Language testing student Camilo Ramos Galvez has been awarded a British Council Assessment Research Award to assist with his doctoral research on the diagnosis of English language learners’ academic reading skills.

Diagnostic assessment of foreign language ability is still inadequately understood, and diagnostic practices often suffer from issues such as unsuitable test tasks or diagnostic feedback, and misuse of tests designed for a different purpose. In his doctoral research, Camilo Ramos Galvez aims to design and validate a diagnostic test of academic reading comprehension for undergraduate students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Chile. Apart from delivering an assessment tool, Camilo’s research is expected to inform the conceptualisation of foreign language diagnosis and to increase our understanding of the academic reading demands and processes of TEFL undergraduates.

The funding will enable Camilo to collect data from English language teacher educators and students in Chile and to try out his diagnostic test.

Many congratulations to Camilo for this competitive funding award!