The Research & Validation team
Background
The Research & Validation unit was set up in 1989 to establish a validation programme and research agenda that specifically focused on Cambridge ESOL exams. The unit was headed by Dr Michael Milanovic (now Chief Executive) and was the first of its kind within a UK exam board.
The Group provides rigorous quality assurance for the exams at every stage of the assessment process. It achieves this by conducting analyses and research projects for all the exams and through establishing and implementing standard procedures which are evaluated and refined in respect of theoretical, technological and business developments.
Our experts specialise in:
- educational measurement
- item response theory and item-banking
- computer-based testing
- cross-language comparability
- scaling, norming, equating
- standard setting
- applied linguistics
- language testing
- psycholinguistics
- second language acquisition
- language learning/pedagogy
- corpus linguistics
- quality management
Cambridge ESOL is a member of ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) which provides a forum for the development of assessment standards for European languages. ALTE also works to set common standards for all stages of the language-testing process.
Our research specialists work closely with ALTE to support its work in establishing common levels of proficiency to promote transnational recognition of certification in Europe.
The team
The Research & Validation team brings together specialists in testing and assessment, statistical analysis and item-banking, applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, language learning/pedagogy, project and database management, administration and training and library and publication skills.
This diversity enables us to build the specialist knowledge and skills base we need to be a leading international provider of high quality assessment products.
Through publications and presentations in the public domain we can make a valuable contribution to the wider field of language assessment more generally.
Management Team
Dr Nick Saville - Director
Nick is responsible for planning and coordinating the work of the R&V Group. He has specialised in language testing and assessment since 1987 and holds a PhD from the University of Bedfordshire in the area of language test impact. He also holds degrees in Linguistics and in TEFL from the University of Reading. Before joining Cambridge in 1989, he worked for six years at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and spent two years in Tokyo managing a test development project. His own research interests include: the development and validation of tasks and rating scales for Speaking tests; the development of models for investigating test impact; the implementation of quality management systems (QMS) in test development and validation; and the uses of language assessment for migration and citizenship purposes. He is the representative of Cambridge ESOL in ALTE - the Association of Language Testers in Europe – and has close involvement with other European initiatives, such as the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and related “toolkit”. Currently he is a member of the Cambridge University team responsible for co-ordinating the English Profile – i.e. Reference Level Descriptions for English to accompany the CEFR. Nick presents at international conferences on an annual basis and has published widely on issues related to language assessment. He has been an associate editor of Language Assessment Quarterly since it was launched in 2004.
Dr Neil Jones - Assistant Director, Research and Validation
Neil holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh (UK) on the application of item response theory. He has previous extensive experience as teacher and director of studies in several countries including Poland and Japan, has set up English teaching departments at university level, and worked on materials development, teacher training, multimedia study centres. Neil’s role as Assistant Director involves working on innovative developments including item-banking, Cambridge ESOL common scale, computer-adaptive testing, and the Asset languages initiative. His current interests are formative assessment, and the construction of multilingual language proficiency frameworks like the Common European Framework of Reference. Neil is Vice-Director of SurveyLang, an international consortium which is working to deliver the European Survey on Language Competences in 2011.
Dr Ardeshir Geranpayeh - Assistant Director, Research and Validation
Ardeshir holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh (UK) on the comparability of language proficiency testing. He has extensive experience of test validation and has contributed to the design, development, validation, revision and evaluation of several internationally recognised language proficiency tests. He also has a strong background in computing and information technology. Ardeshir, as Assistant Director, leads on Computer based testing strategy and the development of associated IT systems as well as the statistical analysis of the examinations. His current interests include: IRT and item-banking, differential item functioning, and structural equation modelling.
Dr Hanan Khalifa - Assistant Director, Research and Validation
Hanan holds a PhD in Language Testing from the University of Reading (UK). Previously, she worked within a university context and with international development agencies on the development of test batteries and item banks, ESP/EAP curriculum development, and educational reform. Hanan also has extensive experience in capacity building, programme evaluation, and in conducting impact studies. Her role as Assistant Director involves: setting the group’s research agenda, assessing reading, raising internal awareness to the CEFR, and building arguments for assessment products. Hanan represents Cambridge ESOL in EAQUALS special interest groups. Research interests include: standard setting, qualitative research, ethical and fairness issues in educational assessment.
Find out more about the research and validation team
Dr Andrew Blackhurst
Andy holds a PhD in History from University College London (UK). Before joining Cambridge ESOL, he assisted in teaching and assessing undergraduate students at University College London. He now manages a team with responsibilities for the IELTS examination and for computer adaptive testing such as BULATS and Skills for Life. He also undertakes routine operational analyses, research projects, and external presentations related to the above mentioned products. Current research interests include: the assessment of English for academic purposes, the East Asian learner and the ethics of test usage.
Validation Officers
Dr Karen Ashton
Karen holds a PhD in cross-language comparability of reading proficiency from the University of Cambridge. Previously, she worked as a Research Assistant and as a teacher of English in Japan. Within Cambridge ESOL, she has worked on Asset Languages, where she researched aspects of comparability, impact and standard-setting. She is now Project Manager for the European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC). She works closely with a consortium of European partners (SurveyLang) in delivering the survey, which will test the language skills of a sample of secondary school pupils across participating European countries in 2011.
Dr Fiona Barker
Fiona holds a PhD in Language Description and Corpus Linguistics from Cardiff University (UK). She has experience of the theoretical and practical issues associated with building language corpora and taught English in the UK secondary sector. With responsibility for corpora, she develops collections of spoken and written learner data, including for the English Profile Programme (www.EnglishProfile.org). She edits the quarterly publication Research Notes and works with external consultants, researchers and research students. Her research interests include: written/spoken corpus development, comparative analysis of learner speech and writing and vocabulary range/growth.
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Ms Lucy Chambers
Lucy holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from Anglia Ruskin University (UK). Previous to working at Cambridge ESOL, she taught English in Japan, the Czech Republic and the UK in both the private school and business sectors. Her current responsibilities include providing statistical analysis and construct validation argument to the business examinations; BEC and BULATS. She also manages our ongoing monitoring examination difficulty project (Live Anchor), the workflow of internal research requests and the reporting of internal publications. Her research interests include English for Specific Purposes and computer-based versus paper-based written assessment.
Mr Michael Corrigan
Michael holds an MA in Linguistics for Language Teaching from Lancaster University (UK). He is currently working on his PhD in language Testing. He has worked in universities and language schools in Europe and Asia and has held various test-related roles. His current responsibilities involve working with three ALTE members (the Goethe-Institut, the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and the Università per Stranieri di Perugia) to validate their tests of German, Irish and Italian as a foreign language. His research interests include the underlying structure of tests, the construction and evaluation of validity arguments and issues concerning relating examinations to the CEFR.
Dr Evelina Galaczi
Evelina has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University (USA). She has extensive experience as an ESOL teacher, teacher-trainer and program administrator. Her role involves providing ongoing operational and quality assurance support for the speaking component of Cambridge ESOL examinations as well as publishing research on these products. She is also involved in providing validation and research support to the Teaching Awards Suite of examinations. Her research interests include performance assessment with specific reference to the testing of speaking, discourse analysis and qualitative approaches to assessment research.
Dr Gad Lim
Gad holds a PhD in Education from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (USA). He has taught in higher education and trained language teachers in the Philippines and in the United States. Before joining Cambridge ESOL, he worked for the University of Michigan English Language Institute, where he managed development of speaking tests and conducted test-related research. His current role involves doing analysis and research on the IELTS exam and on the assessment of writing. His research interests at present focus on raters and rating scales in performance assessment.
Dr Szilvia Papp
Szilvia holds a PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Edinburgh (UK). As senior lecturer in Higher Education, she taught on various Applied Linguistics and TEFL/TESOL courses. Within Cambridge ESOL, she has specific research and validation responsibility with regards to young learners’ examinations. She provides support to assessment products and to the English Profile project in terms of research related to the construct of Writing. Her research interests include the assessment of young learners, learner corpus analysis, language testing for migration and citizenship, second language acquisition of grammar and vocabulary.
Ms Dittany Rose
Dittany holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Anglia Ruskin University (UK). She is the Quality and Evaluation Manager at Cambridge ESOL, a role which involves leading on a number of cross business processes including internal audit and risk management. Dittany also works on development and co-ordination of processes that require an understanding both of a process approach and of assessment theory and practice. She has experience of teaching and managing teachers in Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia and has previously worked on the development and production of test materials for Cambridge ESOL.
Dr Angeliki Salamoura
Angeliki holds a PhD in Second Language Processing from the University of Cambridge (UK). She has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher on English language processing at Cambridge University where she developed a strong background in quantitative research. She has also worked as an EFL teacher overseas. Her current role involves working on state sector projects, on the validation of bespoke assessment products and providing support to the English Profile project in terms of its link to the CEFR. Her research interests include framework issues, quantitative research methodology and bilingual language processing.
Dr Andrew Somers
Andrew holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge (UK). Working at Cambridge ESOL, he has gained extensive experience in working with special arrangements and malpractice cases. He is now working on using Structural Equation Modelling in relation to test construction and modification. He also manages a team with responsibilities for the analysis of Main Suite Examinations as well as pretesting analysis. As such he has built up management experience and knowledge of quantitative research methodology. His research interests include: electronic script management, test equating and grading methodologies.
Dr Ivana Vidakovic
Ivana holds a PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Cambridge (UK). Previously, she has worked as an EFL teacher overseas where she taught adult learners and has conducted a series of quantitative research activities as part of her postgraduate studies. Her role involves statistical data analyses, provision of validation support to ILEC, ICFE and Skills for Life examinations as well as conducting research related to ESP assessment. Her research interests include testing English for Specific Purposes, second language acquisition and learner corpus analysis.
European Projects Officer
Mr Martin Nuttall
Martin holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Essex and taught English Language and Linguistics for many years at universities in Europe and Japan before joining Cambridge ESOL in 2001 as a Subject Officer on BULATS. Between 2003 and 2008, Martin was the Cambridge ESOL representative in Japan. He returned to the UK in 2008 and took up his current role as the European Projects Officer in early 2009. In this role, Martin is responsible for managing the activities of the ALTE Secretariat, and coordinating and developing Cambridge ESOL’s involvement in Europe-related projects with major European institutions and organisations.
Assistant Validation Officers
Mr Chris Bell
Chris holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Sheffield. In his current role, he carries out statistical analyses for a variety of ESOL examinations.
Mr Laurence Calver
Laurence holds a BA in Computing and Mathematical Sciences from the Open University. Previously to working at Cambridge ESOL, he worked in Research and Development and Quality Assurance. In his current role, he carries out statistical analyses for a variety of ESOL examinations.
Ms Laura Cope
Laura holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge (UK). She joined Cambridge ESOL soon after graduating. Her current role involves database management and ensuring that the algorithms for computer adaptive tests such as BULATS are performing appropriately via ongoing testing. She assists on research projects that are related to IELTS as well as providing statistical support for computer-based products.
Ms Sandie Fernand
Sandie holds a BSc in Pure Science (Mathematics and Statistics) from Glasgow University. Before joining ESOL, she worked for the Qualifications Division of OCR. In her current role, she is engaged in statistical analyses for a variety of ESOL examinations.
Ms Julie Stedman
Julie holds a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Bath (UK). Prior to joining Cambridge ESOL she worked as a business analyst for an international consultancy, primarily on the Heathrow Terminal 5 project. Her role involves statistical analyses of the pretesting and grading of IELTS and Skills for Life examinations.
Ms Christine Walker
Christine holds a BSc in Food Science from South Bank University (UK). Before joining Cambridge ESOL she worked in a food research laboratory and then as an inventory controller on a manufacturing site. In her current role, she is engaged in statistical analyses for a variety of ESOL examinations.
Mr Nick Beresford-Knox
Nick holds a BSc in Business Management from the University of East Anglia (UK). His current role includes the coordinating of the Cambridge ESOL Internal Audit System and external audit visits. He also supports the ALTE Secretariat on Quality Assurance projects, conference management and the work of special interest groups.
Administrative Team
- Ms Jaime Grogan,
Administrative Co-ordinator
& PA to Director
- Ms Caroline Warren,
Librarian & Research
Support Administrator
