Double award for University academic
An academic from the University is to receive an award for his contribution to language testing and educational assessment at an international conference in Italy.
Glenn Fulcher, Professor of Education and Language Assessment and Director of the School of Education at the University, will receive the 2016 award at the annual ‘Language Testing Research Colloquium’ on Friday 24 June at the University of Palermo, Italy, for two books published in the last five years which have been recognised as the most important and influential in the field.
The two award-winning pieces, the result of a tie, are entitled ‘Re-examining Language Testing: A philosophical and social inquiry’ (2015) and ‘The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing’ (2012) (co-written with Fred Davidson of the University of Illinois).
Glenn said: “This is the first time that the international selection panel have chosen two books to receive the SAGE/ILTA Book award. I’m still a bit stunned at the double win given the strength of the competition and the number of titles published in this field during the last five years. Having research and contribution acknowledged in this way by peers is wonderful, and we’re looking forward to the conference and awards ceremony in Palermo. ”
The 2015 book impressed the panel of judges with its unique philosophical approach to fundamental concepts, such as inference, values, constructs and measurement, in testing and assessment.
Professor Fulcher’s work with Fred Davidson meanwhile combined the unrivalled expertise of multiple scholars and aims to be the gold-standard for promoting best practice within the field and in advancing language assessment literacy in other professions which use information from language assessments.
Glenn is no stranger to receiving such accolades, having won an International Language Testing Association prize in 2011 for his work on test retrofit. He has also developed the first data-based rating scales for speaking tests, and continues to conduct research in this area.