Christine Coombe has a Ph.D. in Foreign/Second Language Education from The Ohio State University.  She is currently an Assistant Professor of General Studies at Dubai Men’s College.  She is the former Testing and Measurements Supervisor at UAE University and Assessment Coordinator of Zayed University. Christine is co-editor of Assessment Practices (2003, TESOL Publications); co-author, A Practical Guide to Assessing English Language Learners (2007, University of Michigan Press); co-editor, Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness in EF/SL Contexts (2007, UMP); co-editor, Language Teacher Research in the Middle East (2007, TESOL Publications), Leadership in English Language Teaching and Learning (2008, UMP) Applications of Task-based Learning in TESOL (2010, TESOL Publications), The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Assessment (2012, Cambridge University Press), Reigniting, Retooling and Retiring in English Language Teaching (2012, University of Michigan Press) and The Cambridge Guide to Research in Language Teaching and Learning (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and Volume 8 of the TESOL Encyclopedia of ELT (Wiley Blackwell, 2018).  Christine’s forthcoming books are on innovation in the MENA, international perspectives on language teaching associations and professionalism in education.

In this capacity, she has served as the President and Conference Chair of one of the largest TESOL affiliates in the world and is the founder and co-chair of its Testing Special Interest Group.

During her tenure in the Middle East, she has won many awards including 2002 Spaan Fellowship for Research in Second/Foreign Language Assessment; 2002-03 TOEFL Outstanding Young Scholar Award; TOEFL Board Grant for 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08 and 2009-10 for her work in delivering assessment training assessment in developing countries. She served on the TESOL Board of Directors as Convention Chair for Tampa 2006 and was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Teacher of the Year for 2003-04.  She served as TESOL President (2011-2012) and was a member of the TESOL Board of Directors (2010-2013).  Christine received the British Council’s International Assessment Award for 2013.  Her most recent honor was being named to TESOL’s 50@50 which “recognizes professionals who have made significant contributions to the TESOL profession within the past 50 years.” Dr. Coombe is the 2018 recipient of the James E. Alatis Award which recognizes exemplary service to TESOL.

Speech Title:

Assessment Literacy in English Language Teaching

Dr. Christine Coombe, Dubai Men’s College

Assessment Literacy has increasingly become a hot topic in English language teaching (ELT) in recent years. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the fact that so many English language teachers around the world are not sufficiently assessment literate, lacking the knowledge, skills and key competencies required to write effective language tests. However, it is essential that English language teachers do have a solid grounding in language testing theory, and that they are able to apply this theoretical knowledge in order to produce tests that assess their students accurately and fairly. In this plenary, I will look at the extent to which English language teachers are assessment literate. I will then outline a range of worldwide initiatives that have been implemented to improve English language teachers’ assessment literacy. In the final part of this talk, I will address what other initiatives could be employed to improve assessment literacy in our profession.

Personal Website:  http://www.christinecoombe.com/

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