I successfully completed a PhD in Curriculum and Studies in Applied Linguistics at Western University under the supervision of Dr. Stuart Webb and Dr. Farahnaz Faez. My interest lies mainly in language assessment, vocabulary knowledge, Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language, and English for Academic Purposes. My PhD project focused on measuring productive depth of vocabulary knowledge of the most frequent words.

Productive depth of vocabulary knowledge (PDVK, the quality of knowing words productively) is usually associated with writing and speaking skills (Laufer & Goldstein, 2004). These skills are essential for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students, who have difficulties with expressing themselves in oral presentations or written assignments (Evans & Green, 2007). As a result, diagnostic measurement of PDVK is of vital importance, especially when the first most frequent 1,000 word families are concerned because these word families cover 81% of written text and 85% of spoken text (Nation, 2006).

I have completed both my BA and MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and have been an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor since 2001, an ESL/EFL researcher since 2005, and an instructor of English proficiency tests since 2008. I am a TESL certified teacher by TESL Canada and TESL Ontario, a certified CELPIP instructor by Paragon Testing Enterprises, and a certified IELTS teacher by British Council. You can find more information about me in my CV.

Stuart Webb, PhD

Supervisor

Farahnaz Faez, PhD

Supervisor