Speaker：Professor (Associate) Cecilia Guanfang Zhao (University of Macau)
Chair: Professor Yuyang Cai
Time/Date: 15:30 – 17:30/ May 7th
Venue：Information Building 311
Cecilia Guanfang Zhao holds an M.A. from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from New York University, and is currently Associate Professor in the Department of English at University of Macau. Her research so far has focused on issues of language testing, writing assessment, second language writing, and L2 academic literacy. Her work in this area has appeared in various handbooks, encyclopedia volumes, and such international academic journals as Applied Linguistics, Language Testing, Language Assessment Quarterly, TESOL Quarterly, Assessing Writing, Journal of Second Language Writing, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, ESP, and System, among others. Cecilia is also a recipient of two international best dissertation awards (Jacqueline Ross TOEFL Dissertation Award and Christopher Brumfit Ph.D./Ed.D. Thesis Award) and multiple regional research and teaching awards. She has served as Secretary for Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA), Nominating Committee Chair for International Language Testing Association (ILTA), Executive Board member for China Association of Language Testing and Assessment (CALTA), and as reviewer/editorial board member/section editor for various academic journals.
Title: Assessing Writing
Writing competence has been conceptualized differently over time from different perspectives. Different assessment approaches, therefore, have emerged in various contexts. This talk surveys such theoretical conceptions and existing assessment practices, and offers a synthesis of the current scholarship on writing assessment to highlight recurring and emerging themes. Major challenges are also identified in relation to directions for future writing assessment research and practice, including the need for the field to re-conceptualize the construct of writing in situ, to incorporate digital multimodal elements into writing assessments, and to further exploit AI and technology for more effective writing evaluation and more innovative designs of writing assessment.