About

Biographical stuff

My name is Kyle Smith. I’m a PhD student, working on a thesis about assessment practices in English pathway programs in Australia. I’ve worked in English language learning since 2001 as a teacher, manager, curriculum developer, and academic language and learning advisor.

I’m a member of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), and the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ).

I helped to get #AusELT started.

I make music as Distant Fingers.

I do all this on Turrbal and Yugara country – always was, always will be.

Other writings

I wrote an article about statistical chains in Direct Entry Program assessment systems for a 2022 issue of The Sociological Review Magazine on metrics. It was the 18th most read article in the magazine that year!

I wrote a curriculum development case study that was published in the 2017 edition of this.

I wrote a review of Dan Douglas’s Understanding Language Testing for TESOL In Context. I didn’t really know much at all about language testing when I wrote it.

I’ve written several reviews of books on technology in ELT for the English Australia Journal:

1. Webinars: A cookbook for educators by Nicky Hockly
2. Language Learning with Technology: Ideas for integrating technology in the classroom by Graham Stanley
3. Mind the App! Inspiring internet tools and activities to engage your students by Thomas Strasser

I didn’t really know much at all about educational technology when I was writing those, but I was beginning to think more critically about it and I think that’s reflected to some extent across the three reviews.