Luke Harding
Biographic Data
| ID | 4494145 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Luke Harding |
| GIVEN NAMES | Luke |
| FAMILY NAME | Harding |
| SIGNATURE | HARDING L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Lancaster University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9579-6571 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Pronunciation in High‐Stakes Assessment
This entry provides an overview of current approaches and critical issues in the assessment of pronunciation in high‐stakes settings. The entry is divided into four sections. First, the introduction section discusses high‐stakes language assessment and situates pronunciation assessment within that context. Second, current approaches to assessing pronunciation are described with reference to five prominent high‐stakes language tests: IELTS, TOEFL …
Evaluating Chatbot Authenticity in Simulations of Spoken Interaction
This study presents a methodological framework for applying corpus linguistics to systematically evaluate the authenticity of chatbot production in relation to (spoken) production in a general target language use domain. We demonstrate the approach through data drawn from the development cycle of a low-stakes formative assessment system in which learners interact with a ChatGPT-powered bot. A Chatbot Corpus containing approx. 290,000 words from 6…
What makes item-writing training useful? Learning from trainee perceptions on an online item-writing course for language testing
Despite general recognition that, in human-led item writing, training is key to producing good-quality tests, there is little empirical research on what constitutes good practice in item-writing training for language test development. This has led to a lack of evidence-based guidance for those who (plan to) organise item-writing training. To help address this research gap, this study explored the perceptions of 25 novice item writers on the usefu…
Utopian and dystopian visions
This article provides a discussion of the special issue: Advancing language assessment for teaching and learning in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) revolution: promises and challenges. In the first section, the special issue is contextualised within the recent history of the field of language testing and assessment and the rapid introduction of AI to assessment practices. In the second section, a dystopian vision for the use of AI in lang…
Repeating the Listening Text
In second language listening assessment and pedagogy, practitioners hold different views on whether to repeat a listening text in contexts where inferences about listening ability are to be drawn from task performance. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of repeating the listening text (double play) on listener performance, listening strategies, test‐taking strategies, test‐taking anxiety, and listening anxiety. Three hundred six A…
Epilogue—Note from an outgoing editor
In this brief epilogue, outgoing editor Luke Harding reflects on his time as editor and considers the future Language Testing
Pronunciation Assessment
Pronunciation assessment is practiced widely in applied linguistics for a variety of purposes. This entry provides an overview with focus on the evaluation of pronunciation ability in second language learners. The purposes of pronunciation assessment are surveyed, and a range of methods used to assess pronunciation are discussed. The entry then focuses on the challenge of defining a suitable target for pronunciation assessment. It ends by raising…
Innovation and expansion in Language Testing for changing times
As we begin 2022 in a world that is still experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, there remain many challenges on the horizon.For journal editors, these challenges involve the following: remaining sensitive to issues that require quick exploration and explication; thinking of new ways to engage with and bring together a community of scholars that has-in most casesnot had face-to-face conferences for over two years; monitoring submission figures to id…
Shadow State
A thrilling account of how Russia is waging a hidden war against America and the West, using espionage, corruption, fake news, and KGB-style murder."--Jacket
Pronunciation assessment
After an extended period of being on the periphery, numerous advancements in the field of second language (L2) pronunciation over the past decade have led to increased activity and visibility for this subfield within applied linguistics research. As Derwing (2010) underscored in her 2009 plenary at the first annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching ( PSLLT ) conference, a record number of graduate students researching L2 pron…
Towards a Theory of Diagnosis in Second and Foreign Language Assessment
Diagnostic language assessment has received increased research interest in recent years, with particular attention on methods through which diagnostic information can be gleaned from standardized proficiency tests. However, diagnostic procedures in the broader sense have been inadequately theorized to date, with the result that there is still little agreement on precisely what diagnosis in second and foreign language learning actually entails. In…
Diagnostic assessment of reading and listening in a second or foreign language
Alderson, Brunfaut and Harding (2014) recently investigated how diagnosis is practised across a range of professions in order to develop a tentative framework for a theory of diagnosis in second or foreign language (SFL) assessment. In articulating this framework, a set of five broad principles were proposed, encompassing the entire enterprise of diagnostic assessment. However, there remain questions about how best to implement these principles i…
Defining the language assessment literacy gap
This study identifies a unique context for exploring lay understandings of language testing and, by extension, for characterizing the nature of language assessment literacy among non-practitioners, stemming from data in an inquiry into the registration processes and support for overseas trained doctors by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing. The data come from Hansard transcripts of public hearings of t…
Pronunciation Assessment
Pronunciation assessment is perhaps the oldest recorded form of language assessment.
Accent, listening assessment and the potential for a shared-L1 advantage
This paper reports on an investigation of the potential for a shared-L1 advantage on an academic English listening test featuring speakers with L2 accents. Two hundred and twelve second-language listeners (including 70 Mandarin Chinese L1 listeners and 60 Japanese L1 listeners) completed three versions of the University Test of English as a Second Language (UTESL) listening sub-test which featured an Australian English-accented speaker, a Japanes…
WikiLeaks
Test review
Pronunciation assessment
After an extended period of being on the periphery, numerous advancements in the field of second language (L2) pronunciation over the past decade have led to increased activity and visibility for this subfield within applied linguistics research. As Derwing (2010) underscored in her 2009 plenary at the first annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching ( PSLLT ) conference, a record number of graduate students researching L2 pron…
Repeating the Listening Text
In second language listening assessment and pedagogy, practitioners hold different views on whether to repeat a listening text in contexts where inferences about listening ability are to be drawn from task performance. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of repeating the listening text (double play) on listener performance, listening strategies, test‐taking strategies, test‐taking anxiety, and listening anxiety. Three hundred six A…
Test review
WikiLeaks
Pronunciation Assessment
Pronunciation assessment is perhaps the oldest recorded form of language assessment.
Accent, listening assessment and the potential for a shared-L1 advantage
This paper reports on an investigation of the potential for a shared-L1 advantage on an academic English listening test featuring speakers with L2 accents. Two hundred and twelve second-language listeners (including 70 Mandarin Chinese L1 listeners and 60 Japanese L1 listeners) completed three versions of the University Test of English as a Second Language (UTESL) listening sub-test which featured an Australian English-accented speaker, a Japanes…
Defining the language assessment literacy gap
This study identifies a unique context for exploring lay understandings of language testing and, by extension, for characterizing the nature of language assessment literacy among non-practitioners, stemming from data in an inquiry into the registration processes and support for overseas trained doctors by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing. The data come from Hansard transcripts of public hearings of t…
Towards a Theory of Diagnosis in Second and Foreign Language Assessment
Diagnostic language assessment has received increased research interest in recent years, with particular attention on methods through which diagnostic information can be gleaned from standardized proficiency tests. However, diagnostic procedures in the broader sense have been inadequately theorized to date, with the result that there is still little agreement on precisely what diagnosis in second and foreign language learning actually entails. In…
Diagnostic assessment of reading and listening in a second or foreign language
Alderson, Brunfaut and Harding (2014) recently investigated how diagnosis is practised across a range of professions in order to develop a tentative framework for a theory of diagnosis in second or foreign language (SFL) assessment. In articulating this framework, a set of five broad principles were proposed, encompassing the entire enterprise of diagnostic assessment. However, there remain questions about how best to implement these principles i…
Pronunciation assessment
After an extended period of being on the periphery, numerous advancements in the field of second language (L2) pronunciation over the past decade have led to increased activity and visibility for this subfield within applied linguistics research. As Derwing (2010) underscored in her 2009 plenary at the first annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching ( PSLLT ) conference, a record number of graduate students researching L2 pron…
Shadow State
A thrilling account of how Russia is waging a hidden war against America and the West, using espionage, corruption, fake news, and KGB-style murder."--Jacket
Pronunciation Assessment
Pronunciation assessment is practiced widely in applied linguistics for a variety of purposes. This entry provides an overview with focus on the evaluation of pronunciation ability in second language learners. The purposes of pronunciation assessment are surveyed, and a range of methods used to assess pronunciation are discussed. The entry then focuses on the challenge of defining a suitable target for pronunciation assessment. It ends by raising…
Innovation and expansion in Language Testing for changing times
As we begin 2022 in a world that is still experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, there remain many challenges on the horizon.For journal editors, these challenges involve the following: remaining sensitive to issues that require quick exploration and explication; thinking of new ways to engage with and bring together a community of scholars that has-in most casesnot had face-to-face conferences for over two years; monitoring submission figures to id…
Epilogue—Note from an outgoing editor
In this brief epilogue, outgoing editor Luke Harding reflects on his time as editor and considers the future Language Testing
Repeating the Listening Text
In second language listening assessment and pedagogy, practitioners hold different views on whether to repeat a listening text in contexts where inferences about listening ability are to be drawn from task performance. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of repeating the listening text (double play) on listener performance, listening strategies, test‐taking strategies, test‐taking anxiety, and listening anxiety. Three hundred six A…
What makes item-writing training useful? Learning from trainee perceptions on an online item-writing course for language testing
Despite general recognition that, in human-led item writing, training is key to producing good-quality tests, there is little empirical research on what constitutes good practice in item-writing training for language test development. This has led to a lack of evidence-based guidance for those who (plan to) organise item-writing training. To help address this research gap, this study explored the perceptions of 25 novice item writers on the usefu…
Utopian and dystopian visions
This article provides a discussion of the special issue: Advancing language assessment for teaching and learning in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) revolution: promises and challenges. In the first section, the special issue is contextualised within the recent history of the field of language testing and assessment and the rapid introduction of AI to assessment practices. In the second section, a dystopian vision for the use of AI in lang…
Pronunciation in High‐Stakes Assessment
This entry provides an overview of current approaches and critical issues in the assessment of pronunciation in high‐stakes settings. The entry is divided into four sections. First, the introduction section discusses high‐stakes language assessment and situates pronunciation assessment within that context. Second, current approaches to assessing pronunciation are described with reference to five prominent high‐stakes language tests: IELTS, TOEFL …
Evaluating Chatbot Authenticity in Simulations of Spoken Interaction
This study presents a methodological framework for applying corpus linguistics to systematically evaluate the authenticity of chatbot production in relation to (spoken) production in a general target language use domain. We demonstrate the approach through data drawn from the development cycle of a low-stakes formative assessment system in which learners interact with a ChatGPT-powered bot. A Chatbot Corpus containing approx. 290,000 words from 6…
Psychology (9 works) · Linguistics (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (6 works) · Language assessment (5 works) · Pronunciation (5 works) · Mathematics education (4 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (4 works) · Active listening (3 works) · Higher Education Learning Practices (3 works)