Susy Macqueen
Biographic Data
| ID | 3812416 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Susy Macqueen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Susy |
| FAMILY NAME | Macqueen |
| SIGNATURE | MACQUEEN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Australian National University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5404-6475 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Social science constructs as spheres of activity
Healthcare spaces are “contact zones,” where care may be practised using a lingua franca, or in various configurations of language codes. This paper examines two foundational constructs, communicative competence and health literacy, that are implicated in the contact zones of health care. I propose a heuristic framework of spheres of activity for locating, articulating, and understanding the facets and workings of measured constructs as a basis f…
Assessing Language for Specific Purposes
The assessment of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) arises in the context of social, political, and economic imperatives such as skilled migration, globalization, and international education. The focus of LSP assessment is typically an occupational or academic domain in which language mediates particular types of knowledge, experience, and activity. LSP assessment designers are concerned with the degree of specificity of domain knowledge/exper…
Fairness and justice in language testing
Peer-reviewed
Laughter in hospital emergency departments
For patients, hospital emergency departments (EDs) are unfamiliar, institutional contexts involving high-stakes communication in heightened emotional circumstances. This study examines laughter, as one expression of emotion, in an existing 649,631-word corpus of naturally occurring clinician-patient interactions recorded in five Australian hospitals. A mixed methods approach revealed (1) the spread, frequency and producers of laughter, and (2) th…
Trust the test
English language proficiency is a deciding factor in the life opportunities of many thousands of applicants for Australian skilled migration every year. This paper focuses on the perspectives of professional bodies that use English language tests in their decisions. Taking an interpretative approach, we explore the meanings that policy makers from these organisations ascribe (as score users) to test standards (cut-scores) so that we can better un…
The impact of national standardized literacy and numeracy testing on children and teaching staff in remote Australian Indigenous communities
All educational testing is intended to have consequences, which are assumed to be beneficial, but tests may also have unintended, negative consequences (Messick, 1989). The issue is particularly important in the case of large-scale standardized tests, such as Australia’s National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), the intended benefits of which are increased accountability and improved educational outcomes. The NAPLAN purpose is…
Language test as boundary object
Objects that sit between intersecting social worlds, such as Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) tests, are boundary objects – dynamic, historically derived mechanisms which maintain coherence between worlds (Star & Griesemer, 1989). They emerge initially from sociopolitical mandates, such as the need to ensure a safe and efficient workforce or to control immigration, and they develop into standards (i.e. stabilized classifying mechanisms). In t…
Test review
Laughter in hospital emergency departments
For patients, hospital emergency departments (EDs) are unfamiliar, institutional contexts involving high-stakes communication in heightened emotional circumstances. This study examines laughter, as one expression of emotion, in an existing 649,631-word corpus of naturally occurring clinician-patient interactions recorded in five Australian hospitals. A mixed methods approach revealed (1) the spread, frequency and producers of laughter, and (2) th…
Test review
Language test as boundary object
Objects that sit between intersecting social worlds, such as Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) tests, are boundary objects – dynamic, historically derived mechanisms which maintain coherence between worlds (Star & Griesemer, 1989). They emerge initially from sociopolitical mandates, such as the need to ensure a safe and efficient workforce or to control immigration, and they develop into standards (i.e. stabilized classifying mechanisms). In t…
The impact of national standardized literacy and numeracy testing on children and teaching staff in remote Australian Indigenous communities
All educational testing is intended to have consequences, which are assumed to be beneficial, but tests may also have unintended, negative consequences (Messick, 1989). The issue is particularly important in the case of large-scale standardized tests, such as Australia’s National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), the intended benefits of which are increased accountability and improved educational outcomes. The NAPLAN purpose is…
Trust the test
English language proficiency is a deciding factor in the life opportunities of many thousands of applicants for Australian skilled migration every year. This paper focuses on the perspectives of professional bodies that use English language tests in their decisions. Taking an interpretative approach, we explore the meanings that policy makers from these organisations ascribe (as score users) to test standards (cut-scores) so that we can better un…
Laughter in hospital emergency departments
For patients, hospital emergency departments (EDs) are unfamiliar, institutional contexts involving high-stakes communication in heightened emotional circumstances. This study examines laughter, as one expression of emotion, in an existing 649,631-word corpus of naturally occurring clinician-patient interactions recorded in five Australian hospitals. A mixed methods approach revealed (1) the spread, frequency and producers of laughter, and (2) th…
Assessing Language for Specific Purposes
The assessment of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) arises in the context of social, political, and economic imperatives such as skilled migration, globalization, and international education. The focus of LSP assessment is typically an occupational or academic domain in which language mediates particular types of knowledge, experience, and activity. LSP assessment designers are concerned with the degree of specificity of domain knowledge/exper…
Fairness and justice in language testing
Peer-reviewed
Social science constructs as spheres of activity
Healthcare spaces are “contact zones,” where care may be practised using a lingua franca, or in various configurations of language codes. This paper examines two foundational constructs, communicative competence and health literacy, that are implicated in the contact zones of health care. I propose a heuristic framework of spheres of activity for locating, articulating, and understanding the facets and workings of measured constructs as a basis f…
Psychology (6 works) · Political science (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare (3 works) · Language assessment (3 works) · Language proficiency (3 works) · Medicine (3 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (3 works) · Pedagogy (3 works) · Public relations (3 works)