Dr Philip Smyth

Email:
Phil.smyth@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
0118 378 5038
Job title:
Deputy Director of Academic English Assessment

Responsibilities:

As the Deputy Director of Academic English Assessment, my role is to support the Director and lead on various test and assessment-related activity both within the Global Academy and with external stakeholders at partner institutions and other organisations internationally.

managing the full lifecycle of creating a secure test, including designing test specifications, test items and assessment scales for paper-based and online language tests
overseeing large scale face-to-face and online Test of English for Educational Purposes (TEEP) test administrations in the UK and internationally
using statistical analysis for monitoring language test reliability and validity

undertaking assessment consultancy projects for other UK-based and international Higher Education institutions

Areas of interest

I have scholarship and research interest in the areas of assessment in higher education, learning-oriented assessment, exemplar use, feedback, artificial intelligence (GAIT) in assessment, assessment of writing.

Background

I have 30 years’ experience in teaching English for general and academic purposes. I joined the University of Reading Global Academy in 2022, having previously worked at the University of Bristol and the University of Hong Kong. For much of this time, I have had a particular interest in educational and language assessment. I have worked as a Chief Examiner in Hong Kong, taught MA modules in language testing, supervised MA students in assessment, and been an assessment coordinator, an exams officer and an academic integrity officer. My roles and responsibilities in assessment have been across several programmes, including Transnational Education (TNE), in-sessional and pre-sessional English programmes, and foundation programmes. I am currently a co-project lead (with Svetlana Mazhurnaya) on the Enhancing Digital Assessment (EDA) project, a Global Academy School Teaching Enhancement Action Plan (STEAP) priority.

Academic qualifications

Doctor of Education (EdD), (Thesis rated Excellent and won HKU best thesis award), The University of Hong Kong, 201
MPhil English Language Education, The University of Nottingham, 2013
MA Applied Linguistics (Awarded Distinction), The University of Reading, 2005
Cambridge/RSA DELTA, ITTC Bournemouth, 1999
Trinity College TESOL Certificate, Cicero Tunbridge Wells, 1995
BA (Hons) European Studies, University of Central Lancashire, 1995

Professional bodies/affiliations

Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK, 2025
Member of BALEAP (the Global Forum for English for Academic Purposes Professionals)
Co-convenor (with Chris Smith) of the Testing, Assessment and Feedback Special Interest Group of BALEAP (TAFSIG)
Member of The UK Association of Language Testing and Assessment (UKALTA)

Selected publications

Smyth, P. (2024 ). Working towards dialogic use of genre exemplars in English for Academic Purposes. In L. L. C. Wong (Ed.), Best Practices in English Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (pp. 54-66). Routledge.

Smyth, P., & Carless, D. (2021). Theorising how teachers manage the use of exemplars: towards mediated learning from exemplars. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(3), 393-406.

Smyth, P., To, J., & Carless, D. (2020). The interplay between rubrics and exemplars. In P. Grainger & K. Weir (Eds.), Facilitating Student Learning and Engagement in Higher Education through Assessment Rubrics (pp. 57-68). Cambridge Scholars.

Selected Conference Papers and Presentations

Smyth P. (2024) Managing the use of exemplars, T&L Conference - Inclusive Teaching and Assessment in the age of GenAI, University of Reading

Smyth P. (2024) Inclusive assessment at Reading, Diversity & Inclusion Community of Interest (DICOI), University of Reading

Smyth P. and S. Mazhurnaya (2023) Exploring the impact of interlocutors' L1 background in a paired EAP oral proficiency test in a multilingual environment, UKALTA Language Testing Forum, British Council

Smyth P. (2023) Involving students in the assessment of their writing: The use (and misuse) of assessment criteria in EAP, BALEAP conference, University of Warwick

Smyth P. (2022) The interplay of exemplars and criteria in helping students and teachers to internalise writing assessment standards in Higher Education. The Language Testing Forum, UKALTA, The University of Bristol.

Smyth P. (2022) Sharing exemplars with students: The what, when, how and why. The Language and Teaching Research Forum, The University of Reading

Smyth P. (2019) Sharing exemplars effectively to help students develop their writing skills. The Hong Kong Continuing Professional Development Hub conference, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HK

Smyth P. (2019) Investigating teachers’ use of exemplars: Difficulties in managing effective dialogues. Assessment in Higher Education conference (AHE), Manchester, UK