About Me
Hello, I am a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
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I was born and raised in Taiwan. I have a BA in English from National Chengchi University in Taiwan and a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from UIUC. I have language teaching experience in multiple countries including Taiwan, Indonesia, and the US; I also have experience in test development and textbook writing.
At UIUC, I work as a teaching assistant, facilitating linguistics and TESL courses. I was also a graduate coordinator of the English Placement Test where I was involved in test administration and quality control of the test. My research mainly focuses on language testing and assessment as well as second language writing. I am currently researching the role of source use on argumentation in integrated writing assessment.
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When I am not working, I enjoy traveling, watching documentaries, and spending time with my cat.
Current Projects
What makes listening comprehension difficult?: A technology-enhanced approach to examining the psychometric quality and construct validity of GEPT listening test
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This project investigates text and acoustic features of GEPT listening prompts and examines how these features influence the psychometric quality of the items.
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Currently coding individual test items to identify their formats, topics, and the skills they measure.
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) training and assessment for qualified interpreters for IEP meetings in Illinois
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This project creates a state training and assessment program for IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting interpreters.
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Currently working with faculty and fellow graduate students across departments (Linguistics, Spanish, Special Education, Translation, and Educational Psychology) to develop professional interpretation and language proficiency tasks.
Characteristics of second language integrated argumentative writing assessment (Dissertation study)
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This project investigates performance characteristics and the scoring process of an integrated writing test.
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Led a group of undergraduate researchers in data labeling and categorization.
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Currently running an experiment that examines the cognitive processes of scoring an integrated argumentative writing task.
Publications
Ping-Lin Chuang and Xun Yan (2023)
Connecting source use and argumentation in L2 integrated argumentative writing performance. Journal of Second Language Writing, 60, 101003.
Xun Yan & Ping-Lin Chuang (2023)
How do raters learn to rate?: Many-facet Rasch modeling of rater performance over the course of a rater certification program. Language Testing, 40(1), 153-179.
Ping-Lin Chuang and Xun Yan (2022)
An investigation of the relationship between argument structure and essay quality in assessed writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 56, 100892.
Ping-Lin Chuang & Xun Yan (2021)
Book review: Assessing English for professional purposes. Language Testing, 38(1), 182-185.
Selected Presentations
March 2023
Ping-Lin Chuang, Michelle Kim, Ching-Ni Hsieh
Writing performance characteristics of grades 3 to 8 students in three European countries. Paper to be presented at the 2023 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Portland, OR.
March 2023
Xun Yan, Ping-Lin Chuang, Huiying Cai, Yulin Pan
Disuency doesn’t happen independently: Exploring how micro-level disuency features co-occur on the IELTS speaking test. Paper to be presented at the 2023 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Portland, OR.
September 2022
Ping-Lin Chuang
Do source use features impact raters’ judgment of argumentation? An experimental study. Work-in-Progress presented at the 2022 Language Assessment Research Conference (LARC), Chicago, IL.
September 2022
Xun Yan, Ping-Lin Chuang, Shelley Staples, Huiying Cai, Mariana Centanin Bertho, Yulin Pan
Exploring linguistic features of IELTS speaking performances. Paper presented at the 2022 Language Assessment Research Conference (LARC), Chicago, IL.
March 2022
Ping-Lin Chuang
Source use in second language integrated argumentative writing assessment (Robert Lado Best Student Paper Award & ILTA Student Travel Award). Paper presented at the 2022 Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) Virtual Conference.
October 2021
Ping-Lin Chuang
Argument structure and quality as validity evidence for integrated writing assessment (Best Student Presentation Award). Paper presented at the 22nd Midwest Association of Language Testers (MwALT) Virtual Conference.
March 2021
Ping-Lin Chuang
Investigating argument structure and quality of essay performances on a second language writing test. Paper presented at the 2021 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Virtual Conference.