Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Curriculum Vitae
CURRENT TITLE:
Professor of Linguistics (Primary appointment)
and Professor of Educational Psychology and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction (by courtesy; zero-time
appointments)
ADDRESS:
Department of Linguistics
4080 Foreign Languages Building (FLB)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
707 South Mathews Ave., mc-168
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
phone, office: +217-244-2732 (direct) +217-333-3563 (messages/reception)
e-mail: fgd@illinois.edu
webpage: http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/fgd
Effective 16 August 2008, my former unit (the Division of English as an International Language) has merged with
the Department of Linguistics at UIUC.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, specialization in language assessment, University of California at Los Angeles, June
1988.
M.A. in Teaching ESL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1981.
B.A. in Teaching Speech, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1976.
Illinois State Teacher's Certificate, Grades 6-12, Speech and English, June 1976.
RESEARCH GRANTS/CONTRACTS:
External (source: UIUC Division of Management Information) values are in $USD for mid-2003 to the present day:
Internal awards:
May 2005: UIUC Research Board Grant 05130, US$13,558
Fall 1998: UIUC Research Board Grant 1-2-69408, US$3000. (Brian Lynch, co-investigator)
Summer 1997, UIUC International Studies Program, US$500,
January 1993: UIUC Research Board Grant 1-2-68677, US$5,508.
November 1990: UIUC Research Board Grant 12-69941, US$1,630.
CONSULTANCIES:
Consultant to Pearson Plc. to serve as Chair of a Sensitivity Review Panel for a new test of English as a Foreign
Language. (April-October 2008)
Consultant to the K-12 ELL Working Group, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ (May, 2006)
Consultant to the Center for Language Research, Michigan State University (February, 2004) Consultant to the
Language Resource Center, UCLA (May, 2003)
Consultant to the Wisconsin State Department of Instruction
Consultant to School District for the City of Elgin, Illinois, Bilingual Education Program. Consultant to Illinois
Resource Center (K-12 ESL/bilingual education teacher training), Des Plaines, Illinois.
Consultant to Defense Language Institute, Monterey California.
Consultant to the Center for the Advancement of Language Learning (CALL), Washington, DC
UIUC COURSES TAUGHT:(Please see my website for syllabi and course materials)
A. Primary course responsibility, and primary responsibility for the M.A. TESL comprehensive examination
question: EIL (360)/460: Principles of Language Testing (1991-present).
B. Other courses designed and taught:
EIL (487)/587: advanced seminar in language testing (1991-present). Topics vary. Contact me for precise
information.
C. Other courses taught: LING (414)/514: Design and Statistics in Language Studies; EIL (312)/411: MATESL
Practicum EIL (345)/445: "Second Language Reading and Writing"; EIL (367)/467: "Communicative Approaches
to Second and Foreign Language Teaching; EIL (371): "Teaching Composition in the ESL Classroom"; EIL
(389)/489: "Theoretical Foundations of Second Language Acquisition"; ESL (113)/113: English Structure and
Paragraph Development for Undergraduate Students; ESL (400)/500: "Verbal Communication in English as a
Second Language for International Graduate Students, I"; Intensive English Institute, Advanced Level: ESL
Composition
MEMBERSHIPS:
International Language Testing Association (ILTA)
National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), formerly the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
(NCRPCV)
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
National Guardianship Association (NGA)
American Numismatic Association (ANA)
American Numismatic Society (ANS)
Adventure Cycling Association (formerly Bikecentennial)
PUBLICATIONS:
Books:
Fulcher, Glenn and Fred Davidson. 2007. Language Testing and Assessment: An Advanced Resource Book.
Applied Linguistics Series. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 2002. Testcraft: A Teacher's Guide to Writing and Using Language Test
Editorship(s):
Fulcher, G. and F. Davidson. Handbook on Language Testing. Routledge (forthcoming)
Contributing Editor: The Greenwood Dictionary of Education. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. Responsible for
coordination of Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment topics. Project Editors: Nancy O'Brien (UIUC) and John
Collins (Harvard). ISBN 0-89774-860-3. Published 2003. Also responsible for authoring several entries.
Institute.
Davidson, Fred and Grant Henning. 1985. "A Self-Rating Scale of English Difficulty: Rasch Scalar Analysis of
Items and Rating Categories." Language Testing. 2:2, December 1985, 164-179.
Davidson, Fred, Thom Hudson and Brian Lynch. 1985. "Language Testing: Operationalization in Classroom
Measurement and L2 Research." in Marianne Celce-Murcia (ed.) Beyond Basics: Issues and Research in TESOL.
Rowley, MA:Newbury House. pp. 137-152.
Davidson, Fred. 1983. "A Three-Stage Reading Skills Syllabus." Curriculum Clearinghouse Newsletter. Jun 1983,
p.12.
Reviews:
Davidson, Fred. Forthcoming. review of: Douglas, D. 2010. Understanding language testing. Abingdon: Hodder
Education. (Understanding language, Series editors: Bernard Comrie and Greville Corbette). Language Testing.
Davidson, Fred. 2008. review of Downing, Steven M. and Thomas M. Haladyna. (Eds.) Handbook of Test
Development. Mahwah, NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum. Language Assessment Quarterly 5:8, pp. 1-8.
Wilmes, Carsten and Fred Davidson. 2007. review of Alderson, J. Charles. Diagnosing Foreign Language
Proficiency: The Interface between Learning and Assessment. London: Continuum. The Modern Language Journal
91:1, pp. 146-147.
Davidson, Fred. 2002. review of Shohamy, Elana. The Power of Tests: a Critical Perspective. Harlow:
Longman/Pearson. Language Testing 19:1, pp. 105-107.
Davidson, Fred. 2001. review of Glayol Ekbatani and Herbert Pierson (Eds.) Learner-directed Assessment in ESL.
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. The Modern Language Journal 85:2, pp. 343-344.
Davidson, Fred. 2000. review of American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association,
National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999, Standards for Educational and Psychological Assessment.
Language Testing 17:4, pp. 457-462.
Davidson, Fred. 2000. review of Kunnan, A.J. (Ed.) Validation in Language Assessment: Selected Papers from the
17th Language Testing Research Colloquium, Long Beach. in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 22:2.
Davidson, Fred. 1999. Combined review of George and Mallery (1999), Morgan and Griego (1998), and Silver and
Hittner (1998) [three books on statistical analysis software for the behavioral sciences]. Contemporary Psychology
44:1
Davidson, Fred. 1998. Review of: Clapham, Caroline. The Development of IELTS: A Study of the Effect of
Background Knowledge on Reading Comprehension. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate and Cambridge University Press. Volume 4 in the series: Studies in Language Testing,
edited by Michael Milanovic. Language Testing 15:2, pp. 288-292.
Davidson, Fred. 1996. Review of: Herrnstein, Richard J. and Charles Murray. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and
Class Structure in American Life. Language Testing 13:1, pp. 111-115.
Davidson, Fred. 1992. Review of: Resampling Stats, v.2.01 (computer software). Computer-Assisted English
Language Learning Journal 3:3, pp. 31-36.
Davidson, Fred. 1992. Review of: Alatis, James E. (Ed.) GURT 1989: Language teaching, testing and technology:
Lessons from the past with a view toward the future. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 14:2, pp. 224-225.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. Review of: Pennington and Stevens: Computers in Applied Linguistics. Multilingual Matters
(1992). Athelstan Newsletter 4:4, pp. 13-14.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. Review of: Agnihotri, Ramit Kant et al. (1988) Tense in Indian English: a Sociolinguistic
perspective. World Englishes 10:2, pp. 229-232.
Davidson, Fred. 1985. Review of: Madsen, Harold S. 1983. Techniques in Testing. in the Curriculum Clearinghouse
Newsletter. December 1985, pp. 20-21.
Davidson, Fred. 1982. Review of: Palmer, Adrian S. et.al. 1981. The Construct Validation of Tests of
Software:
Davidson, Fred. 1991. dB-Score. A d-Base III+ computer program for scoring multiple choice test questions.
Software circulated on the LTEST-L e-mail discussion group.
Davidson, Fred. 1987. CONTEXT. A computer program for contextual discourse analysis on the UCLA MVS
mainframe. Unpublished software, UCLA Applied Linguistics Department.
SELECTED WORKSHOPS:
April, 2010. Co-presenter and co-organizer: two-day pre-conference workshop at the 32nd Language Testing
Research Colloquium, Cambridge, UK: “Assessing levels of academic language proficiency: conceptualization,
operationalization, alignment, and validation”
October, 2006. The ILTA Code of Practice. Pre-conference workshop at the East Coast Organization of Language
Testers (ECOLT), Washington, DC.
June/July, 2003. Workshops and information sessions on language testing: South Africa and Mozambique,
sponsored by local agencies and the Office of English Language Programs, U.S. Department of State.
May 2003. Using and Reflecting on Language Test Specifications, SCALAR, Los Angeles. August 2002. Two
Internet Videoconferences on Language Test Development for Egyptian Language Teachers / U.C. Santa Cruz.
May 2002. Language Test Specifications. CTELT, Dubai.
Oct/Nov 2001. Designing tests and writing specifications. Monterery, CA: Defense Language Institute. May 2000.
Workshops on language test construction. Various locations, Malaysia.
December 1999. Workshop on statistical data management. Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI)
Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.
March 1997. Workshop on principles of statistical data management. Language Testing Research Colloquium,
Orlando, Florida.
August 1996. Workshop on criterion-referenced language testing for adult ESL teachers, St. Louis, Missouri.
September 1995. Workshop on criterion-referenced language test specification design for the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education. Jefferson City, Missouri.
April 1995. Workshop on criterion-referenced language testing specification design for the State of Illinois Bilingual
Assessment Advisory Panel.
January 1995. Course and workshop on language testing, CCLS/CCAA [an EFL company], Miami.
November 1994. Workshop: Criterion-referenced language testing. The Language Resource Center, University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor.
November 1994. Workshop on criterion-referenced approaches to program evaluation for the UIUC writing-across-
thecurriculum program, Allerton Park, Illinois.
February 1993. Retreat/Workshop on Criterion-Referenced Language Test Development for the UIUC Intensive
English Institute full-time teaching staff. Allerton Park, Illinois
November 1990. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: United States Information Service, Guatemala City.
January 1990. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: United States Information Service, San Jose, Costa
Rica
December 1987. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: U.S.I.S., Cairo, Egypt.
September 1986. Lecturer in Language Testing: U.S.I.S., El Valle, Panama.
Summer 1983 and Summer 1981. ESL Teacher in programs for students from Japan (Chubu and Konan
Universities), Ohio University and University of Illinois. Summer 1981 and Summer 1980. Logistics Coordinator,
U.S.I.S. Francophone African English Educators workshops, Univ. of Illinois.
PRESENTATIONS:
Conference Presentations:
“Post-graduate training in language testing” Part of the Symposium on Industrialization and Language Testing.
32nd Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), Cambridge, England, 15 April 2010.
Davidson, Fred. 2008, November. Make a Cross on the Cephalic Extremity of the Homunculus: The U.S. Army
World War One Linguality Test. the History of Education Society. St. Petersburg FL. November 2008.
Davidson, Fred. 2003, April. "Crafting a test of academic language proficiency: Some comments on reverse
engineer ing and certain philosophical tensions in large-scale testing." American Educational Research Association,
Chicago.
Davidson, Fred. Co-organizer with Larry Selinker. 2003, February. "AAAL/ILTA Joint Session: New Voices in
Applied Linguistics." AAAL, Arlington, VA.
Davidson, Fred. Co-organizer with Brian Lynch. 2002, May. Colloquium: "Teaching ethics in language testing."
(Invitational) Language Assessment Ethics Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Gopalan, Sandhya, Fred Davidson and Yeonsuk Cho. 2001, February. "Historical reverse engineering of a
highstakes university language test". AAAL, St. Louis.
Cho, Yeonsuk and Fred Davidson. 2000, September. "The use of process-oriented assessment in large-scale ESL
university placement testing." Symposium on Second Language Writing, Purdue University.
Davidson, Fred. 2000, May. Question and Answer sessions on the TOEFL. Various locations, Malaysia.
Gopalan, Sandhya and Fred Davidson. 2000, May. "The feasibility of historical reverse engineering to trace
evolution of language test development." Midwest Association of Language Testers (MWALT), Iowa City, Iowa.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Developing new test frameworks for TOEFL 2000" Invited respondent. TESOL,
New York.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Getting research mileage out of IEP databases" Colloquium presenter. TESOL, New
York.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Toward a policy oriented research agenda" invited co-presenter. TESOL, New York.
Davidson, Fred. 1998, April. Testing English across Cultures: A Problem of "Standards". Australian Council for
Educational Research (ACER), Melbourne.
Srestasathiern, Sripen and Fred Davidson, 1998, April. Principles of Item and Task Bank Construction. Regional
Language Center (RELC) Seminar, Singapore.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1998, March. A CriterionReferenced Viewpoint on Standards/Cutscores.
American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Seattle.
OTHER INFORMATION:
REFERENCES:
Available on request. Please state if you are interested in a specific area of my background, and I can focus the
references in that domain.