PhD Supervision Interests

I am especially interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of language testing (in particular, for academic purposes) and reading research (in particular, reading in a foreign language and academic reading).

I am currently supervising PhD students working on the following themes:
- Quantitative modelling of difficulty in reading test items,
- Exploring anchor-based methods for judgmentally estimating item difficulty in English for academic purposes reading test items,
- Investigating the construct of Language in Use tasks
- Investigating the characteristics of language test specifications and item writer guidelines, and their effect on item development
- Investigating the construct underlying integrated test tasks
- Investigating strategies adopted in foreign language lecture comprehension
- Students' use of sources in real-life reading-to-write tasks
- Washback of the Exit-Level Examination Reform for Foreign Languages in Austria

Current Teaching

I am the co-ordinator of the Department's MA in Language Testing (by Distance).

I teach on the following modules on the MA in Language Testing (Distance):

• Language Test Construction and Evaluation
• Background to Applied Linguistics for Language Testing
• Research Issues in Applied Linguistics

I teach on the following modules on the MATESOL, MATESOL (Hong Kong) and MATEFL:

• Classroom Language Assessment
• Language Test Construction and Evaluation
• Research Methods
• Postgraduate Academic Study Skills

Other courses I have previously taught include: 'Issues in Language Testing', 'Introduction to General Linguistics' (Lancaster University), 'Research into Reading, Writing and Speaking in English as a Foreign Language', 'Academic Writing' and 'Academic Presentation Skills' (University of Antwerp, Belgium).

During summer, I teach on the Language Testing at Lancaster course.

Together with my colleague Luke Harding, I convene the Language Testing Research Group.

Additional Information

Recent Conference Presentations

'Combining eye-tracking with post test interview data to examine gap-fill items: triangulation or tribulation' paper co-presented with G. McCray and J.C. Alderson at the Annual Conference of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA), Innsbruck (Austria), 2012.

'Multilevel IRT in the Explanation of Cross-national and Cross-linguistic DIF in Reading Comprehension 2009' paper co-presented with G. McCray and J.C. Alderson at the American Educational Research Association conference (AERA), Vancouver (Canada), 2012.

'Component-Skills Approach to L2 Reading: Findings, Challenges, and Innovations' paper co-presented with J.C. Alderson, G. McCray and L. Nieminen at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL),  Boston (USA), 2012.

'The effects of individual differences and task characteristics on second language listening performance' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at EuroSLA, Stockholm (Sweden), 2011.

'Task difficulty in L2 listening: the effects of text characteristics and proficiency on learner performance' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at the 16th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Beijing (PRC), 2011.

'The effect of linguistic complexity on listening test performance related to different levels of proficiency' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at the 4th International Conference of the Association for Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), Krakow (Poland), 2011.

'EAP listening task difficulty: The impact of task variables, working memory and listening anxiety' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at the Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), Ann Arbor (USA), 2011.

'EAP listening: how difficult can a task be?' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at IATEFL, Brighton (UK), 2011.

'Tasks in L2 listening: Linguistic complexity and perceptions of task difficulty' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at EuroSLA, Reggio Emilia (Italy), 2010.

'Task difficulty in L2 listening assessment: an investigation of text characteristics and test takers' perceptions of difficulty' paper co-presented with Andrea Revesz at the Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), Cambridge (UK), 2010.

• Linking the GEPT listening test to the Common European Framework of Reference

  01/04/2012 → 30/09/2013
  This funded research project aims to conduct a linking study, relating the listening tests of the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The stud ... Read more»

• Language Test Design and Evaluation in Luxembourg

  01/09/2011 →
  This project involves the training of a team of English language teachers in language test design and evaluation, and the development of a CEFR A2-level test for use in secondary schools in Luxembourg ... Read more»

• Tasks, proficiency and assessing L2 listening comprehension

  01/07/2010 → 31/08/2012
  This funded project explored the effect of a number of variables on L2 listening difficulty, in relation to L2 proficiency. More specifically, we investigated the relationships between text characteri ... Read more»

• Tasks and assessing L2 listening comprehension

  01/08/2009 → 31/01/2010
  In this funded research project, we investigated the relationships between text characteristics of task input, task difficulty, and test takers' perceptions of difficulty in L2 listening assessment. I ... Read more»

• Socio-pragmatic competence of L2-doctors

  01/01/2007 → 30/11/2008
  This study looked into the socio-pragmatic competence of doctors using an L2 on the workfloor. L2-doctors' use of modification when communicating with patients and colleagues, and the declarative and ... Read more»

• Foreign language reading for academic purposes

  01/10/2003 → 31/03/2008
  This empirical study looked into the relative contribution of three factors to academic reading: academic language knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, and perceptions with regard to academic reading. ... Read more»

• Language, Educational Efficiency and Economic Outcomes

  01/01/2000 → 31/12/2002
  In the language testing sub-project of Le3o we investigated the development process of test materials for profession-oriented education in the first language (Northern Sotho) and second language (Engl ... Read more»