM Academic writing: A language based approach.
Dr. Mary Stevens
Project Officer, Medical Education Unit
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
The University of Melbourne
Dr Mary Stevens has a background in phonetics and phonology, with a PhD on sound change in Tuscan Italian. She has worked on phonetic phenomena in a range of less well-known languages, and in the field of language policy (beginners’ language provision at Australian universities). She joined the Medical Education Unit at the University of Melbourne in January 2009, as project officer on the project Clinical Communication Feedback Guidelines for International Medical Graduates.
Click here for their presentation which looks at Linguists working with clinicians and medical educators: Adding value or speaking in tongues?
Dr. Carsten RoeverSchool of Languages and Linguistics
The University of Melbourne
Dr Carsten Roever is the Convenor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. He holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His research interests include language testing, interlanguage pragmatics and cross cultural communication. He has authored several book chapters, journal articles, and books.
Click here for Dr Roever's presentation highlighting second language skills attrition.
Dr. Sanjay SharmaMedical Clinical Educator
Ballarat Base Hospital
Dr. Sharma provided attendees with insight into effective workplace communication - the IMG's perspective.
Dr Sanjay Sharma, an overseas trained doctor, works at Ballarat Base Hospital as Medical Clinical Educator.
Ms. Elizabeth Carter
Acting Director
Independent Skilled Migration Policy
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
Ms Elizabeth Carter is the Acting Director, Independent Skilled Migration Policy at the Department of Immigration & Citizenship. She is a member of the OET Stakeholder Group and provided attendees with an update from DIAC and Skilled Migration.
Click here for presentation
Ms. Karen CookChief Executive Officer
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC)
Ms Karen Cook is the CEO of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council and provided a full update from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC).
Click here for presentation
Mr. Dean Raven
Principal Policy Advisor
Medical Workforce
Department of Human Services
Mr Dean Raven is the Principal Policy Advisor, Medical Workforce at the Department of Human Services and addressed language & cultural communication needs of international medical graduates in Victoria.
Click here for presentation
Ms. Jan Hamilton
Lecturer, Clinical Communication and Learning Development, Medical Education Unit
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences The University of Melbourne
Ms Jan Hamilton has worked for a number of years in higher education and TAFE as a lecturer in Communications, coordinator of English language and workplace training programmes and teacher of English language tertiary preparation courses for international students. She spent five years lecturing in Hong Kong where she co-wrote and published curriculum materials for academic and professional English language learning. Jan has worked as a researcher and consultant on projects relating to the on-line assessment, assessor training and teachers' attitudes towards the assessment process. She is an accredited assessor for a number of Australian and international English tests, including IELTS, the OET and the University of Melbourne Diagnostic English Language Assessment (DELA). Ms Hamilton provided a glimpse into preparing tertiary health sciences students for the Australian workforce.
Click here for presentation
Associate Professor Cathie ElderDirector, Language Testing Research Centre
School of Languages and Linguistics
The University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Cathie Elder is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. She is also co-editor of the journal
Language Testing. Cathie has published widely in the field of language testing and has a particular interest in the challenges posed by the assessment of language proficiency for specific professional and academic purposes. Her presentation focused on the ARC Linkage research project which involves the OET Centre.
Click here for presentation
Dr. Luke Harding & Dr. Ute Knoch
Language Testing Research Centre
The University of Melbourne
Dr Luke Harding is a research fellow in the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. His research interests are in language testing – specifically listening assessment, as well as accent and intelligibility, and language attitudes.
Dr Ute Knoch is a research fellow in the Language Testing Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in the areas of writing assessment, rater training, assessing languages for specific purposes and second language writing.
Their presentation focused on the OET's new version Reading Sub-test. For further information please visit our home page and follows the links under 'Latest News'.