Atsushi Fukada
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Atsushi Fukada, professor of Japanese and linguistics, on the selection of his project “Development of Performance-based Assessment in Foreign Language Teaching” for funding through the University’s Instructional Innovation Program for 2015–2016. Atsushi’s project is one of six winning proposals funded by the new campus-wide grant program, an initiative of the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, which seeks to develop innovation in pedagogies and active learning.
While foreign language teaching may have changed significantly over the last several decades, language tests have not. Written assessments diverge sharply from the actual oral communication skills practiced in the classroom. Atsushi is interested in identifying methods of correcting this critical gap between assessment and instruction. Four of his colleagues in the School of Languages and Cultures are collaborating on the project: Wei Hong, professor of applied linguistics and director of the Chinese language program; Jessica Sturm, associate professor of French and applied linguistics; John Sundquist, associate professor of German and linguistics and chair of German and Russian; and Colleen Neary-Sundquist, assistant professor of Spanish and linguistics. The team will develop and implement a primarily oral IT-based achievement test called the “performance-based test” in several language programs at Purdue. The test will utilize Speak Everywhere, an oral language practice tool that Atsushi developed and commercialized in 2011.
Congratulations, Professor Fukada!
David A. Reingold
Justin S. Morrill Dean
College of Liberal Arts