In preparation for my review panel which is very much overdue, I have created a presentation for the TARF. I dont know what the acronym means but its an opportunity to present your research to the other PhD students. My presentation is in essence a summary of the Literature Review with an emphasis on the test criteria as that is the area I am having most problems overcoming. Most of the PhD students and all of the TARF regulars are linguitists which should be helpful when it comes to the critique of my Second Langauge Acquisition framework.

Whilst I had only prepared 11 slides, the presentation ultimately required two sessions and three hours to complete. The group appeared to be interested in the research topic and I very much enjoyed the experience however, the panel itself is only 15 mins in duration so Im going to have to spend a little time cutting down on material. The first half of the presentation is contextual and provides the political, social and economical background required to appreciate education provision in Ghana. The second half describes the specifics of the research in relation to the methodology and the theory underpinning the potential list of assessment tools. According to Keevers (International Education Handbook) educational research addresses three learning areas: Psycho-motor, Affective and Cognitive. The psycho-motor area relates to the development of infants and young children and is therefore not considered appropriate. The cognitive area is focused on assessment that tests comprehension as defined by Blooms Taxonomy. Whilst there is no definitive learning theory associated with the SOLE, Distributed Cognitive Theory and Self Regulated Learning were mentioned as related research topics worthy of investigation. To this cognitive area, I have attached Second Language Acquisition. In view of its importance in the curriculum and its particular relevance to the SOLE. The intention is to test communication competence as the SOLE will provide an immersion environment based on implicit rather than explicit learning. Whilst recognising the complications of testing and potential validity problems, the TARF accepted that this approach was more relevant to the Ghanaian context than a psycho-linguistic assessment. Finally, I addressed the Affective area but as no one in the room had had experience in this domain the Willingness to Communicate model went unquestioned.

In conclusion, there were no major issues highlighted by the TARF that were likely to upset my existing research framework. This positive response was supplemented by the meeting with the Prof. in advance of the TARF who indicated that he was happy with current progress and believed that the research was eminently practical and doable. He is currently reviewing the latest copy of the Literature Review so we shall see.