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PROF TIM MCNAMARA



Contact Details

Organization: Languages and Linguistics
Position: PROFESSOR - MCNAMARA
Email:
Homepage: http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/profiles/mcnamara/
Work: 8344 4207
Fax: 9347 2613
Level: 05
Building: Arts Centre
Campus: Parkville

Biography

To date three of Professor McNamara's publications have been translated into languages other than English. These are;

McNamara, T.F(2005) Language Testing [Russian language edition]. Moscow: Relod, in association with Oxford University Press: xviii +174pp.

McNamara, T.F(2004) Language Testing [Japanese language edition, translated by S.Ito, R.Saegusa, M.Shimada and H.Noguchi]. Tokyo: 3A Corporation, in association with Oxford University Press: 172pp.

McNamara, T.F(2003) Measuring Second Language Performance  [Korean language edition, translated by Chae Sunhee, Chi Eunlim, Baek Sun-Geun and Seol Hyunsoo]. Seoul: Korean chapter, Institute for Objective Measurement, in association with Pearson Education Limited.

Tim  has just accepted a fellowship to Carnegie Mellon as part of the Language Learning Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program This program is designed to enable university departments worldwide representing the broadly defined area of applied linguistics, to host a distinguished scholar of their choosing for a week on their campus. He will take up his fellowship in October/November 2009.

Qualifications, Honours, Fellowships and Other Awards

Qualifications

Title Institution Date Awarded Abbreviation
Bachelor of Arts University of Melbourne 31-Dec-1970
Graduate Diploma in Education University of Melbourne 31-Dec-1972
Diploma In Teaching English as a Foreign Language Royal Society of Arts (UK) 31-Dec-1974
Master of Arts University of London 31-Dec-1981
Doctor of Philosophy University of Melbourne 31-Dec-1990

Memberships

Membership Type Membership Body Description Start Date End Date
Member American Association for Applied Linguistics Member-at-Large and member of the Executive 01-Jan-2009 31-Dec-2012

Other Awards

Award Type Awarding Body Comments Date Awarded
Other (Award) Sage/International Language Testing Association Winner of the award for best book published in the field of language testing, 2006-2008 27-Feb-2009

Government Research Classifications

Research Fields, Courses and Discipline Classifications

Socio-Economic Objective Classifications

Grants and Contracts

Research Grants, Contracts and Consultancies awarded to the University of Melbourne as the administering institution (since 2003) as recorded in Themis Agreements.

Grants

Title Role Funding Source Scheme Award Date
Towards improved healthcare communication: development and validation of language proficiency standards for non-native English speaking health professionals Chief Investigator AUST RESEARCH COUNCIL Linkage Projects 01/01/2009

Publications

Publications produced at the University of Melbourne and reported in the Annual Publications Collection and 'Research Report' since 2001. The Themis Publications module, released in November 2006, allows additional publications from previous institutions and publications from past years to be entered.

Publications in 2009

Book Chapters

  • Language tests and social policy: A commentary
    Year: 2009
    Book: Discourses on Language and Integration: Critical Perspectives on Language Testing Regimes in Europe
    Publisher: Benjamins - John Benjamins Publishing Company(Amsterdam)
    Authors(s):
    Editors(s):
  • The spectre of the Dictation Test: Language testing for immigration and citizenship in Australia
    Year: 2009
    Book: Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship: Cross-national Perspectives on Integration Regimes
    Publisher: Continuum(London)
    Authors(s):
    Editors(s):

Journal Articles

  • Australia: The Dictation Test redux?
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Language Assessment Quarterly
    Volume: 6
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 106-111
    Author(s):
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  • Language testing for citizenship, immigration and asylum
    Year: 2009
    Journal: Language Assessment Quarterly
    Volume: 6
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 1-5
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Publications in 2008

Journal Articles

  • Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficency: How Distinct?
    Year: 2008
    Journal: Applied Linguistics
    Volume: 29
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 24-49
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  • Language tests and human rights
    Year: 2008
    Journal: International Journal of Applied Linguistics
    Volume: 18
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 89-95
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  • Mapping the Scope of Theory in TESOL
    Year: 2008
    Journal: TESOL Quarterly
    Volume: 42
    Issue: 2
    Page numbers: 302-305
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  • Response: 'Keep Your piece nine years'
    Year: 2008
    Journal: International Journal of Applied Linguistics
    Volume: 18
    Issue: 2
    Page numbers: 221-224
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Major Reference Works

  • Encyclopedia of Language and Education (Volume 7: Language testing and assessment):

    The socio-political and power dimensions of tests


    Year: 2008
    Reference Work Title: Encyclopedia of Language and Education (Volume 7: Language testing and assessment)
    Publisher: Springer Science+Business Media(New York)
    Author(s):

Publications in 2007

Journal Articles

  • Language assessment in foreign language education: The struggle over constructs
    Year: 2007
    Journal: Modern Language Journal
    Volume: 91
    Issue: 2
    Page numbers: 280-282
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Conference Publications/Papers

  • Language testing: A question of context
    Year: 2007
    Event name: Language Testing Research Colloquium
    Conference Publication: Language Testing Reconsidered
    Page numbers: 131-140
    Publisher: University of Ottawa Press(Ottawa)
    Author(s):
    Editor(s):

Reports

  • Assessment of the language level of the August 2007 draft of the resource booklet Becoming an Australian Citizen
    Year: 2007
    Customer: Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia
    Publisher: Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia(Curtin, ACT)
    Authors:

Publications in 2006

Books

  • Language Testing: The Social Dimension
    Year: 2006
    Publisher: Blackwell Publishers(Massachusetts)
    Authors(s):

Book Chapters

  • Validity and values: Inferences and generalizability in language testing
    Year: 2006
    Book: Inference and generalizability in Applied Linguistics: Multiple research perspectives
    Publisher: Benjamins - John Benjamins Publishing Company(Amsterdam)
    Authors(s):
    Editors(s):

Journal Articles

  • Language Testing: The Social Dimension
    Year: 2006
    Journal: International Journal of Applied Linguistics
    Volume: 16
    Issue: 2
    Page numbers: 242-258
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  • Validity in Language Testing: The Challenge of Sam Messick's Legacy
    Year: 2006
    Journal: Language Assessment Quarterly
    Volume: 3
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 31-51
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Major Reference Works

  • Encyclopedia of Language and Lingusistics:Assessment of second language proficiency
    Year: 2006
    Reference Work Title: Encyclopedia of Language and Lingusistics
    Publisher: Elsevier Science(Oxford)
    Author(s):

Publications in 2005

Books

  • Second Language Testing in Assessment
    Year: 2005
    Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates(Mahwah)
    Authors(s):

Book Chapters

  • Beurteilungsverfahren für die sprachliche Entwicklung von Kindern zwischen dem vierten und vierzehnten Lebensjahr [Monitoring the language development of children aged 4-14]
    Year: 2005
    Book: Anforderungen an Verfahren der regelm��igen Sprachstandsfeststellung als Grundlage f�r die fr�he und individuelle Sprachf�rderung von Kindern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund [Requirements that procedures of continuous evaluation of the status of language development have to fulfill to serve as a basis for early and individual linguistic fostering of children without and with immigration background]
    Publisher: Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung(Berlin)
    Authors(s):
    Editors(s):
  • Introduction to Second Language Testing and Assessment
    Year: 2005
    Book: Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning
    Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates(Mahwah)
    Authors(s):
    Editors(s):

Journal Articles

  • 21st Century Shibboleth: Language Tests, Identity and Intergroup Conflict
    Year: 2005
    Journal: Language Policy
    Volume: 4
    Issue: 4
    Page numbers: 351 - 370
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Reports

  • An Examination of Rater Orientations and Test-Taker Performance for English-for-Academic-Purposes Speaking Tasks
    Year: 2005
    Customer: TOEFL Program, Educational Testing Service
    Publisher: Educational Testing Service(Princeton)
    Authors:

Publications in 2004

Book Chapters

  • Language Testing
    Year: 2004
    Book: The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
    Publisher: Blackwell Publishers(Malden)
    Authors(s):
  • Rasch Techniques for Detecting Bias in Performance Assessments: An Example Comparing the Performance of Native and Non-Native Speakers on a Test of Academic English
    Year: 2004
    Book: Introduction to Rasch Measurement
    Publisher: JAM Press(Maple Grove)
    Authors(s):

Journal Articles

  • "The Devil Is in the Detail": Researching Gender Issues in Language Assessment
    Year: 2004
    Journal: TESOL Quarterly
    Volume: 38
    Issue: 3
    Page numbers: 524-538
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  • Guidelines for the use of language analysis in relation to questions of national origin in refugee cases


    Year: 2004
    Journal: International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law: Forensic Linguistics
    Volume: 2
    Issue: 11
    Page numbers: 261-266
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Reports

  • A report on assessing and reporting student outcomes in Asian languages (Japanese and Indonesian)
    Year: 2004
    Customer: Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training under the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategy
    Publisher: Commonwealth of Australia(Canberra)
    Authors:
  • Monitoring the language development of children aged 4-14
    Year: 2004
    Publisher: University of Melbourne, School of Languages(Melbourne)
    Authors:

Publications in 2003

Book Chapters

  • Assessment research in second language curriculum initiatives
    Year: 2003
    Book: International handbook of educational research in the Asia-Pacific region
    Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers(Dordrecht)
    Authors(s):

Journal Articles

  • Knowing your limits: Conceptual and policy constraints on evidence centred test design in language testing research
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Measurement
    Volume: 1
    Issue: 1
    Page numbers: 85-87
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  • Language testing and social policy: the message of the Shibboleth
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Measurement
    Volume: 1
    Page numbers: 4
    Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
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  • Linguistic identification in the determinationm of nationality: a preliminary report
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Language Policy
    Volume: 2
    Page numbers: 179-199
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  • Looking back, looking forward: rethinking Bachman
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Language Testing
    Volume: 20
    Issue: 4
    Page numbers: 466-473
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  • Rasch techniques for detecting bias in performance assessments: an example comparing the performance of native and non-native speakers on a test of academic English
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Journal of Applied Measurement
    Volume: 4
    Issue: 2
    Page numbers: 181-197
    Publisher: JAM Press
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  • What's wrong with using language tests to establish the claims of asylum-seekers?
    Year: 2003
    Journal: Human Rights Defender
    Volume: 12
    Issue: 3
    Page numbers: 23-25
    Publisher: The Australian Human Rights Centre UNSW(Sydney)
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Conference Publications/Papers

  • Tearing us apart again: The paradigm wars and the search for validity
    Year: 2003
    Event name: Annual conference of the European Second Language Association
    Conference Publication: EUROSLA Yearbook
    Volume: 3
    Page numbers: 229-238
    Publisher: Benjamins - John Benjamins Publishing Company(Amsterdam)
    Author(s):

Reports

  • IELTS testing for international secondary school students: A report to the Schools International Government Group
    Year: 2003
    Customer: Schools International Government Group
    Publisher: Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne(Melbourne)
    Authors:

Publications in 2002

Journal Articles

  • Discourse and assessment
    Year: 2002
    Journal: Annual Review of Applied Linguistics
    Volume: 22
    Page numbers: 221-242
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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  • Estimating the difficulty of oral proficiency tasks: what does the test-taker have to offer?
    Year: 2002
    Journal: Language Testing
    Volume: 19
    Issue: 4
    Page numbers: 347-368
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Reports

  • Assessing the language proficiency of senior-secondary ESL Students
    Year: 2002
    Customer: Schools International Government Group
    Publisher: Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne(Melbourne)
    Authors:
  • Classroom communicative competence project
    Year: 2002
    Customer: Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation
    Publisher: Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation(Seoul)
    Authors:

Publications in 2001

Books

  • Studies in Language Testing. Experimenting with uncertainty. Essays in honour of Alan Davies.
    Year: 2001
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press(Cambridge)
    Authors(s):

Book Chapters

  • Ten years of language testing research center
    Year: 2001
    Book: Studies in language testing: experimenting with uncertainty: essays in honour of Alan Davies
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press(Cambridge)
    Authors(s):
  • The distinctiveness of applied linguistics in Australia: a historical perspective
    Year: 2001
    Book: New perspectives and issues in educational language policy in honour of Bernard Dov Spolsky
    Publisher: Benjamins - John Benjamins Publishing Company(Amsterdam)
    Authors(s):

Journal Articles

  • Can we predict task difficulty in an oral proficiency test? Exploring the potential of an information-processing approach to task design.
    Year: 2001
    Journal: Language Learning
    Volume: 51
    Issue: 3
    Page numbers: 401-436
    Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
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  • Language assessment as social practice: challenges for research.
    Year: 2001
    Journal: Language Testing
    Volume: 18
    Issue: 4
    Page numbers: 333-349
    Publisher: Arnold Publishers
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Reports

  • Developing an assessment tool and training program for Korean elementary English teachers: classroom communicative competence project.
    Year: 2001
    Customer: Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation
    Publisher: Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation(Seoul)
    Authors:
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