Professor Luke Harding

Head of Department (Interim), Professor of Applied Linguistics

Research Interests

My research interests are in applied linguistics, with a focus on language testing and assessment. I have worked specifically in four areas: (1) the interface between sociolinguistics and language assessment (for example, integrating World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca perspectives in language assessment); (2) second language listening and pronunciation assessment (with a focus on intelligibility); (3) diagnostic approaches to language assessment; and (4) language assessment literacy, engagement and professional ethics. Recently, I have become interested in the role of digital technology in language assessment, and I have begun working on projects that combine corpus linguistics and language assessment. My colleagues Prof. Tineke Brunfaut, Dr John Pill and I convene the Language Testing Research Group in the Department of Linguistics and English Language.

I have published in a range of journals including Language Testing, Applied Linguistics, Language Assessment Quarterly and Assessing Writing. I was the Co-Editor in Chief of Language Testing from 2017-2022. I recently co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Language Testing (Second Edition) with Prof. Glenn Fulcher, which was published in 2022.

Links to recent open-access publications are provided below:

Iliovits, M., Harding, L., & Pill, J. (2022). Language use in an English-medium instruction university in Lebanon: Implications for the validity of international and local English tests for admissions. Journal of English-Medium Instruction, 1(2), 153-179.

Harding, L., Brunfaut, T., & Unger, J. W. (2020). Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’in the UK. Applied Linguistics, 41(5), 662-687.

Kremmel, B., & Harding, L. (2020). Towards a comprehensive, empirical model of language assessment literacy across stakeholder groups: Developing the Language Assessment Literacy Survey. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(1), 100-120.

Harding, L. W., & McNamara, T. (2018). Language assessment: The challenge of ELF. In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, & M. J. Dewey (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca. Routledge.

Brunfaut, T., Harding, L., & Batty, A. O. (2018). Going online: The effect of mode of delivery on performances and perceptions on an English L2 writing test suite. Assessing Writing, 36, 3-18.

Links to recent talks (hosted on YouTube) are provided below:

English as a lingua franca: Where are we now? Talk given as part of the Duolingo English Test Virtual Webinar Series, September 2022.

Language Assessment: Current Trends, Future Challenges – SALT Virtual Lecture Series. Talk given at Teachers College, Columbia University, January 2021.

Technology, Values, Ethics and Consequences: From Innovation to Impact in Language Assessment. Talk given at New Directions East Asia conference, November 2020.