Korea English Language Testing Association (KELTA)

On September 16^th, 1999, a group of professors gathered in Room 201 of the British Council in Seoul and formed a study group called “Korea English Language Testing Research Association (KELTRA).” Professor Oryang Kwon (Seoul National University) was elected the President; Professors WonKey Lee (Seoul National University of Education) and Young Shik Lee (Han Nam University) were appointed vice-presidents. Professor Dongil Shin became the Secretary General, and Professor Inn-Chull Choi was appointed the Research Officer. Later, Professor Hyun-Sook Chung joined the executive board as the Treasurer.

During the next five years, KELTRA held forty monthly seminars, four all-day workshops, and one international conference. It had about fifty members on its mailing list. It represented Korea at the international conferences of AFELTA (Academic Forum for English Language Testing in Asia) that has been holding annual international conferences since 1998. KELTRA sent two or three speakers to each of those AFELTA conferences. In 2003, KELTA hosted the 6^th AFELTA Symposium at the International Graduate School of English.

KELTRA also participated in the First Joint Seminars/Workshops of SIGs of the Korea Association of Teachers of English (KATE) in February 2003, and all the 3 subsequent joint seminars/workshops of  SIGs.

In February 2005, KELTRA decided to change its name to KELTA (Korea English Language Testers Association) to become a more professional association. However, the basic philosophy remains the same, that is, to be an academically active, study-group type association. Most of the executive officers of the old KELTRA were re-elected or reappointed to the same positions. Professor Inn-Chull Choi was added to the vice-presidents’ group, and Professor Sung-Yeon Kim was appointed the new Treasurer. Six professors, Tae-Young Jung, Sang-keun Shin, Haeng Jung, Tae-Il Pae, Dong-Wan Cho, and Jeong-Won Lee were invited to the board as the Research/Editing Officers.

To celebrate the new start, KELTA held its first international conference on March 21^st, 2005, at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, presenting research papers on the English proficiency of high school students in Korea, China, and Japan and the long-term effect of elementary school English education in Korea. KELTA held its second international conference at Seoul National University on August 8^th, 2005. Professor Lyle F. Bachman (UCLA) was the key-note speaker and Randolph Thrasher (President, Japan Language Testing Association) was the plenary speaker of the conference with the theme, “Validity Issues in Foreign Language Testing.” About sixty new members joined KELTA at the conference.

The 3^rd International Conference of KELTA was held on October 14^th, 2006, in Room 432, LG-POSCO Building, Korea University, with the theme of “Assessing Production Skills in EFL.” The keynote speaker was Dr. Glenn Fulcher (U. of Leicester, UK), who was the President of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), and the plenary speaker was Dr. Jin Yan, the Chairperson of the College English Testing Committee in China. Eight papers were presented at the Conference.

In 2006, KELTA became an associate organization of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), and made an agreement to exchange speakers with the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA).  In June 2007, KELTA published its first journal, English Language Assessment, with five articles, including those of Dr. Glenn Fulcher and Dr. Jin Yan.

The 4^th International Conference of KELTA was held on August 24^th, 2007, at Room 201, Building 12, in the College of Education, Seoul National University. The theme of the Conference was “Assessing Foreign Language Performances.”  Dr. Tim McNamara (The University of Melbourne) was the keynote speaker. Dr. John H. A. L. de Jong (Person Language Assessments) and Dr. Micheline Chalhoub-Deville (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) were plenary speakers. There were two delegates from the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA), whose presentations marked the beginning of the partnership between KELTA and JLTA. A total of 22 papers were presented at the conference.

At the business meeting of the 4^th International Conference, Dr. Won-key Lee, the first vice president, was elected the new President, and a new executive board was formed. In the years 2007-2008, the leaders of KELTA were actively involved in the development of a framework and prototype of the national English abilities tests for primary and secondary school students, a project that was sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology. President Won-key Lee led the primary school testing team, while Former President Oryang Kwon led the secondary school testing team.

The 5^th International Conference was held on August 29^th, 2009, at the Education Information Hall of the College of Education, Seoul National University, with the theme, “Interface Between National English Tests and Classroom Assessments.” Dr. Liz Hamp-Lyons (The University of Bedfordshire, UK) was the keynote speaker, and Dr. Eui-Kap Lee (The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation) was the plenary speaker. During the Conference, KELTA also hosted the 11^th AFELAT Symposium for the Academic Forum for English Language Testing in Asia (AFELTA), with six delegates representing the College English Testing Committee (CET) of China, the Society for Testing English Proficiency (STEP) of Japan, Hong Kong Examination and Assessment Authority, the College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) of Taiwan, the Language Teaching and Testing Center (LTTC) of Taiwan, and KELTA of Korea. A total of 20 papers were presented at the conference.

At the business meeting of the Conference, as the term of the executive board ended, Dr. Oryang Kwon was again elected President to lead the association.