The 30th Language Testing Research Colloquium Held in ZJU

Jun.25,2008

The 30^th Language Testing Research Colloquium had a grand opening at the International Conference Center
of ZJU at 9:00 a.m., June. 25. The theme of the colloquium this year was “Focusing on the Core: Justifying the
Use of Language Assessments to Stakeholders”. More than 200 professors and experts from both home
and abroad participated in this colloquium.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Provost of ZJU Prof. Zheng Qiang and Acting Dean of SIS Prof. Fan Jieping
gave a welcoming speech respectively on behalf of ZJU and SIS. The “Messick Memorial Instructor” Prize, as
the supreme honor given to experts making significant contributions to the field of international
language testing, was awarded to the famed language testing expert Prof. James Dean Brown from Hawaii
University, by Xi Xiaomin, Secretary General of International Language Testing Association (ILTA). Prof. Brown
also addressed on the topic of “Why don’t the stakeholders in language assessment just cooperate?” at the
colloquium.

It is reported that the colloquium will last 4 days, from June. 25 to 28. It is sponsored by ILTA
and undertaken by SIS of ZJU. According to the regulations of International Language Testing
Association, the colloquium is held in US every other year. However, through the efforts of mainland
scholars, the colloquium this year has moved to Mainland China and had ZJU as the site. Prof. He
Lianzhen, Deputy Dean of SIS and member of the ILTA magazine editorial committee, takes
charge of the colloquium as the executive chairperson of the colloquium in Mainland China. This is the
first time for the colloquium to be held in Mainland China, which means a first exception to the 
ILTA regulation “held in US every other year”. The colloquium used to be held mostly in countries
such as US, UK and Canada previously, and the 2006 and 2007 conferences in Australia and
Spain respectively. In terms of Asia, only Japan and HK had the honor.

This colloquium will not only accelerate the development of international language testing research,
but also strengthen ZJU’s international influences. Furthermore, with the active participation of
scholars and experts from home and abroad, the highly-qualified research colloquium will bring
afresh air into ZJU’s research in applied linguistics, and create favorable conditions as well as great
chances for the communication between scholars from ZJU and abroad.

                                                                                                (Translated by LIU Siyuan)