Contact Information
4080 Foreign Language Building, MC-168
707 S. Mathews Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Interests
Language testing and assessment
English for academic purposes
Educational measurement
Quantitative research methods
Research Description
My research broadly focuses on speaking and writing assessment. My specific research interests include scale development and validation, rater behavior and training, assessment literacy for language teachers, and test score use in educational settings.
Education
Ph.D., English (Second Language Studies), Purdue University, 2015
M.A., TESOL, Ohio State University, 2009
B.A., English, Wuhan University, China, 2008
Grants
2015-2016, SPAAN Research Grant, CaMLA (with Shelley Staples, University of Arizona); Project: Investigating lexico-grammatical complexity as construct validity evidence for the ECPE writing tasks: A multidimensional analysis.
2016-2018, British Council Aptis Assessment Research Grant (with Ha Ram Kim, UIUC, and Ji Young Kim, UCLA); Project: Complexity, accuracy and fluency features of speaking performances on Aptis across different CEFR levels
2018-2019, IELTS Research Grant, British Council / IDP: IELTS, Australia (with Shelley Staples, University of Arizona); Project: Investigating the cognitive and social aspects of IELTS speaking performances across proficiency levels: Comparing the CAF-based and register-linguistics- based analyses
Courses Taught
EIL 460 Principles of Language Testing
LING 489 Theoretical Foundations of Second Language Acquisition
EIL 411 Introduction to TESL Methodology
Additional Campus Affiliations
Affiliated Faculty, Asst. Professor - Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education
Affiliated Faculty, Asst. Professor - Educational Psychology
Affiliated Faculty, Asst. Professor - Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies
Highlighted Publications
Books
Divoma, Slobodanka, Xun Yan, and April Ginther. Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development. Routledge, 2020.
Journal Articles
Yan, X., Lei, Y., & Shih, C. (in press). A corpus-driven, curriculum-based Chinese elicited imitation test in US universities. Foreign Language Annals.
Yan, X., Kim, H., & Kim, J. (in press). Dimensionality of speech fluency: Examining the relationships among complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) features of speaking performances on the Aptis test. Language Testing.
Yan, X., & Fan, J. (in press). “Am I qualified to be a language tester?”: Understanding the development of language assessment literacy across different stakeholder groups. Language Testing.
Fan, T. & Yan, X. (in press). Diagnosing English reading ability in Chinese senior high schools. Studies in Educational Evaluation.
Yan, X. (2020). Unpacking the processing advantage of formulaic sequences on speech fluency: Proficiency level, task difficulty, and fluency dimensions. TESOL Quarterly, 54(2), 460-487.
Fan, J., & Yan, X. (2020). Assessing speaking proficiency: A narrative review of speaking assessment research within the argument-based validation framework. Frontiers in Psychology (Special issue: Frontiers in Language Assessment and Testing), 11(330), 1-14.
Yan, X., & Staples, S. (2020). Fitting multidimensional analysis in an argument-based validity framework for writing assessment: Explanation and generalization inferences for the ECPE. Language Testing, 37(2), 189-214.
Yan, X., Cheng, L., & Ginther, A. (2019). Factor analysis for fairness: Examining the impact of task type and examinee L1 background on scores of an ITA speaking test. Language Testing, 36(2), 207-234.
Park, H., & Yan, X. (2019). An investigation into rater performance with a holistic scale and a binary, analytic scale on an ESL writing placement test. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 8(2), 34-64.
Yan, X., Zhang, C., & Fan, J. (2018). “Assessment knowledge is important, but…”: How contextual and experiential factors mediate assessment practice and training needs of language teachers. System, 74, 158-168.
Kim, H., Bowles, M., Yan, X., & Chung, S. (2018). Examining the comparability between paper-pencil and computer-mediated versions of an integrated writing placement. Assessing Writing, 36, 49-62.
Ginther, A., & Yan, X. (2018). Interpreting the relationships between TOEFL iBT scores and GPA: Language proficiency, policy, and profiles. Language Testing, 35(2), 271-295.
Zhang, C., & Yan, X. (2018). Assessment literacy of secondary EFL teachers: Evidence from a regional EFL test. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(1), 25-46.
Kang, O., & Yan, X. (2018). Linguistic features distinguishing examinees' speaking performances at different proficiency levels. Journal of Language Testing and Assessment, 1, 24-39.
Fan, J., & Yan, X. (2017). From test performance to language use: Using self-assessment to validate a high-stakes English proficiency test. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 26(1-2), 61-73.
Yan, X., Maeda, Y., Lv, J., & Ginther, A. (2016). Elicited imitation as a measure of L2 proficiency: A narrative review and meta-analysis. Language Testing, 33(4), 497-528.
Banerjee, J., Yan, X., Chapman, M., & Elliott, H. (2015). Keeping up with the times: Revising and refreshing a writing rubric. Assessing Writing, 26, 5-19.
Zhang, C., Yan, X., & Liu, X. (2015). The development of EFL writing teaching and research in China: An update from the International Conference on English Language Teaching. Journal of Second Language Writing, 30, 14-18.
Yan, X. (2014). An examination of rater performance on a local oral English proficiency test: A mixed-methods approach. Language Testing, 31(4), 501-527.
Book Chapters
Yan, X., Kim, H., & Kotnarowski, J. (in press). The development of a profile-based writing scale: How collaboration with teachers enhanced assessment practice in a post-admission ESL writing program in the USA. In B. Lanteigne, C Coombe & J. Brown (eds), Issues in language testing around the world: Insights for language test users. Springer.
Yan, X., Lei, Y., & Park, H. (in press). Speech fluency. In H. Mohebbi & C. Coombe (eds), Research questions in language education and applied linguistics. Springer.
Winke, P., Yan, X., & Lee, S. (in press). What does the cloze test really test? A conceptual replication of Tremblay (2011) with eye-tracking data. In G. Yu & J. Xu (eds), Language test validation in a digital age. Cambridge University Press.
LaFlair, G., Staples, S., & Yan, X. (2019). Triangulating corpus linguistics and language assessment: Using corpus linguistics to enhance validity arguments. In J. Egbert & P. Baker (eds), Using corpus methods to triangulate linguistic analysis, Routledge.
Yan, Xun, and April Ginther. "Listeners and raters: Similarities and differences in evaluation of accented speech." Assessment in L2 Pronunciation, edited by Okim Kang, edited by April Ginther. Routledge, 2017.
Yan, Xun, Suthathip Thirakunkovit, Nancy Kauper, and April Ginther. "What do test takers say: Test-taker feedback as in put for quality control." Post-admission Language Assessments of University Students, edited by John Read. Springer, 2016, p. 113-136.
Recent Publications
Dimova, S., Yan, X., & Ginther, A. (Accepted/In press). Local Language Testing: Design, Implementation, and Development. Routledge. https://www.crcpress.com/Local-Language-Testing-Design-Implementation-and-Development/Dimova-Ginther-Yan/p/book/9781138588493
Fan, J., & Yan, X. (2020). Assessing speaking proficiency: A narrative review of speaking assessment research within the argument-based validation framework. Frontiers in Physiology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00330
Fan, T., & Yan, X. (2020). Diagnosing English reading ability in Chinese senior high schools. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 67, [100931]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100931
Yan, X., Lei, Y., & Shih, C. (2020). A corpus-driven, curriculum-based Chinese elicited imitation test in US universities. Foreign Language Annals, 53(4), 704-732. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12492
Yan, X., & Fan, J. (Accepted/In press). “Am I qualified to be a language tester?”: Understanding the development of language assessment literacy across three stakeholder groups. Language Testing. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532220929924